Exegesis:
epiphanai ‘to give light’; the infinitive is final (‘in order to’) or consecutive (‘so as to’), preferably the latter.
epiphainō ‘to appear,’ but here in a more pregnant meaning, ‘to shine forth,’ ‘to give light.’
tois en skotei kai skia thanatou kathēmenois ‘to those who sit in darkness and in shadow of death,’ a quotation from the Septuagint of Ps. 107.10, cf. also Is. 9.2.
skotos ‘darkness,’ here in the figurative sense of a difficult situation where no solution is visible.
skia ‘shadow’; skia thanatou renders Hebrew tsalmawet ‘darkness,’ but the Greek expression is stronger than the Hebrew; the genitive thanatou is qualifying.
tou kateuthunai tous podas hēmōn ‘to direct our feet’; the articular final infinitive is either subordinated to the preceding infinitive clause (cf. Translator’s New Testament) or co-ordinated with it (cf. e.g. New English Bible), preferably the former.
kateuthunō ‘to make straight,’ ‘to lead.’
pous ‘foot,’ here representing a person in motion.
eis hodon eirēnēs ‘into the way of peace’; hodos is used here in a figurative sense; the genitive eirēnēs is either qualifying (‘the way characterized by peace’) or objective (‘the way which leads to peace’), preferably the former.
eirēnē ‘peace,’ ‘well being,’ here of the peace of the Messianic age and therefore referring to the salvation described in vv. 71 and 74-75.
Translation:
Rendering the verse as a new sentence one may introduce it by, ‘It/He comes (in order) to,’ ‘Its/His aim is to.’
Those who sit, or, ‘us who sit,’ the pronoun of the first person plural referring to virtually the same group in the next, parallel line. Sit, or, ‘are,’ ‘live,’ ‘stay,’ the sitting position being irrelevant in this context.
In darkness, or, shifting to a locative, ‘in a dark place’ (Balinese, similarly in Tboli). The metaphorical meaning of the phrase is made clear in the next phrase.
In the shadow of death, or using a verbal clause, ‘who are-overshadowed by death’ (cf. Tboli, Batak Toba), ‘shaded by the shadow of death’ (Toraja-Sa’dan); or again, as a locative, ‘where death threatens.’ Shadow of death, an acceptable metaphor in several languages, cannot be used so in others, e.g. because it would be understood to mean ‘among the ghosts’ (Kituba), or because ‘shadow/shade’ does not suggest threat and danger but shelter and protection (cf. above on v. 35); hence shifts to an equivalent metaphor (cf. “under the cloud of death”, New English Bible), or a non-metaphorical rendering, e.g. ‘fear of death’ (Vai, Kituba), ‘afraid of death’ (Apache), ‘threat/danger of death.’ If “death” cannot be rendered by an equivalent noun, it may be possible to use a personification such as ‘demon-of-death,’ or one may have to say something like ‘deadly shadow,’ ‘danger of dying,’ ‘where they/we are fearing that they/we will die.’ For death (also in 2.26; 7.2; 9.27; 21.16; 22.2, 33; 23.15, 22, 32; 24.28), referring to the state, cause, or occasion of dying or having died.
To guide our feet into the way of peace, or non-metaphorically, ‘to teach us the way-of-life that brings peace, or, behaviour that is peaceful,’ ‘to put us right on the way of peace’ (Toraja-Sa’dan). Where it is possible to keep to the metaphor minor adjustments are necessary in some cases, see below. To guide, or, “to direct” (Translator’s New Testament, also Bahasa Indonesia), ‘to cause-to-go/walk’ (Javanese, Apache), ‘to put’ (Sranan Tongo, Marathi). Our feet, or, ‘our steps’ (Batak Toba, Balinese), ‘our going/walking’ (Kituba). Into the way of peace, or, ‘on/upon/along (lit. following) the way of peace.’ — Peace. In English, as in the Greek, the term has a negative aspect: lack of strife between persons, absence or cessation of war, and a positive one: fulness of well-being resting on confidence in God. The corresponding word in several western languages has, or has acquired, the same two sided-ness; similarly in some non-western languages, e.g. in New Caledonian, where ‘peace of war’ proved to render the positive aspect better than ‘calm’ or ‘quietness’ would do, or in Ilocano, which uses one word both for inward calm and for the state of a nation not at war. Elsewhere two or more terms have to be distinguished. For the negative aspect an expression is used such as, ‘the palaver has passed’ (Northern Grebo), ‘well arranged,’ implying reconciliation (Highland Totonac), ‘being-good-with-each-other’ (East and Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘land and water are well’ (Tae’ 1933, in Lk. 12.51), ‘free,’ cf. ‘to make free,’ used in the specific sense of ‘to conclude peace’ (Sranan Tongo). For the positive concept many figurative expressions are on record, built on various basic concepts, such as strength, e.g. ‘strength of heart’ (one of two synonymous expressions in Highland Puebla Nahuatl), ‘leaning on the liver’ (Kare); ‘well-being/happiness,’ e.g. in Navajo; ‘evenness,’ cf. Toraja-Sa’dan, where the term is derived from a verb ‘to level,’ and Uab Meto, where the basic verb is ‘to make-even/to join,’ and a differentiation is made between ‘making-even the-land/people’ (e.g. here) and ‘making-even the-heart’ (e.g. in 2.14 and in the Pauline epistles).
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.