Mark 2 : 17

Greek uses paratactic Καὶ + aorist participle (ἀκούσας, 'having heard'); the Peshitta employs the temporal subordinator ܟܕ + perfect verb ('when he heard'); the Vulgate renders an ablative absolute (Hoc audito, 'this having been heard'). All three express the same temporal-circumstantial idea through distinct syntactic mechanisms.

Greek supplies the definite article ὁ before the proper name Ἰησοῦς, a normal Greek convention; neither Syriac ܝܫܘܥ nor Latin Jesus marks the article, since both languages lack this articular usage with personal names.

The Greek recitative ὅτι, introducing direct discourse (functionally equivalent to opening quotation marks), is untranslated in both the Peshitta and the Vulgate, as is standard since neither idiom requires an overt marker before reported speech.

Greek expresses the predicate analytically with χρείαν ἔχουσιν ('have need'), matched by the Vulgate's necesse habent; the Peshitta condenses this into the single stative verb ܣܢܝܩܝܢ ('they need'), a lexicalised idiom for want or necessity.

Greek uses an articular substantival participle οἱ ἰσχύοντες ('those being strong'); the Vulgate substantivises the adjective sani ('the healthy'); the Peshitta uses the plain adjective ܚܠܝܡܐ ('the well/sound'), each expressing the class of healthy persons through different morpho-syntactic means.

Greek marks the object of need with the genitive ἰατροῦ ('of a physician'); the Vulgate uses the dative medico; the Peshitta prefixes the preposition ܥܠ before ܐܣܝܐ, governing the noun prepositionally as the Syriac verb ܣܢܩ regularly requires.

Greek κακῶς ἔχοντες ('those being ill', adverb + participle of ἔχω) is matched closely by the Vulgate's qui male habent (relative clause + adverb); the Peshitta expands to ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܒܝܫ ܒܝܫ ܥܒܝܕܝܢ, literally 'those who are made very badly off', using the reduplicated ܒܝܫ ('bad') as an intensifier and the passive participle of ܥܒܕ to form a periphrastic Syriac idiom for being seriously sick.

Greek οὐκ ἦλθον and Syriac ܠܐ ܐܬܝܬ both read 'I came not'; the Vulgate adds the explanatory particle enim ('for') between non and veni, supplying a causal nuance absent in the Greek and Syriac witnesses.

The Greek closes with εἰς μετάνοιαν ('to repentance'), absent in both the Peshitta and the Vulgate, which terminate the saying at 'sinners'. The shorter reading reflects the parallel at Matt 9:13 and Mark 2:17, where εἰς μετάνοιαν is also lacking; the Lukan addition (cf. Luke 5:32) appears to have intruded into part of the Greek tradition here while the Syriac and Latin preserve the shorter form.