Exegesis:
ōphthē de autō ‘and there appeared to him.’ The word order of the Greek, when retained in translation, necessitates expletive ‘there.’
ōphthē, passive form of horaō ‘to see,’ is used here and 9.31; 22.43; 24.34, in the meaning ‘to appear,’ of beings who make their appearance in a supernatural manner. The term denotes an objective appearance, not a subjective vision, as is shown by its frequent usage with reference to appearances of the risen Christ (cf. 24.34; Acts 13.31; 1 Cor. 15.5, 6, 7, 8).
aggelos ‘angel,’ of celestial messengers sent by God (chs. 1 and 2; 4.10; 22.43; 24.23), of celestial beings who are with God in heaven (9.26; 12.8, 9; 15.10; 16.22), or of human messengers (7.24, 27; 9.52).
hestōs ek dexiōn tou thusiastēriou tou thumiamatos ‘standing on the right side of the incense-altar,’ in apposition to aggelos kuriou and hence translated as a relative clause by Zürcher Bibel and Menge. The emphasis is not so much on ‘standing erect’ as an indication of the bodily position, as on ‘being there.’ Hence Phillips omits ‘standing’ and makes the rest of the phrase an adverbial expression with ‘appeared.’
dexios ‘right’ as contrasted with left. The right side is the place of honour (cf. Mt. 25.33, Lk. 22.69, Acts 7.55, Rom. 8.34) and stresses here the dignity of the angel.
thusiastērion (also 11.51) ‘altar.’ The following genitive tou thumiamatos is definitive, ‘the incense-offering.’
Translation:
And there appeared to him an angel …, or, ‘on that moment (or, then) an angel showed himself to him (or, came into his view).’ Him, or, ‘Zechariah,’ for a reason similar to that in v. 8, or because the distance from the proper name is too long for pronominal reference, as in Thai.
Angel of the Lord. Two of the common renderings of ‘angel’ are ‘messenger,’ ‘sent-one,’ specified by ‘of God,’ ‘holy,’ or ‘from heaven/heavenly.’ In the present phrase (also in 2.9, and cf. “his angels” in 4.10, and “angel of God” in 12.8f; 15.10) the first mentioned specification is often, the second or the third in some cases, omitted, because ‘of the Lord’ already specifies the character of the messenger. For other occurrences of “angel” see Exegesis.
On the right side of. A literal rendering of this phrase may be unacceptable, because (1) the ‘right side’ has an unfavourable connotation, or (2) the phrase ‘at the right, or left, side/hand’ is customarily used only in speaking of living beings, but never, or only exceptionally, of objects. In case (1) the translator may substitute a functional rendering, e.g. ‘at the place of honour,’ or he may add the function, e.g. ‘at the right side of … and so honoured’ (Isthmus Zapotec, in 1 Pet. 3.22). In case (2) the translator will try to use the indigenous way of indicating a local relationship, e.g. ‘at the southern side of.’ If such a rendering also has a favourable connotation (as ‘southern (lit. upstream) side’ would have in North Bali), he has translational luck; if it is unfavourable (as it would be in South Bali), he may shift the point of orientation, and say that the angel had the altar at his left (Shipibo-Conibo), or, if this would exclude the figurative interpretation, he may use a functional rendering, which in Shipibo-Conibo would lead to, ‘nicely-beside (i.e. at the honourable side of).’
Altar of incense. In Balinese the phrase has been rendered by a derivation of ‘to smoke (fragrant spices),’ i.e. ‘place-for-smoking.’
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.