This is a question for anyone that can read Koine Greek and hopefully is also familiar with the works of Josephus. I have read somewhere and was wondering if it was true that Josephus made many grammatical errors in his writings in Greek, in general. Also, more specifically, there is one passage in Wars of the Jews, Book V, 6:2 where in the Whiston English translation he says "the timber was carrying to raise the banks". This seems like an obvious typo but I was wondering if it is that way in the original and repeated in Whiston and corrected by other translators or whether this error was likely introduced by Whiston? Did Josephus really make so many grammatical errors? Thanks.
I looked up the passage you mentioned. Here's the Greek:
[264] κοπτομένων δὲ τῶν δένδρων τὰ προάστεια μὲν ἐν τάχει γεγύμνωτο, συμφερομένων δ᾽ ἐπὶ τὰ χώματα τῶν ξύλων καὶ τῆς στρατιᾶς ἁπάσης ἐπὶ τὸ ἔργον ὡρμημένης οὐδὲ τὰ παρὰ τῶν Ἰουδαίων ἠρέμει.
Here's Whiston's translation:
So the trees were now cut down immediately, and the suburbs left naked. But now while the timber was carrying to raise the banks, and the whole army was earnestly engaged in their works, the Jews were not, however, quiet;
There's nothing ungrammatical in the Greek. It's odd the way Whiston has 'the timber was carrying', when it's more like 'the timber was being brought together", but it may be more a feature of Whiston's english than anything else.
So, there's no grammatical error here in the Greek, it's perfectly fine. Josephus overall is grammatically solid, I don't know where you've heard this supposed position that his grammar is poor.
... and is this the best place to be looking for help from Koine Greek speakers (readers)?