Mark 8 : 27

Greek uses the definite article ὁ Ἰησοῦς (nominative with article); Vulgate employs the perfect passive participle egressus est Jesus (compound tense); Peshitta uses the simple perfect ܢܦܩ ܝܫܘܥ. All three convey the same action but with different grammatical constructions typical of each language's verbal system.

Greek employs καὶ + article + noun + possessive pronoun (καὶ οἱ μαθηταὶ αὐτοῦ); Vulgate mirrors this with et discipuli ejus; Peshitta uses a single compound form ܘܬܠܡܝܕܘܗܝ with the conjunction and pronominal suffix attached directly to the noun, reflecting typical Semitic economy of expression.

Greek places the temporal phrase καὶ ἐν τῇ ὁδῷ ('and on the way') before the main verb; Vulgate mirrors this with et in via; Peshitta postpones ܒܐܘܪܚܐ ('on the road') until after the verb ܡܫܐܠ ܗܘܐ, reflecting typical Syriac preference for verb-initial clauses followed by adverbial modifiers.

Greek uses the imperfect ἐπηρώτα ('he was questioning', continuous past action); Vulgate employs the imperfect interrogabat (same aspectual value); Peshitta uses the periphrastic construction ܡܫܐܠ ܗܘܐ (participle + auxiliary), a standard Syriac method for expressing progressive or iterative past action.

The Vulgate inserts a colon after eis (token 19), marking a stronger discourse break before the direct question. Neither the Greek nor the Peshitta manuscripts employ equivalent punctuation at this juncture, though both traditions use different markers (Greek uses a raised dot; Peshitta typically unmarked).

The Vulgate places a second colon after Quem me dicunt esse homines, creating a two-part punctuation structure around the question. This reflects Latin rhetorical conventions for framing direct discourse and is absent from both Greek and Peshitta witnesses.

Greek places με immediately after τίνα ('Whom me'); Vulgate follows with Quem me; Peshitta inverts to ܡܢܘ ܐܡܪܝܢ ܥܠܝ ('Who do they say concerning me'), placing the prepositional phrase ܥܠܝ ('concerning me') after the verb rather than as a direct object, reflecting Semitic preference for prepositional constructions over accusative objects in this context.

Greek concludes with the infinitive εἶναι ('to be'); Vulgate places esse before homines; Peshitta uses ܕܐܝܬܝ ('that I am'), a relative clause construction. The word order variation reflects each language's syntactic norms for indirect questions: Greek and Vulgate use accusative-infinitive constructions, while Syriac employs a ܕ-clause with pronominal suffix.

The Vulgate concludes with a question mark, explicitly marking the interrogative nature of the sentence. Greek manuscripts use a semicolon (;) as the question marker, while Peshitta manuscripts typically leave questions unmarked or use contextual indicators.