The chief priests — That is, not only the high priest and his deputy, with those who formerly had borne that office: but also the chief man in each of those twenty — four courses, into which the body of priests were divided, 1 Chronicles 24:6-19. The scribes were those whose peculiar business it was to explain the Scriptures to the people. They were the public preachers, or expounders of the law of Moses. Whence the chief of them were called doctors of the law.
Related Commentaries of Matthew 2:4
Matthew 2:4
4 And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born.