Exegesis:
ērxanto de katēgorein autou ‘they began to accuse him.’ For archomai with infinitive cf. on 4.21. Here it is best understood as denoting the beginning of an act. For katēgoreō cf. on 6.7.
touton heuramen diastrephonta to ethnos hēmōn ‘we found this man subverting our people.’ touton is emphatic and contemptuous. heuramen may mean ‘we found out,’ or ‘we caught,’ implying intentional search, preferably the latter because of the fact that a participle is following and not an infinitive. to ethnos hēmōn may refer to the Jewish nation in the political sense, or be used in the same general sense as in 7.5, probably the latter.
diastrephō (also 9.41) here ‘to subvert,’ in a political sense.
kōluonta phorous Kaisari didonai ‘forbidding to give taxes to Caesar.’ For this phrase cf. on 20.22.
legonta heauton Christon basilea einai ‘saying that he is the Messiah, a king.’ For Christos cf. on 2.11. basilea is best understood as an apposition to Christon added as a clarification of the meaning of Christos.
Translation:
Accuse, see on 6.7.
We found this man perverting our nation, i.e. we caught this fellow while he was perverting our nation. For found cf. on 7.10. To pervert, or, ‘to instigate to rebellion’ (Willibrord), ‘to stir-up’ (Malay). Our nation, cf. on 7.5; the pronoun has exclusive force.
Forbidding us to give tribute to Caesar, see on 9.49 and on 20.22 and references.
Saying, or a more specific verb, coloured by the context, “claiming” (e.g. An American Translation), ‘pretending’ (Bible de Jérusalem).
A king, or, ‘that means, a king.’
Quoted with permission from Reiling, J. and Swellengrebel, J.L. A Handbook on the Gospel of Luke. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1971. For this and other handbooks for translators see here . Make sure to also consult the Handbook on the Gospel of Mark for parallel or similar verses.
