Exegesis:
didote, kai dothēsetai humin ‘give and it will be given to you.’ How much will be given is described in the following clause.
metron kalon pepiesmenon sesaleumenon huperekchunnomenon dōsousin eis ton kolpon humōn ‘a good measure, pressed down, shaken together (and) running over they will give into the fold of your garment.’ The reference is to corn being poured out into a fold of a garment overhanging a girdle. dōsousin may refer to human agents or be an impersonal construction used to avoid the name of God. The latter is preferable, since it is consistent with v. 36 and does justice to the fact that the description of the ‘good measure’ points to a more than human generosity (other examples of this impersonal construction in 12.20, 48 and 16.9).
metron ‘measure,’ here a measure of capacity. metron kalon ‘good measure,’ i.e. generous, not scanty.
pepiesmenon ‘pressed down’ (by hand rather than by treading), in order that the contents may fill all the space in the container.
saleuō ‘to shake,’ ‘to drive to and fro.’ Here of grain which is shaken together, i.e. moved to and fro in order to make it shrink.
huperekchunnomenon ‘overflowing.’ Note the present tense: after the grain has been properly pressed down and shaken together somebody pours more corn into the container to fill the empty space till it flows over.
kolpos (also 16.22f) ‘bosom,’ or ‘fold of a garment overhanging a girdle,’ used as a pocket.
hō gar metrō metreite ‘for with what measure you measure,’ i.e. the measure you use with regard to others, referring back to the imperatives of vv. 37f. metron here ‘measuring instrument.’
metreō ‘to measure,’ ‘to give out.’
antimetrēthēsetai humin “it will be measured to you in return” (Translator’s New Testament). The clause is best understood as an implicit injunction: give as God gives, in abundance.
Translation:
Give, or if objects are required, ‘give others a gift/something/what they need.’
It will be given to you, or again. ‘God will give it to you’ (cf. Good News Translation).
Good measure, or ‘full/complete measure,’ ‘true measure’ (Tae’). The noun may be rendered by the name of any object used in the receptor culture as measure of capacity, e.g. ‘half-coconut-shell,’ ‘sack’ (Sranan Tongo).
Running over, or, ‘full to over-flowing’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘piled/heaped up’ (East and Toraja-Sa’dan).
Will be put, or, ‘poured/given’; or ‘God/he will put (etc.).’
Into your lap. Cultural equivalents may be available, e.g. ‘in the fold of your garment’ (Marathi), ‘in your klofoy (a large fold of the skirt hanging down from the waist)’ (Tboli). Where this is not the case it usually is best simply to say, ‘to you’ (e.g. Ekari, Pohnpeian, Kele, Tae’).
The measure you give will be the measure you get back, or, ‘the measure you use for (or, to give something to) others will be used for (or, id.) you (by God)’; or, not to suggest exact reciprocity, ‘use as full/good a measure for others, as God uses for you,’ ‘measure/give out to others fully, as God measures/gives out to you.’
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.