And again marks a continuation of the narrative. It can be omitted if that is more natural.

And as they went out of Jericho: though brief, this narrative is often read in isolation from the one which comes before it, and so it is good policy to identify the participants intended by they: “As Jesus and his disciples were leaving Jericho” (Good News Translation).

In some languages the fact that the text has not said Jesus and his disciples had entered Jericho will make this verse seem odd. However, adding a sentence such as “They went to Jericho” may be seen as adding too much to the text. Rather they should say something like “Later, as they were going out of the city of Jericho” or “… having passed through the city of Jericho.”

A great crowd followed him places Jesus in focus, but in some languages it will be more natural to substitute “them” (meaning Jesus and his disciples) for him, which is what Bibel im heutigen Deutsch, 1st edition does. Good News Translation, on the other hand, leaves this information implicit by translating “a large crowd was following,” assuming that the reader will conclude from the first clause that Jesus and his disciples are indicated.

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 .