Mark 9 : 28

Greek opens with the simple coordinating καί followed by a genitive absolute; the Peshitta renders the temporal clause with ܟܕ ('when') plus the postpositive particle ܕܝܢ ('but/now'), while the Vulgate uses Et with the subordinating cum. The Syriac ܕܝܢ adds a mild adversative nuance absent from the Greek and Latin.

Greek expresses the action with a genitive-absolute aorist participle plus pronoun (εἰσελθόντος αὐτοῦ); both Peshitta ܥܠ and Vulgate introisset render it with a finite verb governed by the temporal conjunction, a syntactic simplification of the Greek participial construction.

The Peshitta makes the implicit subject explicit by inserting the proper name ܝܫܘܥ ('Jesus'), whereas the Greek and Latin leave the subject of the entering verb pronominal/embedded. This is a characteristic Syriac clarifying expansion.

Greek uses the adverbial prepositional phrase κατ᾽ ἰδίαν ('privately'); the Vulgate renders it with the single adverb secreto and the Peshitta with ܒܠܚܘܕܝܗܘܢ ('by themselves'), each an idiomatic equivalent expressing the notion of privacy.

All three witnesses use an imperfect 'were asking' (ἐπηρώτων / interrogabant), but the Peshitta ܫܐܠܘܗܝ already incorporates the object pronoun and stands earlier in the clause, reflecting Semitic verb-initial word order versus the Greek and Latin sequence.

The Greek high point (·) after αὐτόν and the Vulgate colon both mark the transition to direct speech; the Peshitta carries no equivalent punctuation token and absorbs the object pronoun into the verb ܫܐܠܘܗܝ.

Greek ἠδυνήθημεν (from δύναμαι, 'to be able') and Latin potuimus express ability directly; the Peshitta ܐܫܟܚܢ derives from the root sh-k-kh ('to find/be able'), a Syriac idiom in which 'finding' the capacity stands for 'being able'.

Greek separates the infinitive ἐκβαλεῖν from the neuter object αὐτό ('it', the spirit) and Latin likewise distinguishes ejicere eum; the Peshitta fuses the infinitive and the object suffix into a single form ܠܡܦܩܘܬܗ ('to cast it/him out'), and its pronominal suffix is grammatically masculine rather than the Greek neuter.

The Greek question mark on αὐτό; and the Vulgate's separate interrogative mark close the disciples' question; the Peshitta has no discrete punctuation token, leaving the interrogative force signalled solely by the opening ܠܡܢܐ.