The New American Bible translates it to “revolutionaries”, out of about 20 Bibles I have access to, all other versions are either robbers, thieves, criminals, or bandits.
According to the Nestle-Aland Greek New Testament, the word is λῃστής, which is defined in the Theological Dictionary of the New Testament as follows:
When Jesus was crucified, and was thus punished as a political rebel against Rome, two others condemned as λῃσταί suffered with Him (Mt. 27:38 ff. and
par.). The title on the cross marked Him as one of them, and indeed as one who aimed at the crown, as more or less all Zealot leaders had done from the time of the first Judas (→ 258, Mt. 27:37 and par.). His crucifixion as a λῃστής was at the request of His own people (Mt. 27:21 ff.), which decided against His Messiahism and in favour of that of the Zealots, and which thus elected war against Rome and its own crucifixion
33 instead of the peace which the Messiah of God brings (cf. Lk. 19:42 with 19:38 and 2:14; → Χριστός). How far this decision affected the judgment of Judaism on Him is nowhere more clearly seen than when Celsus calls Jesus a λῃστής and thus seeks to dismiss Him as a false Messiah.
34%between% par. parallel.
33 During the siege Titus set around Jerusalem a ring of crosses on which untold numbers met a painful end.
34 Orig.Cels., III, 59 (I, 253, 24 ff., ed. Koetschau).
%between%Theological dictionary of the New Testament. 1964-c1976. Vols. 5-9 edited by Gerhard Friedrich. Vol. 10 compiled by Ronald Pitkin. (G. Kittel, G. W. Bromiley & G. Friedrich, Ed.) (electronic ed.) (Vol. 4, Page 262). Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans.
