This Jesus of Nazareth is obviously intended as a derogatory term. The two accusations made against Jesus are designed to appeal both to the Sadducees (whose main religious interests were centered about the temple service) and to the Pharisees (whose basic concern was with the interpretation of the Law of Moses and with the perpetuation of the customs they believed had their basis in the Law of Moses).

The connotative value in the phrase this Jesus of Nazareth may almost be equivalent to “this fellow Jesus from Nazareth” or “this guy Jesus from Nazareth.” Note that the relationship in the phrase Jesus of Nazareth is source, that is, “Jesus who comes from Nazareth.”

Tear down is to be understood in the sense of “destroy” or “ruin.”

Change all the customs is equivalent in some languages to “cause us to live differently from what Moses taught our ancestors” or “make us follow ways which are not the ones Moses gave to our ancestors.”

As implied in the previous paragraph, there are difficulties in the expression come down to us from Moses. Normally, traditions do not “come down,” and the source of traditions is usually not expressed in a phrase such as “from Moses”; rather, “Moses” must be made the agent. These are, therefore, “the traditions which Moses taught” or “the traditions which Moses ordered.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Acts of the Apostles. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1972. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .