Exegesis:

elegen oun ‘and so he said.’ oun indicates the resuming of the narrative after the interruption of vv. 4-6. The imperfect tense is best understood as introducing what may be regarded as the content of the summary of a speech, cf. 6.20.

tois ekporeuomenois ochlois baptisthēnai hup’ autou ‘to the crowds who came out to get baptized by him.’ The infinitive baptisthēnai is dependent upon the participle ekporeuomenois indicating the purpose of the crowds in coming out.

ekporeuomai ‘to come out,’ without indication from where and whither. The latter is implied in v. 3 but the former remains open.

ochlos ‘crowd,’ without unfavourable connotation. Here the plural suggests a very big crowd.

baptizō, ‘to dip,’ ‘to immerse,’ exc. 11.38 and 12.50, in Luke always used with reference to the baptism preached and administered by John the baptist. The aorist tense implies that the rite of baptism is administered only once. As to the meaning of the passive two explanations are possible: (1) ‘to be baptized,’ or (2) ‘to get baptized,’ cf. sich taufen zu lassen (Zürcher Bibel, Nieuwe Vertaling), and “to have oneself baptized”. The latter fits the context better because of the final force of the infinitive baptisthēnai; the emphasis is on the intention of the crowds.

gennēmata echidnōn ‘brood of vipers.’ The exact meaning of the phrase (clearly meant as reproach) has to be determined in the light of the context. Since the crowds want to be baptized as a safeguard against the impending judgment of God, the phrase gennēmata echidnōn exposes them as cunning, cf. Mt. 10.16, and the Jewish parallels quoted by Strack-Billerbeck I, 574f on that verse.

gennēma ‘offspring,’ ‘brood.’

echidna ‘viper,’ ‘poisonous snake.’

tis hupedeixen humin ‘who has suggested to you.’ The usual meaning of hupodeiknumi with the following infinitive is ‘to warn,’ but this is not fitting here. The coming judgment was part of John’s message (cf. v. 9) and we may assume that he called his hearers to repent before the day of judgment would dawn. The point of the passage is that people think that they can escape from judgment by being baptized without sincere repentance, and John asks the crowds who suggested that impossible idea to them.

hupodeiknumi ‘to show,’ ‘to warn.’

phugein apo tēs melloussēs orgēs ‘to fly from the coming wrath.’ The participle of mellō usually refers to events or situations of eschatological order.

orgē (also 21.23) ‘wrath,’ in Luke of the future judgment of God.

mellō with present infinitive following ‘to be about to,’ ‘to be on the point of’ often of that which is divinely bound to happen: with less emphasis ‘to have in mind.’ The participle mellōn (of which here the feminine form melloussēs) means ‘future,’ ‘coming’ or ‘to come’; here with the connotation that the ‘coming wrath’ is bound to come.

Translation:

He said. The pronominal reference will have to be elucidated in many languages, cf. above on 1.8.

The multitudes that came out to be baptized by him refers to a fact that is prior to John’s speaking, and essential to the understanding of what follows; hence it may be better rendered as an introductory sentence, e.g. ‘people came to John in-order to be-baptized by him. He said to them…’ (Kituba, cf. also Good News Translation). — The multitudes. The noun (also in 1.10; 2.13; 3.10; 5.15; 6.17; 7.9; 8.45; 12.1, 13, 54; 14.25; 18.36; 19.37, 39; 22.6; 23.4, 27, 48) can often be rendered by ‘mass,’ ‘gathering of people,’ ‘many people.’ The plural has augmentative force here, i.e. emphasizes that the reference is to a multitude of large size. For the force of the definite article see below on “the crowd” in 5.19. — To be baptized can often be rendered by a causative reflexive form (Manobo, see on v. 3) or phrase (Sranan Tongo), or by ‘to take baptism’ (Marathi), ‘to receive baptism’ (Hindi), ‘to receive water’ (Medumba), ‘to ask him/John to baptize them.’ In Tae’ one can use a verbal form with a specific prefix indicating that the subject asks for, evokes, or instigates the act of ‘washing/baptism’ expressed by the root-word. Cf. also the Pohnpeian rendering mentioned below.

You here helps to identify what follows as an exclamation; one may have to add or substitute an exclamatory particle.

Brood of vipers. In languages were honorific forms of speech are normally used towards strangers, this strong term of abuse is an important clue, because it may be taken as an indication that the speaker is not in a mood to be polite. In some languages ‘vipers’ or ‘snakes’ is not commonly used as an invective, e.g. in Balinese or Kituba, where the natural equivalent would be ‘leeches’ or ‘insects,’ respectively. Even in such languages, however, translators often have kept to the literal rendering, probably because they felt that the bad connotation was sufficiently suggested by the situation. It may be advisable then to shift from metaphor to simile, adding e.g. ‘like,’ ‘as it were’ etc. — The normal equivalent of brood, e.g. ‘young ones,’ may rather impair the pejorative force of the expression; hence it had to be omitted in some versions. — Vipers, or a local equivalent, or, ‘poisonous snakes,’ or simply ‘snakes.’

Who…? If the intention of this rhetorical question must be brought out, one may add an answer such as ‘It is not I!.’ The people’s intention in asking for baptism (as explained in Exegesis) is brought out economically in Pohnpeian by the use of a suffix which, added to ‘be-baptized,’ suggests that the physical experience was all they came for.

Warned you, or, following the interpretation advocated in Exegesis, ‘gave you a hint’ (Nieuwe Vertaling, Hindi; also Sranan Tongo, lit. ‘pinched you to’); ‘counselled you’ (Telugu), ‘pointed-out to you the way’ (Bahasa Indonesia), ‘showed you the means’ (Tamil), ‘taught you,’ cf. also “told you that you could” (Good News Translation, similarly Nyakyusa).

Flee, or ‘run off/away (from danger)’; here metaphorically, ‘to shun,’ ‘to try to escape from.’

Wrath, or specified, ‘God’s wrath,’ ‘divine anger’ (Chinese, Balinese, Dravidian languages). Here the term does not primarily refer to the emotion felt but to the action resulting from that emotion; hence such rendering as, ‘judgment,’ “retribution” (New English Bible), ‘punishment’ (Manobo).

To come, or ‘impending’ (Willibrord); cf. also ‘wrath which God will have’ (Kekchi).

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.