Exegesis:
ho de Iēsous eporeueto sun autois ‘and Jesus went with them.’ The clause implies tacitly that Jesus complied with their request. The imperfect tense of eporeueto portrays Jesus’ action of going with them as still lasting on when happens that which the subsequent clause describes.
ēdē de autou ou makran apechontos apo tēs oikias ‘but when he was already not far from the house.’ ēdē is emphatic: already he had reached a point where he was not far from the house. makran also 15.20.
epempsen philous ho hekatontarchēs legōn ‘the centurion sent friends saying,’ i.e. to Jesus (cf. Revised Standard Version). For this construction cf. on v. 3.
mē skullou ‘do not trouble yourself,’ in the present context implying ‘do not trouble yourself any further’ (cf. New English Bible).
skullō (also 8.49) ‘to trouble’; hence in the passive ‘to trouble oneself.’
ou gar hikanos eimi hina … eiselthēs ‘for I am not worthy that you come…’ For hikanos cf. on 3.16; here it is synonymous with axios in v. 4.
hina hupo tēn stegēn mou eiselthēs ‘that you come under my roof,’ i.e. into my house.
stegē ‘roof.’
Translation:
And, or, ‘so,’ ‘accordingly.’
Not far from, preferably, ‘already not far from,’ or, ‘already close to,’ ‘no longer far from’; cf. also “had nearly reached” (The Four Gospels – a New Translation).
The house, or, ‘his/the centurion’s house.’
Saying to him, “…”. In contrast to v. 3 the message (vv. 6b ff) is given in direct discourse and as though the centurion himself is speaking.
Friend, also in 7.34; 11.5f, 8; 12.4; 14.12; 15.6, 9 (feminine), 29; 16.9; 21.16; 23.12; and, as form of address, in 11.5c (which see) and 14.10. The noun indicates a relationship of mutual affection and/or obligations, dependent on personal choice or social circumstances, rather than on family ties, or on local circumstances (as is the case with ‘relative/brother’ and ‘neighbour’ respectively). The rendering may also cover the concepts ‘companion’ or ‘associate,’ or be a descriptive phrase, e.g. here ‘people who liked/esteemed him.’
Lord, cf. on 1.6 (d).
Do not trouble yourself, or, ‘do not make-tired-yourself’ (Tae’), ‘do not make-it-difficult (for) yourself’ (Sranan Tongo). In Chuukesethe polite way to put this is, ‘do not continue to do something you don’t want to do,’ and cf. on 8.49.
I am not worthy to have you come …, or, ‘my worthiness is not (so) much that you should come’ (cf. Marathi), ‘I am not fit to receive/welcome you’ (Bahasa Indonesia KB); and cf. on “worthy” in v. 4b. In some cases, however, the negative phrase is more idiomatically rendered by giving it another turn, cf. “it is not for me to have you…” (New English Bible), ‘I am not a person whose house you should enter’ (Tae’ 1933).
Come under my roof, or, ‘come under the roof of my house,’ ‘enter my house’ (Shona, where a literal rendering would suggest that a person has a roof attached to him), ‘set-foot-on my-stair’ (Toraja-Sa’dan); Sranan Tongo has ‘under my roof,’ but ‘under my verandah/porch’ would have been a slightly more common idiom. Marathi has a word meaning both ‘hut’ and ‘rood,’ and used, depreciatingly, for ‘house’; with the same connotation Balinese uses ‘shed,’ lit. ‘what-is-supported-on-forked-stakes.’
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.