Exegesis:
ēsthion, epinon, egamoun, egamizonto ‘they ate, drank, married, were married.’ The asyndetic verbs in the imperfect tense depict the steady flow of normal life. For eating and drinking cf. on 5.30. For gameō cf. on 14.20.
gamizomai (also 20.35) ‘to be given in marriage,’ ‘to be married,’ of women.
achri hēs hēmeras ‘till the day on which,’ cf. on 1.20, and note the singular hēmeras as contrasted with the plural hēmerais in v. 26.
eis tēn kibōton ‘into the ark.’
kibōtos ‘ark,’ i.e. a floating house, cf. IDB I, 222.
kai ēlthen ho kataklusmos kai apōlesen pantas ‘and the flood came and destroyed all.’ The clause is best understood as being independent and not modified by achri hēs hēmeras, cf. Plummer. pantas refers to the subject of ēsthion etc.
kataklusmos ‘flood,’ ‘deluge.’
Translation:
They, or, ‘everybody,’ ‘people,’ referring to Noah’s contemporaries.
The series of verbs may better be rendered in pairs; similarly in the next verse.
They married, they were given in marriage, describing the event from the viewpoint of the man and of the woman, respectively. Some renderings used lit. mean, ‘married and caused-to-marry’ (Bahasa Indonesia), ‘took wife and were-caused-to-take-husband’ (Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘acquired (wives) and were-acquired (by husbands)’ (Shona 1963), ‘paid-the-bride-price and had-the-bride-price-for-them’ (Shona 1966, similarly Batak Toba), ‘took-wife, took-husband’ (Tae’ 1933, and, in reversed order, Javanese); or, using one verb, ‘men and women married’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘they married-each-other’ (Trukese, Pohnpeian, Kituba). The reference is not to marriages arranged by partners themselves versus marriages contracted through intermediaries (as a literal rendering would mean in Tagalog), nor to two stages in the marriage process, the actual marriage and the negotiations leading up to it. For various renderings of to marry cf. also 14.20, and references.
Entered, cf. on “getting into” in 5.3.
Ark, or, ‘big boat/ship.’
The flood came, or, ‘overflowing water, or, a sweeping flood, or, a heavy rainstorm, or, much rain came’ (cf. East Nyanja, Yao, Trukese, Shona). Elsewhere a specific term for a mythical flood is available, e.g. in Marathi, Zarma, West Nyanja. Further necessary adjustments may lead to something like, ‘it flooded’ (Tagalog), ‘the water (of the sea/rivers) rose (or, overflowed the land).’
Destroyed them, or, ‘made-perish/killed/drowned them.’
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.