Mark 1 : 5

Greek uses a single imperfect ἐξεπορεύετο; the Peshitta renders the durative aspect periphrastically with the participle ܘܢܦܩܐ plus the auxiliary ܗܘܬ ('was going out'), a characteristic Syriac construction for past-continuous action. The Latin imperfect egrediebatur matches the Greek synthetic form directly.

The Greek definite article ἡ (feminine, agreeing with χώρα) has no formal equivalent in the Latin, which lacks an article, nor a separate token in the Syriac, where definiteness is carried by the emphatic state. This is a routine structural difference rather than a textual variant.

Greek ἡ Ἰουδαία χώρα ('the Judean region') and Latin Judææ regio render the territory with a noun-plus-adjective/genitive phrase; the Syriac ܟܘܪ ܕܝܗܘܕ uses the construct ܟܘܪ ('district/region') governing ܕܝܗܘܕ ('of Judah'), semantically equivalent but built on the native geographical term.

Greek οἱ Ἱεροσολυμῖται and Latin Jerosolymitæ use a gentilic noun ('the Jerusalemites'); the Syriac employs the idiomatic periphrasis ܒܢܝ ܐܘܪܫܠܡ ('the sons of Jerusalem'), a typical Semitic construction for inhabitants of a city. The καί of token 6 is folded into the Syriac prefixed waw on ܘܟܠܗܘܢ.

Greek ἐβαπτίζοντο and Latin baptizabantur are passive ('they were being baptized'); the Peshitta inverts the diathesis with an active periphrastic ܘܡܥܡܕ ܗܘܐ ܠܗܘܢ ('and he was baptizing them'), making John the explicit agent and supplying the object pronoun ܠܗܘܢ. This active recasting of the Greek/Latin passive is a substantive syntactic divergence.

Greek ὑπ᾽ αὐτοῦ and Latin ab illo express the agent ('by him') of the passive verb; the Peshitta has no separate agent phrase because its active construction (ܘܡܥܡܕ ܗܘܐ ܠܗܘܢ) already encodes John as subject, so the prepositional agent is structurally absent.

Greek ἐν τῷ Ἰορδάνῃ ποταμῷ and Latin in Jordanis flumine both append the appositional noun ποταμῷ / flumine ('river'); the Syriac ܒܝܘܪܕܢܢ names the Jordan alone without the explanatory 'river', a slight contraction typical of the version's economy.