Exegesis:
ezētēsan ‘they tried,’ cf. 19.47, here in the aorist because v. 19 describes the immediate reaction upon Jesus’ words in v. 18 (cf. en autē tē hōra, see below).
hoi archiereis, cf. on 9.22.
epibalein ep’ auton tas cheiras ‘to lay/get their hands on him,’ cf. 9.62. Here it is used in a hostile sense.
en autē tē hōra ‘at that very time,’ hence by extension, ‘then and there.’
kai ephobēthēsan ton laon ‘and they were afraid of the people.’ kai is used here because the clause is more or less a parenthesis between what precedes and its explanation. egnōsan gar ‘for they perceived, or, understood.’
pros autous ‘with reference to them,’ cf. ibid.; emphatic.
Translation:
Tried, cf. on “sought” in 5.18.
To lay hands on, or, “to arrest” (Good News Translation), ‘to take-hold-of/seize’ (Balinese; similarly Sranan Tongo, lit. ‘stretch forth the hand and seize’), or, since they will not be agents but initiators, ‘to cause to be seized.’
They feared the people. For the position of the clause see next entry. People, cf. on 7.29.
For they perceived … This clause (c) goes with clause (a), “they tried to lay hands on”, not with (b), “they feared”. If such a sentence structure is unacceptable, (c) may have to come before (b) (as e.g. in New English Bible, Good News Translation, Thai Trukese, Tzeltal, Toraja-Sa’dan); or one may repeat part of (a) before (c) in order to help the reader to make the right connexion, e.g. ‘they tried that, or, they tried to do so, because they perceived….’
He had told this parable against them, or, ‘he had aimed this parable at them, or, at their behaviour’ (cf. Balinese, Toraja-Sa’dan), ‘he had spoken this parable touching (i.e. causing embarrassment to) them’ (Thai), ‘Jesus had exposed/unmasked them in the parable’ (Kele), ‘he had been speaking about them in telling this parable’ (Shona 1966). In Javanese, where the term for ‘parable’ also means ‘allusion,’ one can use here a related verb, ‘they-themselves were-parabled/alluded-to by these words.’
From this verse onward some versions in honorific languages (such as Bengali) no longer use honorifics with reference to the Jewish leaders, because their malevolence has now become manifest; often, however, linguistic etiquette is such that all leaders, even malevolent ones, are entitled to honorifics.
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.