Exegesis:

kai tēde ēn adelphē kaloumenē Mariam ‘and she had a sister called Mary.’ The demonstrative pronoun tēde has the force of a personal pronoun.

[hē] kai parakathestheisa pros tous podas tou kuriou ‘who, seated at the feet of the Lord.’ kai after the relative pronoun serves to focus the attention on what follows (cf. also v. 30). pros tous podas may reflect the attitude of the pupil who listens to his teacher (cf. Acts 22.3), or is due to the situation at the table where Jesus was reclining (cf. Schlatter), probably the latter. For ho kurios cf. on 1.6.

parakathezomai ‘to sit down,’ ‘to take one’s place (beside somebody).’

ēkouen ton logon autou ‘listened to his word,’ i.e. to what he said. ēkouen is durative imperfect.

Translation:

She had a sister called Mary, who sat …, or in two sentences, ‘she had a sister called M.; this one sat…’; or, better to show that Mary is now in focus, ‘her sister (or, a sister of hers), Mary, sat…’ (cf. Batak Toba, Balinese). Mary probably was Martha’s younger sister (by the same parents), which has been made explicit e.g. in Tae’ 1933, Batak Toba, and Navajo; cf. also on “brother” in 6.14.

Sat at the Lord’s feet, or, ‘sat before/beside/near to Jesus,’ ‘sat in Jesus’ presence’; in Tzeltal idiom requires ‘sat below/at-the-bottom-of the Lord’s feet.’

For listened see on “to hear” in 1.41.

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.