Hebrews 11:28 reads:
πίστει πεποίηκεν τὸ πάσχα καὶ τὴν πρόσχυσιν τοῦ αἵματος, ἵνα μὴ ὁ ὀλοθρεύων τὰ πρωτότοκα θίγῃ αὐτῶν. (SBL)
The majority of translations render the second clause of this verse something like this:
...so that the destroyer of firstborns might not touch them.
Yet some translations (i.e., NLT) render it:
...so that the angel of death would not kill their firstborn sons.
According to BDAG, the verb θίγῃ (θιγγάνω, touch) takes a genitive object (touch τινός), and thus τὰ πρωτότοκα (the firstborns) cannot be the object of θιγγάνω, but is the object of the participle ὁ ὀλοθρεύων (the destroyer). Thus αὐτῶν would be the object of θίγῃ. This is how most translations render the Greek.
The rendering of the NLT is attractive because rendering αὐτῶν as an object seems to leave it without a clear referent in the context. However, the NLT's translation would only be possible if θιγγάνω can also take an accusative object.
Is there evidence for θιγγάνω taking an accusative object? Is there anything that might support such a translation, or should we conclude that the NLT and similar translations are mistaken?