John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Matthew 26:59
Now the chief priests and elders, and all the counsel ,.... Or sanhedrim, which consisted, as the Jewish writers say F21 Maimon. Hilch. Sanhedrin, c. 2. sect. 1, 2. Abarbinel in Tora, fol. 366. 2. , of priests, Levites, and Israelites, of both ecclesiastics and laics; the ecclesiastics were the priests and Levites, and the laics the Israelites, or elders of the people; for if priests and Levites could not be found, a sanhedrim might consist of those only; and so those words in ... read more
Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Matthew 26:57-68
We have here the arraignment of our Lord Jesus in the ecclesiastical court, before the great sanhedrim. Observe, I. The sitting of the court; the scribes and the elders were assembled, though it was in the dead time of the night, when other people were fast asleep in their beds; yet, to gratify their malice against Christ, they denied themselves that natural rest, and sat up all night, to be ready to fall upon the prey which Judas and his men, they hoped, would seize. See, 1. Who they were,... read more