Exegesis:
epan de ischuroteros autou ‘but when a stronger one than he….’ ischuroteros refers to Jesus himself.
epan ‘when,’ equivalent to hotan.
epelthōn nikēsē auton lit. ‘coming up overcomes him.’ epelthōn has hostile meaning.
nikaō ‘to conquer,’ ‘to overcome.’
tēn panoplian autou airei ‘he takes away his armour.’
panoplia ‘full armour of a heavily armed soldier.’
eph’ hē epepoithei ‘on which he relied.’ Subject is ho ischuros of v. 21.
ta skula autou diadidōsin ‘he divides his spoils.’ autou is best understood as referring to the same one as autou after panoplian, i.e. to ho ischuros of v. 21 ta skula may refer to the spoils which the strong one had taken previously from others, or to the spoils which the stronger one takes off him now. In the former interpretation it takes up ta huparchonta in v. 21, in the latter tēn panoplian autou. The former appears to be slightly preferable.
skulon armour and weapons taken from a slain enemy, then generally ‘booty,’ ‘spoils.’
diadidōmi (also 18.22) ‘to divide.’
Translation:
The pronominal references to “the strong man” of v. 21 (A) and the “one stronger than he” (B), who is in focus here, must be carefully handled to avoid confusion.
Assails, or, ‘attacks,’ ‘comes against’ (Marathi), ‘comes to fight with’ (Sranan Tongo).
He takes away. The pronoun, referring to (B) may have to be specified, e.g. by a deictic element pointing further back than to the last mentioned person (Bahasa Indonesia RC). To take away, or, ‘seize-by-force’ (several Indonesian languages), ‘seize-as-plunder’ (Balinese).
His armour in which he trusted. The double pronominal reference may have to be simplified and specified, cf. “all the weapons the owner was depending on” (Good News Translation, similarly Tae’ 1933). Armour. Some versions use a term indicating that defensive arms are included, cf. e.g. “arms and armour” (New English Bible, similarly in Dan, Bahasa Indonesia), ‘weapons and shield’ (Kele), ‘clothing-of war’ (Pohnpeian). In which he trusted. If a relative clause is unacceptable in this position, it may be possible to shift this piece of information to the end of v. 21, e.g. .’.. his goods are safe; he feels he can trust in his armour.’ To trust is often rendered by forms of, or expressions with, ‘to hope’ (Trukese, Pohnpeian), ‘to believe’ (cf. Marathi, ‘to place faith on’), ‘to be strong on’ (Shipibo-Conibo), ‘to build upon’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘to place heart in’ (Kituba), ‘to use-as-substitute’ (Tae’), ‘to die-absolutely-and-completely,’ i.e. ‘to stake one’s life on’ (Luchazi), ‘to have a thick heart’ (Yamba), ‘to put oneself upon’ (Yucateco of Yucatan). If, however, such expressions only take a person as object, one may have to express the idea otherwise, e.g. ‘to know to be good/efficacious,’ ‘to feel safe with,’ ‘to say: “I have my…” ’ (as Chontal does in Mk. 10.24), and cf. the rendering of this phrase used in Tzeltal, ‘which he has caused others to consider him important because of.’
Divides his spoil, i.e. what he (A) had previously taken as plunder, as preferred in Exegesis; sometimes slightly simplified, “his goods” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation, similarly Sranan Tongo). When the other interpretation is followed, i.e. what he (B) has taken from him (A) as plunder, especially referring to the armour, the reference is somewhat redundant; hence a simplification like, ‘the armour … he takes away and divides’ (cf. Balinese). Divides, i.e. distributes (among his companions/followers).
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.