Exegesis:

ereite tō oikodespotē tēs oikias ‘you must say to the master of the house.’ ereite is future with the force of an imperative. oikodespotēs itself means ‘master of the house’ (cf. 12.39), and the addition of the genitive tēs oikias has deictic function.

legei soi ho didaskalos ‘the teacher says to you,’ i.e. ‘sends this message to you,’ or ‘asks you.’

pou estin to kataluma ‘where is the room?’

hopou to pascha … phagō ‘where I may eat the passover meal.’ The subjunctive phagō has final implication.

Translation:

The verse contains quotation on three levels. On level (1) Jesus speaks to the two disciples about the householder; on levels (2) and (3) the actual speaker, of course, is Jesus also, but on (2) the presumed speakers are the two disciples, who speak to the householder about Jesus, whereas on (3) the presumed speaker is Jesus, but now speaking by the mouth of his disciples. In some cases it is preferable to reword the sentence in such a way that the disciples are the presumed speakers both on level (2) and on level (3), e.g. ‘tell the householder, “The Teacher orders us to ask you where the room is in which he will/may eat … with his disciples” ,’ or that Jesus is the actual speaker on all three levels, .’.. that I, whom people call the(ir) Teacher, ask him, “Where … in which I will/may eat … with my disciples” ’; cf. also, “tell the owner … that the Master wishes to know which is the room where he … can eat … with his disciples” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation). For a comparable case (with two levels) and for problems of honorifics cf. on “The Lord has need of it” in 19.31 and references.

The householder, or, ‘the master/owner of that house,’ ‘the head of the household there.’

The Teacher may have to become ‘our teacher,’ cf. on “the Lord” in 19.31.

Guest room, or simply, ‘room,’ ‘place’; which may lead to further simplification of the clause, e.g. ‘where is it that I am to eat,’ ‘where am I to eat.’

I am to eat … with my disciples, or, as a compound subject, ‘I and my disciples are to eat.’ Requirements of linguistic etiquette may make it preferable, then, to reverse the word order, cf. “my disciples and I will eat” (Good News Translation).

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.