Exegesis:

alla ti exēthate idein? ‘but what did you go out to see?’ alla implies that the answer to the last question of v. 24 is, ‘of course not.’

anthrōpon en malakois himatiois ēmphiesmenon ‘a man dressed in soft garments.’ Probably a contrastive allusion to John’s way of dressing as described in Mk. 1.6 and Mt. 3.4. Again the implied answer to the question is, ‘of course not.’

malakos ‘soft,’ has the connotation of ‘luxurious,’ ‘fine’ (cf. An American Translation).

amphiennumi ‘to dress,’ ‘to clothe.’

idou ‘behold,’ serves to lend emphasis to what follows.

hoi en himatismō endoxō kai truphē huparchontes ‘those who are in splendid apparel and in luxury.’

himatismos (also 9.29) ‘clothing,’ ‘apparel.’

endoxos (also 13.17) ‘splendid,’ ‘gorgeous.’

truphē ‘luxury,’ ‘splendour.’

huparchō ‘to exist,’ ‘to be at one’s disposal,’ often simply a substitute for eimi ‘to be.’

en tois basileiois eisin ‘are, or, live in (royal) palaces.’

basileios ‘royal,’ here used as a substantive in the neuter plural, ‘(royal) palace.’

Translation:

For remarks on syntax and clause structure cf. on v. 24.

In what then did you…?, or, ‘but what did you…?’ the word ‘then,’ or ‘but,’ serves to introduce a further question that mentions a comparable possibility. If the preceding phrase has been rendered as a rhetorical question, it may be preferable to say, ‘if that is not so (or, if not), what did you…?.’

A man clothed in soft raiment, or, ‘a man in (or, who wears) soft/fine/splendid clothes’; the reference probably is primarily to outer clothing or adornment. The term for “clothes” may basically be a word meaning ‘what covers the body’ (Tae’), ‘what-is-used’ (Javanese, Bahasa Indonesia).

Gorgeously apparelled is virtually synonymous with the preceding “clothed in soft raiment”; hence, the renderings may have to coincide, cf. e.g. ‘having beautiful clothing/adornment’ (Toraja-Sa’dan).

Live in luxury has been rendered by such phrases as, ‘their lives are “choosy” ,’ i.e. they have a wide choice of food and clothing (Trukese, Pohnpeian), ‘they enjoy themselves (by amusements etc.)’ (Marathi), ‘the big life of them is passing the mark’ (Sranan Tongo), or, referring to food only, ‘they continually eat nice food’ (Western Highland Purepecha), ‘they receive all-kinds-of delicacies’ (Toraja-Sa’dan).

Kings’ courts, or, ‘houses of princes/nobles’ (Batak Toba, Balinese).

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.