Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 27:1

"Now when morning was come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus to put him to death:" — Matthew 27:1 (ASV)

Took counsel — A better translation is held a council. (Compare the use of the word in Acts 25:12.) In keeping with the Jewish rule that a sentence was not to be given at the same sitting as the trial, another formal meeting was held to confirm the previous decision and determine the next step. It ended, as the next verse shows, with the decision to send our Lord to Pilate, leaving the responsibility of punishment to him.

As the subsequent events show, this began a kind of diplomatic struggle over the limits of ecclesiastical and imperial authority. The religious leaders sought to make the Roman governor their instrument, while the governor tried to avoid the responsibility of appearing to act in that capacity.