When they sought to lay hands. — We must remember that they had once before made a like attempt, and had been baffled (John 7:44-46). Now circumstances were even more against them. The Prophet was surrounded by His own disciples, and by an admiring crowd. Open violence they did not dare to venture on, and they had to fall back upon the more crooked paths of stratagem and treachery.
Related Commentaries of Matthew 21:46
Matthew 21:46
46 But when they sought to lay hands on him, they feared the multitude, because they took him for a prophet.