Exegesis:
kai gar ‘for indeed,’ ‘for even,’ hence, “I know, for” (New English Bible), cf. on 1.66; introduces the explanation of what precedes.
egō anthrōpos eimi hupo exousian tassomenos ‘I (too) am a man set under authority.’ The main clause is egō anthrōpos eimi, ‘I am a man,’ i.e. either, ‘I am somebody,’ anthrōpos being almost equivalent to the indefinite pronoun, or, emphatically, ‘I am an ordinary human being.’ The latter appears preferable, cf. Plummer. The present tense of tassomenos is durative, ‘used to working under orders.’
hupo exousian tassō ‘to put under the command of.’ For exousia cf. on 4.6.
echōn hup’ emauton stratiōtas ‘having soldiers under me.’ This participial clause and the preceding one are best understood as semantically co-ordinate (cf. Revised Standard Version), each expressing one aspect of the centurion’s position. stratiōtēs also 23.36.
kai legō toutō, Poreuthēti, kai poreuetai ‘and I say to one, “go”, and he goes.’ houtos has lost its force as a demonstrative pronoun when used in combination with allos as here, ‘one … another.’ No specific meaning is to be attached to the aorist tense of poreuthēti. The semantic pattern of the two co-ordinate clauses kai legō…, poreuthēti and kai poreuetai is that the latter presupposes the former, ‘when I say…, go, … he goes.’ The same is true of the subsequent clauses.
kai tō doulō mou, Poiēson touto, kai poiei ‘and to my slave (I say), “do this”, and he does (it).’ touto does not refer to something specific.
Translation:
Set under authority, with soldiers under me, i.e. ‘under my authority.’ The contrast may be expressed by using passive :: active forms, or a semantically equivalent pair of verbs, e.g. ‘ordered by those in power and commanding soldiers’ (Batak Toba), or simply, ‘I am given orders and I give orders to (my) soldiers’ (cf. Shona 1966, Tzeltal), ‘I receive order from those above (or, officers/superiors) and give orders to my soldiers,’ ‘I obey orders from others and have soldiers under (my) orders’ (Kituba); Tboli has to expand the rendering, ‘there is a person higher than I, our “head”, and that one we obey. And there are soldiers I lead, and they obey me.’ Instead of the metaphor ‘above :: below’ some languages say ‘in front :: behind.’
‘Go,’ and he goes. The imperative is sometimes rendered by an adverb indicating movement away from the speaker (e.g. in Batak Toba); similarly for ‘come’ an adverb for movement towards the speaker. In Tboli the idiom is, ‘ “There (distant) now!”, true like the flash of a butterfly (i.e. he obeys in a flash).’
And to another … and to my slave … The words ‘I say’ may have to be added, as in Tboli, Sranan Tongo.
‘Come,’ and he comes. Here the Tboli idiom is, ‘ “Come!”, before the blink-of-an-eye, he is already here.’
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.