Exegesis:
didaskale ‘teacher,’ cf. on 3.12.
Mōusēs egrapsen hēmin ‘Moses wrote for us,’ i.e. in Deut. 25.5-10, cf. on 5.14.
ean tinos adelphos apothanē echōn gunaika ‘if a man’s brother dies having a wife.’ echōn gunaika means ‘having a wife at the time of his death,’ hence ‘leaving a wife.’
sperma ‘offspring,’ cf. on 1.55.
kai houtos ateknos ē ‘and (if) this one (i.e. the brother) is childless,’ still modified by ean. ateknos also v. 29.
Translation:
Moses wrote for us, or ‘M. ordered us in the law, or, in Scripture,’ “M. wrote this law for us” (Good News Translation, similarly Balinese), ‘the law of Moses (see on 2.22f) tells us.’ Us, preferably inclusive.
If a man’s brother dies … the man must … The components of the sentence may have to be distributed differently, e.g. ‘if an older brother dies … the/his younger brother must…,’ ‘if a man has a brother who (or, and that brother) dies…, he (or, that man) must…’ (cf. Bible de Jérusalem); or one may have to introduce first some of the persons concerned, e.g. “if there are brothers, and one dies…, then the next should…” (New English Bible), ‘if there is a married couple, and the husband (lit. the male-one-of-it) dies … then the brother of the deceased must…’ (Balinese).
… brother dies, having (or leaving) a wife but no children, or, .’.. brother dies, who is married but has/leaves no children,’ .’.. married brother dies childless.’
Take the wife, or, ‘marry the deceased’s wife, or the widow,’ or, ‘take his sister-in-law as his wife’ (Thai). For ‘marry’ see on 14.20 and references. Where comparable customs are known a specific term for a levirate marriage may be available, e.g. in Javanese, where a verbal derivation of ‘pillow’ is used (probably referring to the pillow on which the first husband laid his head), or in Batak Toba, ‘to act-as-substitute-with-reference-to the wife.’ Elsewhere the custom described may be actually shocking, e.g. in Zarma, where marrying one’s brother’s wife is strictly forbidden. In such a case an explanatory note will be required.
And raise up children for his brother. Descriptive renderings used are, “and carry on his brother’s family” (New English Bible), ‘in order to continue his older brother’s family line’ (Thai), “so they can have children for the dead man” (Good News Translation), ‘in order that thus his older brother’s offspring may not be lost’ (Tzeltal), ‘that he may make flowers alive for his older brother’ (Uab Meto), ‘the children of that woman will be called the children of her dead husband’ (Tae’ 1933).
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.