Mark 5 : 13

The Peshitta fuses the conjunction and verb into the single prefixed form ܘܐܦܣ ('and he permitted'), whereas Greek ἐπέτρεψεν and Latin concessit stand as discrete verbs. The semantic value of permission is identical across all three.

Greek εὐθέως and Latin statim ('immediately') are absent from the Peshitta, which lacks any adverb of immediacy here. The omission is a typical Syriac compression of the Markan εὐθύς-idiom, frequently dropped where it adds no narrative force.

Greek and Latin employ the aorist/present participle (ἐξελθόντα / exeuntes) governing the main verb, while the Peshitta renders the action with a finite coordinated verb ܘܢܦܩ ('and went out'). This participle-versus-finite-verb shift is a recurrent syntactic difference between the Greek and Syriac traditions.

Greek τὰ πνεύματα is plural ('the spirits'), matched by Latin spiritus; the Peshitta ܪܘܚܐ is morphologically ambiguous but construed here as a collective, with the demonstrative and adjective marking plurality. The number is functionally preserved.

The Peshitta supplies the demonstrative ܗܠܝܢ ('these') before ܛܢܦܬܐ ('unclean'), absent in both Greek (τὰ ἀκάθαρτα, articular adjective) and Latin (immundi). This added deictic is a Syriac stylistic feature giving anaphoric definiteness to the spirits already mentioned.

Greek εἰς τοὺς χοίρους and Latin in porcos use a preposition plus articular accusative; the Peshitta encodes the same with the single prefixed form ܒܚܙܝܪܐ ('into the swine'), the prepositional bet absorbing the relation. The Vulgate's colon (index 12) is a versional punctuation marker without textual counterpart.

Greek ὥρμησεν ('rushed') is rendered straightforwardly by the Peshitta ܘܪܗܛܬ ('and it ran'), but the Vulgate paraphrases with magno impetu ... præcipitatus est ('was hurled with great force'), an interpretive expansion stressing violent headlong motion not explicit in the Greek verb. The Latin adds the adverbial phrase magno impetu with no Greek or Syriac equivalent.

Greek κατὰ τοῦ κρημνοῦ ('down the steep bank') is a prepositional phrase; the Peshitta ܠܫܩܝܦܐ ('toward/over the cliff') uses the lamadh-prefixed noun, while the Latin folds the notion into the participle præcipitatus ('hurled headlong'). The three traditions express the same precipice imagery by different syntactic means.

Greek εἰς τὴν θάλασσαν and Latin in mare ('into the sea') describe destination, but the Peshitta interposes a finite verb ܘܢܦܠܬ ('and it fell') before ܒܝܡܐ ('into the sea'), adding an explicit verb of falling absent from the other witnesses. This is a Syriac narrative amplification of the herd's plunge.

Greek ἦσαν δέ ('now they were') introduces the parenthetical headcount with a finite verb and connective; Latin reduces this to the prepositional ad ('to the number of'). The Peshitta omits any verb of being here, juxtaposing the number directly after ܐܝܟ.

Greek ὡς δισχίλιοι ('about two thousand') uses a single compound numeral, whereas the Peshitta analyses it as ܐܝܟ ܬܪܝܢ ܐܠܦܝܢ ('about two thousands') with separate words for 'two' and 'thousands'. Latin duo millia likewise splits the figure; all agree on the approximative ὡς / ܐܝܟ / ad.

Greek ἐν τῇ θαλάσσῃ and Latin in mari ('in the sea') repeat the body of water with the dative/ablative of place, while the Peshitta uses ܒܡܝܐ ('in the waters'), substituting the generic 'waters' for the earlier 'sea' (ܝܡܐ). This lexical variation between 'sea' and 'water' is a minor Syriac stylistic alternation.