If the crowds are to be distinguished from “all the city” of verse 10, then one may follow Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch and translate “the crowds who accompanied Jesus.”

This is the prophet Jesus from Nazareth of Galilee may be understood in two different ways: (1) Jesus is a prophet: “This is Jesus. He is a prophet from the city of Nazareth in Galilee.” (2) Or, if the reference is to the prophet promised in Deuteronomy 18.18: “This is Jesus from the town of Nazareth in Galilee. He is the (promised) prophet.” The Greek text lends itself to either interpretation, though the second possibility seems more likely.

For a discussion of prophet, see 1.22.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .