Exegesis:
kai autos ‘and he,’ i.e. Jesus, indicating change of subject, without emphasis.
parēggeilen autō mēdeni eipein ‘(he) ordered him to tell nobody,’ presumably that he had been cured by Jesus.
paraggellō ‘to give orders,’ ‘to order’; when used in connexion with a negative (as here mēdeni) sometimes translated ‘to forbid.’
alla apelthōn deixon seauton tō hierei ‘but (he said) go and show yourself to the priest,’ with a sudden shift from indirect to direct discourse (cf. Acts 1.4; 23.22). apelthōn (participle) deixon (imperative) are to be treated as two imperatives.
kai prosenegke peri tou katharismou sou kathōs prosetaxen Mōüsēs lit. ‘and present concerning your cleansing (an offering) as Moses prescribed.’ For katharismos cf. on 2.14. Moses is here named as the author of the Pentateuch, i.e. of the law, and the clause is virtually equivalent to ‘the law tells us.’
prospherō ‘to bring,’ ‘to present,’ often of gifts to be sacrificed by a priest. Here it is used without an object, ‘to make an offering.’
prostassō ‘to order,’ ‘to prescribe.’
eis marturion autois ‘for evidence to them.’ autois is best interpreted as referring to the people in general.
marturion ‘testimony,’ ‘proof,’ ‘evidence.’
Translation:
He charged him to tell no one, or, ‘He forbade him to tell anyone’ (cf. Javanese), ‘he imposed-silence-upon him lest he should tell anyone’ (Batak Toba), or where direct discourse is preferable, ‘he ordered/told him, “Do not tell (this to) anyone” .’
Where an abrupt shift to direct discourse is stylistically undesirable it is usually best to insert ‘he said’ (cf. Exegesis), unless idiom requires direct discourse all through, see above. In receptor languages that have a graded system of honorific and reverential terms one may suppose that the leper was socially inferior to both Jesus and the priest, and that Jesus, in addressing the leper, referred to the priest in polite or reverential terms.
Go and show yourself to the priest, or, ‘go to the priest and show yourself to him.’ Show yourself, i.e. cause (or, ask) to look over, cf. “let him examine you” (Good News Translation). For priest see on 1.5.
Make an offering for your cleansing, as Moses commanded. In Balinese the translator can use the verbal derivation mentioned in the note on 2.21, ‘present your purification offering (lit. offering-of being-taken-away your stain) according to M.’s command.’ — Make an offering … as, or, ‘bring/present/put-down an offering … as (or, the offering … that)’; ‘bring/present/offer a sacrifice (see on 2.24) … as.’ For offering a term for ‘gift,’ ‘what-is-given,’ can often be used, especially a gift offered in token of homage, as in Bahasa Indonesia (which uses a derivation of the word for the gesture mentioned in the note on 4.7), or Toraja-Sa’dan (lit. ‘something-offered-on-the-palms-of-the hand’); some other renderings are, ‘blessed thing’ (Kpelle), ‘gift to God from the heart’ (San Blas Kuna). — As Moses commanded may have to be adjusted, e.g. ‘as ordered/prescribed in the law of Moses’ (for which cf. on 2.22f), or, ‘as M. told us (inclus.)/ the people to do’; and cf. on 4.3.
For a proof to the people, i.e. ‘to the public,’ ‘to everyone,’ usually requires rather radical adjustments, e.g. ‘that people may be certain’ (Tae’ 1933), ‘so that the truth may be clear to the people’ (cf. Kekchi), “to prove to everyone that you are now clean” (Good News Translation). The phrase may better become a co-ordinated sentence, e.g. ‘This will be a proof….’
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.