Exegesis:
genomenos de epi tou topou ‘when he reached the place.’ No previous reference to the place has been made and epi tou topou may be taken to mean either, ‘the usual place,’ or, ‘the place he had in mind,’ preferably the latter.
proseuchesthe mē eiselthein eis peirasmon lit. ‘pray not to come into temptation,’ i.e. ‘that you may not come into temptation.’ proseuchomai here with final infinitive to indicate that which is prayed for. The phrase eiselthein eis peirasmon is used in a figurative way (cf. 11.4).
Translation:
That you may not enter into temptation, though formally active, is semantically passive; hence renderings of the verb such as, “not be subjected” (An American Translation), “be spared” (New English Bible), ‘not fall into’ (Marathi), ‘not find/experience’ (Tzeltal); cf. also, ‘that you will not be made heavy’ (Kekchi, using an idiom for being tempted). Here God is the implied agent or initiator; in 11.4 God’s role is more explicitly indicated, because the prayer is addressed to him.
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.
