| 22 | Another brutalized verse.
- οὐκ ἐμολύνθησαν is not a participle verb, i.e. "ones who have not been defiled" but an aorist indicitive passive 3rd person plural that means "they have not been stained."
- μετὰ "together with/in company with/after" is not the word you would use to express "defiled from" or "defiled because of". In Ancient Greek, the use of "μετά" (meta) to indicate a cause or consequence—like "defiled through women"—is not typical. "Meta" is more commonly used to express notions of "with," "after," or "beyond" rather than as a preposition to indicate source or causation.
- παρθένος (parthénos) means "maiden," "girl," or "virgin." It refers to a young, unmarried woman.
- The plural παρθένοι is a feminine plural, not masculine plural noun.
- In Homer's Iliad (Il. 22.127), it describes a maiden. In Sophocles' plays, for example, in S. OT 1462, it is used to say "my unhappy girls," referring to maidens. In Id. Tr. 148, it is contrasted with γυνή (gunē), which means "woman" or "wife."
- In Laconian dialect, it’s παρσένος. The term can also refer to specific figures in mythology, like Persephone or the Sphinx, indicating their status as maidens or virgins.
- It is also the constellation Virgo.
- Scholars, religious and secular alike, created an "analagous" definition, i.e. "celibate man" or "unmarried man" based entirely off of this one verse (and passage), and thus put the real meaning completely out of view. "Maiden" was never used to describe a "man" anywhere in Greek literature.
- The Greek ἀπὸ means "away from" not "among."
Bias dictated the traditional interpretation of this passage and completely usurped common sense. |