Exegesis:

kai hote eplēsthēsan hai hēmerai tou katharismou autōn ‘and when the days of their purification had been fulfilled,’ i.e. ‘when the time for their purification had come.’ eplēsthēsan hai hēmerai, cf. on 1.57.

katharismos (also 5.14) ‘purification,’ i.e. the restoration of ritual cleanness; according to the law of Moses a woman remained unclean for forty days after the birth of a male child. During this period she was forbidden to touch any sacred thing or to enter the temple. Ritual cleanness was restored by a burnt offering and a sin offering (cf. Lev. 12.1-8). autōn ‘of them,’ i.e. ‘their’ may refer to Joseph and Mary; to Jesus and Mary (cf. Lagrange), or to the three of them (cf. Grundmann), preferably the first.

kata ton nomon Mōuseōs ‘according to the law of Moses’ may be connected with eplēsthēsan ‘were fulfilled,’ as e.g. New English Bible, Williams, or, preferably, with tou katharismou autōn ‘of their purification,’ as e.g. Translator’s New Testament, Phillips, An American Translation, Moffatt.

nomos ‘law,’ in Luke of the law of Moses only, even when his name is not added as here.

anēgagon auton eis Hierosoluma ‘they brought him up to Jerusalem.’

anagō ‘to bring up’ from a lower to a higher place. Actually Bethlehem is lying higher than Jerusalem, but it is hardly conceivable that Luke was aware of this difference in height.

Hierosoluma ‘Jerusalem’; this is the Greek form of the name. Elsewhere (e.g. v. 25) Luke uses the Hebraistic Ierousalēm.

parastēsai tō kuriō ‘in order to present him to the Lord’; object ‘him’ (i.e. Jesus) to be understood from auton, the object of anēgagon.

paristēmi in the active ‘to present’; presentation in the temple was not part of the ritual of the redemption of the first-born sons referred to in v. 23. Ex. 13.2, quoted there, does not order presentation to God, but is, together with other passages, the foundation for the redemption-offering. Luke does not mention the redemption-offering at all but selects one basic aspect of it, the belonging of all male first-borns to God, in order to bring into special relief the fact that Jesus had been presented to God in the temple. This presentation is probably a reminiscence of 1 Sam. 1.22-28; hence translations like ‘to dedicate’ (Brouwer) but this dedication is to be interpreted in the sense of ‘to bring in the presence of,’ cf. Acts 23.33.

V. 22 is taken up again in v. 24, the chain of thought being: (22) when the time for their purification came, they went to Jerusalem (24) to offer the prescribed sacrifice. Between these two clauses Luke inserts something else which disrupts this logical sequence and is much more important for Luke because it prepares the way for the recognition by the inspired Simeon of Jesus as Israel’s Messiah.

Translation:

When the time came for their purification, or ‘the purification day having-come’ (Balinese, derivation as in v. 21, leaving the person that are the objects of the purification unidentified), or, using a verbal clause, ‘on the day that they (or, his parents, or, Joseph and Mary) should be purified,’ ‘when they must cause-themselves-to-be-purified’ (Kituba), ‘when (they) should do ceremony to purify self’ (Thai, the subject idiomatically being left implicit). For purification, and ‘purify.’ Since removal of ritual uncleanness resulting from childbirth is rather widespread, the receptor language often provides an acceptable specific term; such a term, however, cannot be used here if its application is restricted to the purification of the mother only.

According to the law, or, ‘following the law,’ “stipulated by the Law” (Phillips), ‘that the Law required/prescribed,’ ‘as the law … has laid-down’ (Sranan Tongo). Law. Receptor language terminology may differentiate between two or more of the following pairs of contrasting concepts: customary law versus statute law, often coinciding with the contrast oral versus written code; secular versus religious law; tribal versus national or supranational law, either secular (e.g. law or custom of the tribe versus law of the national state), or religious (tribal religion versus one of the world religions). Between these pairs there may be considerable overlapping. The term chosen should preferably suggest a written code of behaviour, divinely inspired, and of at least national validity. A receptor language term (such as, ‘word/matter to be observed’ in Ekari, ‘decision/decree,’ a derivation of ‘to cut,’ in Shona 1966) may, even if originally linked up with another religion, permit sufficient expansion to cover the law of other peoples or religions, where necessary reinforced by a qualification such as ‘of the Jews.’ In some cases, however, such an expansion of meaning is impossible because the term, in question is exclusively associated with one specific religion. For that reason, probably, technical terms for the Muslim law have often proved unsatisfactory, e.g. in languages of Indonesia. Where no technical term is existent or acceptable, one may coin a descriptive phrase, e.g. ‘commands/ordinances/decisions of God,’ ‘written command’ (Mossi ), ‘laws/rules-(contained-in-)scripture’ (Marathi).

Of Moses. For the meaning if this construction see on “the law of the Lord” in v. 23. The name may require a title, ‘the prophet M..’

They brought him up, or, ‘they took Him along with them (lit. took-as-companion Him)’ (Tae,’ which can use this verb even when the ‘companion’ is as passive as a babe of six weeks), ‘they carried the child’ (Sranan Tongo, Kituba); idiom may require the use of a verb specifying the way of carrying (in the arms, on the shoulder etc.).

To present him to the Lord, or, ‘to place him before the Lord’s face’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘to show him to the Lord’ (Tae’). In Malay “to present” is rendered by the causative of a verb meaning ‘to be-in-front-of,’ hence ‘to have-an-audience with,’ ‘to pay-one’s-respects to.’

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.