The Greek imperfect ἔλεγεν ('he was saying') is matched by the Latin imperfect dicebat, both conveying durative or repeated speech; the Syriac ܘܐܡܪ is a simple perfect bundled with the conjunction, lacking the explicit imperfective nuance.
EN He said to them, “Is the lamp brought to be put under a basket or under a bed? Isn’t it put on a stand?
ES También les dijo: ¿Tráese la antorcha para ser puesta debajo del almud, ó debajo de la cama? ¿No es para ser puesta en el candelero?
ZH-HANS 耶稣又对他们说:「人拿灯来,岂是要放在斗底下,床底下,不放在灯台上吗?
ZH-HANT 耶穌又對他們說:「人拿燈來,豈是要放在斗底下,床底下,不放在燈臺上嗎?
The Greek imperfect ἔλεγεν ('he was saying') is matched by the Latin imperfect dicebat, both conveying durative or repeated speech; the Syriac ܘܐܡܪ is a simple perfect bundled with the conjunction, lacking the explicit imperfective nuance.
Greek introduces direct discourse with recitative ὅτι followed by a colon; the Vulgate marks the same with a bare colon. The Syriac has no separate particle here, folding the transition directly into the interrogative ܕܠܡܐ.
Greek purpose conjunction ἵνα is rendered by Latin final ut; the Syriac expresses the same purpose clause without a discrete conjunction, embedding it in the prefixed relative-locative ܕܬܚܝܬ at the next token.
Greek expresses the rhetorical question with the single negative particle οὐχ, and Latin with nonne; the Syriac uses the two-word negated copula ܠܐ ܗܘܐ ('is it not'), a periphrastic construction yielding the same emphatic positive expectation.
The purpose conjunction ἵνα / ut is repeated in Greek and Latin; the Syriac again has no discrete conjunction, encoding the clause through the prefixed relative ܕܥܠ at the following token.