Mark 13 : 20

The Greek conditional protasis εἰ μή is rendered in Syriac by the unitary conditional particle ܐܠܘ (here combined with the conjunction in ܘܐܠܘ) plus the negative ܠܐ; the Latin nisi compresses both the conditional and negative into a single contracted form. The constructions are functionally equivalent though morphologically distinct.

Greek ἐκολόβωσεν ('cut short, mutilate') is matched by Latin breviasset (pluperfect subjunctive 'had shortened') and Syriac ܕܟܪܝ (root k-r-y, 'to shorten/be short'). The Latin uses a pluperfect subjunctive proper to its irreal conditional grammar, whereas Greek and Syriac employ a simple past indicative within the protasis.

All three name the divine agent (κύριος / ܡܪܝܐ / Dominus); the Syriac places ܡܪܝܐ before the verb ܕܟܪܝ, inverting the Greek and Latin verb-subject order — a word-order variation consistent with normal Syriac syntax.

Greek τὰς ἡμέρας ('the days') is matched by Latin dies and Syriac ܝܘܡܬܐ; the Peshitta adds the demonstrative ܗܢܘܢ ('those'), making explicit the deictic reference to the days of tribulation, which the Greek conveys only through the article.

The Greek apodosis οὐκ ἂν ἐσώθη (aorist passive with ἄν, 'would not have been saved') is rendered periphrastically in Syriac by ܚܝܐ ܗܘܐ ('would have lived/survived', root kh-y-a) and in Latin by non fuisset salva ('would not have been saved'). Note the Syriac lexical shift from 'saved' to 'lived', reflecting an idiomatic preference for the verb of living to express survival.

The Clementine Vulgate inserts a colon as a discrete token marking the boundary between protasis-apodosis and the adversative clause; Greek and Syriac mark this transition only by the conjunction without a comparable punctuation token in the consonantal text.

Greek uses article + substantive adjective τοὺς ἐκλεκτούς ('the elect/chosen ones'); Latin electos and Syriac ܓܒܝܐ (root g-b-a, 'the chosen') render the substantive without separate article in Latin and with anarthrous noun in Syriac, a normal feature of definite plural participial nouns in these traditions.

The relative clause οὓς ἐξελέξατο ('whom he chose') is matched by Latin quos elegit; Syriac compresses the relative pronoun and verb into the single prefixed-relative form ܕܓܒܐ (d- + g-b-a), a typical Syriac economy whereby the relative particle fuses with the verb. The Syriac also uses the same root for both 'elect' and 'chose', producing a figura etymologica absent in Greek and Latin.

The repeated verb ἐκολόβωσεν is here in the perfective indicative in all three (Greek aorist, Latin breviavit perfect, Syriac ܟܪܝ), now in the apodosis-resumption asserting the realized shortening, contrasting with the earlier irrealis form.

Greek τὰς ἡμέρας and Latin dies close the verse with the bare object; the Peshitta again appends the demonstrative ܗܢܘܢ ('those days'), maintaining its consistent deictic specification of the eschatological days throughout the verse.