Exegesis:

emphobōn de genomenōn autōn kai klinousōn ta prosōpa eis tēn gēn ‘when they became afraid/terrified and were bowing their faces to the ground.’ genomenōn is ingressive aorist and denotes the reaction to the appearance of the two men; klinousēn is present tense and denotes the attitude of the women at the moment when the men began to speak.

emphobos (also v. 37) ‘afraid, startled,’ ‘terrified.’

ti zēteite ton zōnta meta tōn nekrōn ‘why are you seeking the living one among the dead?’ The clause may express rebuke or mild criticism, preferably the latter. The use of the articles ton and tōn is probably due to the fact that the clause reflects proverbial sayings, though its meaning here is not to be taken literal.

Translation:

A shift from pronoun to noun and/or from subordination to co-ordination may be preferable, e.g. ‘The women became afraid and bowed … to the ground; (then/thereupon) the men said….’

They were frightened, see on “fear” in 1.12.

Bowed their faces to the ground, or, ‘they turned/made their faces towards the ground’ (Kele, Marathi). The phrase is sometimes rendered by one verb (several Indonesian languages). The rendering should express fear or confusion, rather than reverence or worship; hence, “lowered their eyes” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation), “stood with eyes cast down” (New English Bible, similarly Batak Toba).

Why do you seek, or, ‘you should not seek, or, look for, or, try to find.’

The living, or, ‘the living one,’ ‘the person who lives.’

Among the dead, or, ‘among dead people,’ ‘among corpses,’ ‘in the place of dead people’ (several Indonesian languages), ‘where dead people (or, corpses) are/lie.’

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.