When they were assembled with the elders, and had taken counsel, they gave a large amount of silver to the soldiers,
They had secured the body's death, posted guards against theft, and shut themselves out of every honest excuse. Left with one option, they bought the soldiers' lies outright: the story they knew was false, that He had somehow been stolen despite all their precautions.
AI summary
And when they were assembled with the elders--But Joseph at least was absent: Gamaliel probably also; and perhaps others. and had taken counsel, they gave large money unto the soldiers--It would need a good deal; but the whole case of the Jewish authorities was now at stake. With what contempt must these soldiers have regarded the Jewish ecclesiastics!
The full sanhedrin convened to suppress this matter before it spread among the people. They settled on bribery as their expedient: money enough to satisfy the soldiers, perhaps even temple funds meant for sacrifices or the poor, to secure a false account.
AI summary