Exegesis:
to de eis tas akanthas peson ‘and what fell among the thorns,’ or, ‘as for what fell among the thorns,’ taking to … peson as an accusative of reference (cf. Revised Standard Version, Translator’s New Testament). The latter is possible but not necessary. The shift from the masculine to the neuter is remarkable but hardly influences the meaning of the clause since to … peson is taken up by the masculine houtoi.
houtoi eisin hoi akousantes, kai … sumpnigontai ‘those are the people who hear, and … they are choked.’ Same structure as in v. 12, and best rendered in a similar way, e.g. ‘those are the people who hear (the word) and (later on) are choked.’
hupo merimnōn kai ploutou kai hēdonōn tou biou ‘by the worries and wealth and pleasures of life.’ tou biou may go with all three nouns, or with hēdonōn only. The former is preferable, and bios is best understood in its most general meaning, i.e. human, or, earthly life.
merimna (also 21.34) ‘anxiety,’ ‘worry.’
ploutos ‘wealth,’ ‘riches.’
hēdonē ‘pleasure.’
poreuomenoi sumpnigontai ‘going (their way), i.e. in the course of time, they are choked.’ poreuomenoi serves to convey the idea that the choking is a gradual process which takes time.
sumpnigō ‘to choke,’ in v. 42 ‘to press around somebody,’ here equivalent to apopnigō in v. 7.
kai ou telesphorousin ‘and they do not bear (fruit) to maturity,’ rather than ‘they do not come to maturity’ (Willibrord, cf. Klostermann). telesphoreō.
Translation:
As they go on their way, or, ‘on the long run’ (Nieuwe Vertaling), ‘the longer (it) lasts-the-more’ (Balinese), ‘foot by foot’ (Sranan Tongo), and cf. New English Bible, transposing the expression, “but their further growth is choked”.
They are choked by the cares and riches and pleasures of life. Some adjustments that may be necessary are, (1) a shift to an active construction with the three nouns as subjects (e.g. in Sranan Tongo, Kituba, Zarma); (2) the repetition of the verb, or a synonym, which will lead to the use of two or three verbal clauses (e.g. in Cuyono and Tboli respectively); (3) transposition and/or repetition of the term for ‘life,’ cf. e.g. ‘in (the pursuit of) worldly cares, wealth, and pleasures their growth is stunted’ (Marathi), ‘the business of this life and its riches, and the things of life’s pleasure … they choke it’ (Zarma); (4) a shift from nouns to verbal phrases, e.g. ‘by the fact that (or, because) they have cares (or, are anxious, or, worry), and are rich (or, have many possessions), and love pleasure (or, enjoy themselves) in life.’ — Choked, used in its literal sense in v. 7, but metaphorically here; hence one may, again, have to make explicit the underlying simile, or to shift to an expression that is better applicable to persons, e.g. ‘overcome/defeated’ (Cuyono, Tzeltal), ‘strangled’ (Sranan Tongo), ‘cornered’ (Batak Toba), and cf. Marathi (above). Cares, or, ‘worries,’ or in a descriptive phrase, ‘things that concern them very much’ (Cuyono), ‘thinking over things they lack’ (Tzeltal), and below on 21.34. Of life characterizes the cares etc. as belonging to human/earthly life only; hence, ‘worldly.’ The phrase “pleasures of life” has been rendered by, ‘that which satisfies the breath’ in Tboli, and ‘visible joys’ (i.e. joys belonging to this visible world as opposed to the invisible, supernatural world) in Balinese.
Their fruit does not mature, or, ‘become ripe,’ or, ‘they do not bear/give ripe fruit’ (Marathi); for ‘to bear fruit’ cf. on 3.8f. Non-metaphorically one may say something like, ‘they do not produce good results,’ ‘it does not come to completion (lit. is-not-able-to-finish)’ (Tboli), ‘they do not develop fully.’
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.