NUMBERS / ΑΡΙΘΜΟΙ 31

[Katow]

18 καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀπαρτίαν τῶν γυναικῶν, ἥτις οὐκ οἶδε κοίτην ἄρσενος, ζωγρήσατε αὐτάς.

The Vulgate makes it "...reservate vobis" KJV et cetera follow this.
Is that self-evident?
"αὐτάς" is accusative, and "ζωγρήσατε" is "capture/tear away alive".
Is the understanding of "αὐτάς" referring to the plurality of virgins out of the question?
To illustrate my problem:
In German you would refer to a Mannschaft (team) as "she" (jaja get over it)
while in English you would refer to the national team as "they" blundered again.
In German the grammatical numerus prevails while in English the natural ones.
If the Greeks (or Hebrews, for that matter) looked at it the English way, " αὐτάς" referring to the virgins would be a possibilty, wouldn't it?

[Barry Hofstetter]

18 καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀπαρτίαν τῶν γυναικῶν, ἥτις οὐκ οἶδε κοίτην ἄρσενος, ζωγρήσατε αὐτάς.

The Vulgate makes it "...reservate vobis" KJV et cetera follow this.
Is that self-evident?
"αὐτάς" is accusative, and "ζωγρήσατε" is "capture/tear away alive".
Is the understanding of "αὐτάς" referring to the plurality of virgins out of the question?
To illustrate my problem:
In German you would refer to a Mannschaft (team) as "she" (jaja get over it)
while in English you would refer to the national team as "they" blundered again.
In German the grammatical numerus prevails while in English the natural ones.
If the Greeks (or Hebrews, for that matter) looked at it the English way, " αὐτάς" referring to the virgins would be a possibilty, wouldn't it?

The KJV, does not follow the Vulgate, but the Vulgate and the KJV both reflect what the Hebrew says (as do modern translations). The LXX gives either a paraphrase or is following a different Vorlage. To answer your question, Greek does this often, a constructio ad sensum following what you have called the "natural" sense. It also does it "the German way" at times and you see formal agreement.

[Katow]

This was quick. Thank you very much. And from now on I have constructio ad sensum. Great.

[Katow]

18 καὶ πᾶσαν τὴν ἀπαρτίαν τῶν γυναικῶν, ἥτις οὐκ οἶδε κοίτην ἄρσενος, ζωγρήσατε αὐτάς.

The Vulgate makes it "...reservate vobis" KJV et cetera follow this.
Is that self-evident?
"αὐτάς" is accusative, and "ζωγρήσατε" is "capture/tear away alive".
Is the understanding of "αὐτάς" referring to the plurality of virgins out of the question?
To illustrate my problem:
In German you would refer to a Mannschaft (team) as "she" (jaja get over it)
while in English you would refer to the national team as "they" blundered again.
In German the grammatical numerus prevails while in English the natural ones.
If the Greeks (or Hebrews, for that matter) looked at it the English way, " αὐτάς" referring to the virgins would be a possibilty, wouldn't it?

The KJV, does not follow the Vulgate, but the Vulgate and the KJV both reflect what the Hebrew says (as do modern translations). The LXX gives either a paraphrase or is following a different Vorlage. To answer your question, Greek does this often, a constructio ad sensum following what you have called the "natural" sense. It also does it "the German way" at times and you see formal agreement.

The exaltation about your answer made me drop the ball. So: Does the verb "ζωγρήσατε" imply the "vobis" or "for yourselves" respectively. Or is the Hebrew clearer?

[Barry Hofstetter]

The exaltation about your answer made me drop the ball. So: Does the verb "ζωγρήσατε" imply the "vobis" or "for yourselves" respectively. Or is the Hebrew clearer?

ζωγρήσατε is second person plural imperative. "Take them alive." If it's "for yourselves" is not expressed, but must be determined by context.