Exegesis:

egeneto de apothanein ton ptōchon ‘it happened that the beggar died,’ cf. on 1.8. As to its function egeneto de may be placed under (2) or (4) of the list given there, preferably the latter.

kai apenechthēnai auton hupo tōn aggelōn eis ton kolpon Abraam ‘and that he was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom,’ dependent upon egeneto.

apopherō ‘to lead away,’ ‘to carry away,’ here of the carrying away of the soul after death. The identity of a man and his soul is expressed by the fact that auton is subject of apenechthēnai.

kolpos (cf. on 6.38) here ‘bosom.’ The phrase eis ton kolpon Abraam is best understood as referring to the place next to Abraham while reclining at the table, cf. Mt. 8.11, Jn. 13.23.

apethanen de kai ho plousios kai etaphē ‘the rich man also died and was buried,’ without details or indication of place. No significance is to be attached to the fact that the rich man’s burial is mentioned and the beggar’s not.

Translation:

Was carried by the angels to goes with “the poor man”. But it may be impossible thus to refer to a deceased person in the same way as to a living person, e.g. in Toraja-Sa’dan, where the subject of the sentence must be ‘his soul’ (i.e. what leaves the body at death, and continues the deceased’s personality in the Land of the Souls). To carry (away) to is sometimes better rendered by two verbs, cf. e.g. ‘to take-up/away…, (and) bring to’ (Malay), and in some languages only things can be said ‘to be carried,’ whereas personal entities, including ‘souls,’ require another verb, cf. e.g. ‘to lead/take-with-one, or, to accompany…, (and) put-(down-)at’ (Balinese, Toraja-Sa’dan).

To Abraham’s bosom is, as a rule, better not rendered literally: hence, ‘put in Abr.’s hands’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘to sit with Abr.’ (Tae’), “to Abr.’s side” (Good News Translation), ‘near Abr.’ (Kekchi).

Buried, cf. on 9.59.

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.