Mark 1 : 6

Greek opens with paired καὶ...δέ, a redundant connective pattern; the Vulgate renders only the initial copulative Et, while the Peshitta carries the adversative force in its own particle (see next group). The conjunctive nuance is distributed differently across the three witnesses.

Greek ἦν δέ places copula before particle; Syriac inverts with ܗܘ ܕܝܢ (pronoun + adversative δέ-equivalent), the standard Peshitta rendering of the Greek δέ. The Vulgate erat (token 1) corresponds verbally but lacks any adversative marker.

Greek uses a single perfect middle participle ἐνδεδυμένος ('having clothed himself'); the Peshitta unpacks this periphrastically as ܠܒܝܫ ܗܘܐ ܠܒܘܫܐ ('was clothed in a garment'), adding the cognate-accusative noun ܠܒܘܫܐ not present in Greek. The Latin vestitus (with erat shared from token 1) matches the Greek participial syntax more closely.

Greek and Latin specify τρίχας καμήλου / pilis cameli ('camel's hair', plural 'hairs'); the Peshitta collapses this to the single construct ܕܣܥܪܐ ܕܓܡܠܐ already partly counted with the garment noun, here representing ܕܓܡܠܐ ('of a camel'). The Syriac thus reads 'a garment of camel hair' rather than wearing 'hairs' directly.

Greek and Latin coordinate with simple καὶ / et; the Peshitta renders the second clause with a fresh periphrastic verb ܘܐܣܝܪ ܗܘܐ ('and was girded'), supplying an explicit verb where Greek relies on the prior participle and connective alone.

Greek περὶ τὴν ὀσφὺν αὐτοῦ and Latin circa lumbos ejus use a preposition + noun + possessive (Greek singular ὀσφύν, Latin plural lumbos); the Peshitta compresses all four Greek tokens into the single inflected form ܒܚܨܘܗܝ ('on his loins'), incorporating preposition and pronominal suffix synthetically as is typical of Syriac.

Greek continues the participial chain with καὶ ἐσθίων ('and eating'); the Peshitta breaks the structure into a nominal clause ܘܡܐܟܘܠܬܗ ܐܝܬܝܗ ܗܘܬ ('and his food was'), recasting the action as a description of diet. The Latin simply coordinates with et and defers its finite verb edebat to the clause's end.