Mark 7 : 3

All three name the Pharisees with the postpositive explanatory particle (γάρ / ܓܝܪ / enim), but the Peshitta inverts the order, placing 'all the Jews' (ܟܠܗܘܢ ܝܗܘܕܝܐ) first and the Pharisees second (ܘܦܪܝܫܐ), whereas Greek and Latin lead with the Pharisees. The displacement is purely sequential and carries no semantic weight.

Greek and Latin render the conjoined subject as 'and all the Jews' (καὶ πάντες οἱ Ἰουδαῖοι / et omnes Judæi), while the Peshitta integrates ܟܠܗܘܢ ('all of them') and ܝܗܘܕܝܐ into the fronted clause aligned above, lacking a distinct universal quantifier here. The same lexical material is present but distributed differently across the clause.

Greek expresses the conditional with ἐὰν μὴ ('unless') and Latin with the single conjunction nisi, whereas the Peshitta uses the compound ܐܢ ܗܘ ('if it [be] that') plus the negative ܠܐ, an idiomatic Syriac periphrasis for the protasis. The constructions are functionally equivalent.

The notoriously difficult Greek πυγμῇ ('with a fist,' a dative of manner whose precise sense is debated) is rendered by the Peshitta ܕܒܛܝܠܐܝܬ ('diligently, carefully') and by the Vulgate crebro ('frequently'). Both versions appear to interpret rather than literally translate the obscure Greek term, each resolving the crux toward a sense of thorough or repeated washing.

Greek and Latin use a present participle (κρατοῦντες / tenentes, 'holding [to]') subordinated to the main verb, whereas the Peshitta employs a causal relative clause ܡܛܠ ܕܐܚܝܕܝܢ ('because they hold fast'). The Syriac makes explicit a causal nuance only implicit in the participial constructions.

The Vulgate marks the clause boundary with a colon, paralleling the Greek high point (·) which is folded into the final word token πρεσβυτέρων· above. The Peshitta carries no separate punctuation token here.