Matthew 26:5

ἐν τῇ ἑορτῇ. During the feast, including the Passover and the seven days of unleavened bread.

ἵνα μὴ θόρυβος κ.τ.λ. The great danger at the time of the Passover, when the people, numbering hundreds of thousands, filled the city and encamped in tents outside the walls like a vast army. At a Passover, less than 30 years before, the people, partly to avenge the death of two Rabbis, rose against Archelaus, and were cruelly repressed with a slaughter of 3000 men (Joseph. Ant. XVII. 9. 3); see also XVII. 10. 2, where a similar rising against Sabinus, during the feast of Pentecost, is described.