Albert Barnes Commentary Matthew 2:4

"And gathering together all the chief priests and scribes of the people, he inquired of them where the Christ should be born." — Matthew 2:4 (ASV)

The Chief Priests. By the chief priests here are meant not only the high priest and his deputy, but also the heads or chiefs of the twenty-four classes into which David had divided the priestly families (1 Chronicles 23:6; 1 Chronicles 24:1; 2 Chronicles 8:14; 2 Chronicles 36:14; Ezra 8:24).

Scribes. By the scribes, in the New Testament, are meant learned men, men skilled in the law, and members of the great council. They were probably the learned men, or the lawyers of the nation. They kept the records of the court of justice, the registers of the synagogues, wrote their articles of contract and sale, their bills of divorce, etc. They were also called lawyers (Matthew 22:35) and doctors of the law (Luke 5:17). They were called scribes from the fact of their writing the public records.

These scribes were not, however, a religious sect, but might be either Pharisees or Sadducees. By the chief priests and scribes here mentioned, the Sanhedrin, or great council of the nation, is denoted. This council was composed of seventy-two men who had charge of the civil and religious affairs of the Jews. On this occasion, Herod, in alarm, called them together, professedly to inquire about the birth of the Messiah.

Demanded of them. Inquired, or asked of them. As they were the learned men of the nation, and as it was their business to study and explain the Old Testament, they were presumed to know what the prophecies had declared on that point. His object was to ascertain from prophecy where he was born, that he might strike an effectual blow. He seems not to have had any doubt about the time when he should be born. He was satisfied that the time had come.