Mark 10 : 21

Greek fronts the article + δέ before the name (Ὁ δὲ Ἰησοῦς), whereas Syriac and Latin place the postpositive conjunction (ܕܝܢ / autem) after the name; Latin and Syriac also omit the Greek nominative article, lacking any direct equivalent. The difference is purely a matter of connective syntax with no semantic effect.

Greek and Latin express 'he loved him' analytically with a finite verb plus a separate accusative pronoun (ἠγάπησεν αὐτόν / dilexit eum); Syriac fuses both into a single suffixed verb ܘܐܚܒܗ ('and-he-loved-him'), a typical Semitic pronominal-object enclitic with no semantic divergence.

The coordinating conjunction καί / et is independently borne in Syriac by the prefixed waw of ܘܐܚܒܗ, so the Syriac conjunction is morphologically bound to the preceding verb rather than standing as a separate token.

The Clementine Vulgate inserts an explicit colon introducing direct speech; Greek marks the same boundary with the raised dot on αὐτῷ· and Syriac leaves it unpunctuated. This is an editorial punctuation choice, not a textual variant.

Greek and Latin place the predicate 'is lacking' (ὑστερεῖ / deest) after the dative pronoun, while Syriac places the predicate adjective ܚܣܝܪܐ ('lacking') before the pronoun ܠܟ; the difference is the ordering of the nominal clause with no change in meaning.

Both Greek and Latin place the verb 'sell' (πώλησον / vende) after the relative clause object, whereas Syriac fronts the imperative ܙܒܢ ('sell') before the object phrase; this reflects the more verb-initial tendency of Syriac clause structure.

Greek ὅσα ἔχεις and Latin quæcumque habes use a single relative-pronoun-plus-verb construction; Syriac expands periphrastically into ܟܠ ܡܕܡ ܕܐܝܬ ܠܟ ('everything that there-is to-you'), employing the existential ܐܝܬ with a dative of possession in place of a transitive 'have.'

Greek uses article + substantival adjective in the dative plural (τοῖς πτωχοῖς) and Latin a bare dative plural (pauperibus); Syriac renders with the prefixed dative-marker lamadh on a singular collective noun ܠܡܣܟܢܐ, a standard Syriac idiom treating 'the poor' as a generic collective.

The Vulgate marks the clause break before the final exhortation with a colon, an editorial feature absent as a discrete token in the Greek (full stop on οὐρανῷ.) and unmarked in Syriac.

Greek and Latin use a verb of following plus a dative/accusative pronoun (ἀκολούθει μοι / sequere me); Syriac renders idiomatically with the imperative ܬܐ ('come') and the prepositional phrase ܒܬܪܝ ('after me'), the suffixed first-person object being bound to the preposition ܒܬܪ.

Greek (ἄρας τὸν σταυρόν, 'having taken up the cross') and Syriac (ܘܣܒ ܨܠܝܒܐ, 'and take the cross') both transmit the clause about taking up the cross, with Syriac coordinating it as a finite imperative and Greek as an aorist participle. The Clementine Vulgate omits the phrase entirely here; its presence in Mark 10:21 is text-critically disputed (cf. the parallel injunction in Mark 8:34) and many witnesses lack it, accounting for the Latin omission.