41.13 A Greek speaker uses the imperative mood in the third person to convey to the listener(s) a command for someone else to do something. English has only a few phrases that preserve 3rd person commands, such as:
- Someone help him!
- No one move!
When translating the Greek, the helper verb let is one way to translate the idea:
- Let someone else do it!
- Let it be done!
3rd person imperative endings of both the PRESENT and FIRST/SECOND AORIST:
- singular: –τω (active) –σθω (middle)
- plural: –ντων (active) –σθων (middle)
- –τωσαν (active) and (–σθωσαν) become more common in later Classical and Koine Greek.
41.14 3rd PERSON PRESENT TENSE SINGULAR:
- λυέτω τοὺς ἵππους. (active)
- Let him/her release the horses.
- He is to release the horses.
- λυέσθω τοὺς ἵππους. (middle)
- Let him/her ransom the horses.
- He is to ransom the horses.
41.15 3rd PERSON PRESENT TENSE PLURAL:
- λυόντων τοὺς ἵππους. (active)
- Let them release the horses.
- They are to release the horses.
- λυέσθων τοὺς ἵππους. (middle)
- Let them ransom the horses.
- They are to ransom the horses.