Exegesis:
kai egeneto ēlthon… ‘and it happened … that they came’; cf. on v. 8.
en tē hēmera tē ogdoē ēlthon peritemein to paidion ‘on the eighth day they came to circumcise the child,’ as prescribed in Gen. 17.9-14. The infinitive is final; the subject of ēlthon must be understood from those mentioned in v. 58.
en tē hēmera tē ogdoē ‘on the eighth day,’ or, since according to Jewish time reckoning the day of birth is counted as a full day, ‘seven days after his birth.’
peritemnō (also 2.21) ‘to circumcise,’ technical term for the performing of the rite of circumcision, which consists of the cutting away of the prepuce or foreskin of the newly born males, cf. Gen. 17.9-14, Lev. 12.1-3; it was a distinctive sign of the covenant relationship between Israel and God.
paidion in ch. 1 and 2 ‘infant,’ elsewhere ‘child’ in a general sense, referring usually to children from about three to twelve years.
kai ekaloun auto … Zacharian ‘they wanted to call it Zechariah’; the imperfect tense is best understood as conative (Moule 8f, Translator’s New Testament, Bible de Jérusalem, Zürcher Bibel). Zacharian is an accusative used predicatively, i.e. to ‘predicate’ something of a noun (here auto) already in the accusative, cf. Moule 35.
epi tō onomati tou patros autou ‘after the name of his father’; this profane use of the expression epi tō onomati is to be distinguished from its religious meaning as in 9.48; 21.8; 24.47. To call a child after the name of his father was not uncommon, though not widespread.
(V. 60) kai apokritheisa … eipen ‘and, answering, (she) said.’ apokrinomai is often used without a preceding question or communication addressed to its subject. In such a context it introduces the subject’s reaction or comment upon (a) the situation (13.14; 17.17; 22.51), or (b) other peoples’ thoughts or plans (1.60; 3.16; 5.22; 14.3), or (c) something said in general (9.49), or (d) something said to other people (5.31; 7.40; 8.50; 11.45; 13.15; 20.39; 23.40). The usual construction is that of a participle going with a verb of saying (except 3.16 and 8.50).
ouchi as a negative particle ‘no,’ ‘by no means.’
alla ‘but,’ ‘rather.’
Translation:
On the eighth day, or, specifying the connexion with what precedes, ‘the eighth day after that (or, after his/the child’s birth),’ ‘seven nights later,’ ‘when the child was a week old,’ etc.
They came to circumcise the child. The neighbours and kinsfolk were not the agents of the circumcision; hence, ‘they came to join in the circumcision ceremony of the child’ (Balinese), ‘they came to join-in with their (referring to those directly responsible) circumcising the child’ (Tboli). Some renderings are based on the act as such, e.g. ‘to cut the flesh’ (Quechua of Ecuador), ‘to cut around’ (San Miguel El Grande Mixtec, Navajo), ‘to clip-away’ (Javanese), ‘to pinch and cut,’ usually shortened to ‘to cut’ (Uab Meto); others are based on the rite’s function, e.g. ‘to put the mark’ (Barrow Eskimo, Western Highland Purepecha), or more explanatory, ‘to put the mark in the body showing that they belong to God (Tetelcingo Nahuatl), or, that they have a covenant with God’; ‘to cause to receive the ceremony for entering sunat’, recently proposed Thai rendering, making use of the Arabic term sunnah ‘(religious) way (of life).’ In several Indonesian languages the same Arabic borrowing is the current technical term for the Muslim rite of circumcision, and has been used for the corresponding rite mentioned in the Bible. Reactions to a bald reference to the actual operation vary from language to language; in Pampanga, for instance, such a term can be used in front of women and in church, but in Tboli teachers refuse to read publicly any portion containing the same term, although they insist in having it in the translation. Some versions have two renderings, one a rather overt term or phrase, used in only one or two occurrences, the other more veiled and used in all other occurrences, cf. Bahasa Indonesia (revision), which in Gen. 17.10f has ‘every male … should undergo-sunat; his foreskin (lit. skin of circumcision, partly another Arabic borrowing) should be cut,’ but in most other occurrences uses ‘(undergo-) sunat’; similarly Ekari, which in Gen. 17 uses, ‘to cut the end of the member for which one fears shame,’ but elsewhere refers to circumcision as ‘the cutting custom.’
They would have named him Zechariah after his father refers to an event that might have happened had it not been prevented by Elizabeth. To name him Z. after his father is rendered variously, cf. e.g. ‘to give him the name of his father Z.’ (Sranan Tongo, ‘Z.’ going with ‘father’), ‘to give him the name of his father, Z.’ (Kituba, ‘Z.’ going with ‘name’), ‘call him Z. same-name(-as) his father’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘name him (lit. place his name) Z. after (lit. from above, or, on) the name of his father’ (Marathi).
(V. 60) Not so, or, ‘No, no!’ (Sranan Tongo). Some languages resemble the Greek in requiring a transitional term after a prohibitive word, e.g. ‘No, but’ (Zürcher Bibel, similarly Bahasa Indonesia).
He shall be called, or, ‘his name is, or must be,’ ‘we (inclus.) shall call him.’
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.