Exegesis:
apekrithē de autō ho kurios kai eipen ‘but the Lord answered him and said.’ For apekrithē cf. on 1.60; for ho kurios on 1.6.
hupokritai ‘hypocrites,’ cf. on 6.42 and 12.56. The fact that Jesus uses the plural, though addressing one man, means that all who tacitly agree with the leader of the synagogue are involved.
hekastos humōn tō sabbatō ou luei ton boun autou ē ton onon apo tēs phatnēs ‘does not each one of you on the sabbath untie his ox or donkey from the manger?’ hekastos humōn and tō sabbatō are emphatic by position. Interrogative ou suggests that the obvious answer to the question is ‘yes.’ For luō cf. on 3.16. For phatnē cf. on 2.7.
kai apagagōn potizei ‘and does not (each of you) lead (it) away and water (it)?,’ continuation of the interrogative clause.
apagō ‘to lead away,’ with the connotation of leading to a certain goal; here the goal is indicated by the following verb. The aorist tense of apagagōn suggests an act preceding that expressed by the main verb potizei.
potizō ‘to water,’ ‘to give drink to (an animal).’
Translation:
For you hypocrites see 6.42.
Does not each of you … untie …, or better to bring out the emphasis, “is there a single one of you who does not loose…” (New English Bible), or, as a statement, ‘no doubt any one of you would untie…’ (cf. Good News Translation). Untie, or, ‘loose the tie/bond of.’
Ox and ass. For ox one may use the name of, or a generic designation for, a comparable domestic animal commonly known in the culture, such as ‘buffalo’ (e.g. in Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘head of cattle’ (Shona, West Nyanja). The word is used here in its general sense not in that of ‘castrated bull.’ Ass may have to become ‘horse,’ ‘mount,’ ‘riding-animal.’
Manger, see 2.7. Several versions prefer the meaning ‘stall,’ ‘(compartment of a) stable’; then the verb ‘to untie’ is sometimes rendered by ‘to release’ (Translator’s New Testament, Bahasa Indonesia), or, ‘lead out’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), implying that there is no bond to be untied, but an enclosure to be opened.
To water it, or, ‘to cause-to-drink it’ (Sundanese); or, taking the animal as subject, ‘that it may drink,’ ‘to drink (water)’ (Batak Toba, Sranan Tongo); or again, as a locative, ‘towards the watering place’ (Willibrord).
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.