“And consulted that they might take Jesus by subtilty, and kill him.”
And plotted together in order to arrest Jesus by stealth and kill him. The conspiracy's goal: arrest by stealth and killing. The by stealth communicates the political constraint that has governed the religious establishment throughout the passion week (Matthew 21:46, 22:15): the public character of Jesus' ministry and the crowd's support requires a covert arrest.
Church Fathers on Matthew 26:4
Then the Evangelist lays before us the hidden springs and machinery by which the Lord’s Passion was brought to pass.
This, 'then,' is to be referred to the preceding words, and means before the Feast of the Passover.
Not true Priests and elders, but Priests and elders of what seemed the people of God, but was indeed the people of Gomorrah; these, not knowing God’s High Priest, laid a plot against Him, not recognizing 'the firstborn of the whole creation, [Col 1:15] yea, even against Him that was elder than them all, did they take counsel.
Read all 10 entries in the readerCatena Aurea · St. Thomas Aquinas, tr. J. H. Newman · public domain
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