Mark 15 : 2

The Syriac ܘܫܐܠܗ fuses conjunction, verb, and a pronominal object suffix ('and he asked him') into one form, whereas Greek ἐπηρώτησεν αὐτὸν and Latin interrogavit eum render verb and object as separate words. The Peshitta also lacks an independent equivalent for the initial Καί, absorbing it into the verbal prefix.

Greek and Latin name Pilate with the nominative subject (ὁ Πιλᾶτος / Pilatus), Greek using the definite article; Syriac ܦܝܠܛܘܣ is anarthrous, as Syriac does not employ a definite article for proper names. The divergence is purely orthographic-grammatical, not semantic.

The Greek encodes the transition to direct speech with a raised dot (·) appended to Πιλᾶτος, while the Vulgate uses an explicit colon as a separate token introducing the quotation. Punctuation conventions differ but the discourse function is identical.

Greek and Latin use a finite copula (εἶ / es, 'are'); Syriac employs the enclitic pronoun-copula ܗܘ, the standard nominal-sentence construction in which the third-person pronoun functions as the linking element. Semantically equivalent, syntactically distinct.

Greek marks 'the King' with the article ὁ βασιλεύς; the Vulgate rex and Syriac ܡܠܟܐ are anarthrous in form, though Syriac's emphatic state already conveys determination. No difference in meaning.

The interrogative is signalled in Greek by the question mark fused onto Ἰουδαίων; and in Latin by a discrete '?' token, whereas Syriac marks no interrogative punctuation and relies on context. A purely orthographic divergence.

Greek uses the aorist participle ἀποκριθείς ('answering') and Latin the present participle respondens, both subordinate to the main verb of speaking; Syriac instead employs a finite verb ܥܢܐ ('he answered') coordinated with the following verb, a hypotactic-vs-paratactic difference characteristic of Semitic narrative style.

The verb of speaking is present tense in Greek (λέγει, historic present 'he says') but rendered with the Latin perfect/aorist ait and the Syriac perfect ܘܐܡܪ ('and said'); both versions level the Markan historic present to a past tense, a routine translational accommodation.

Greek λέγεις is present tense ('you say'), matched by Latin present dicis, whereas Syriac ܐܡܪܬ is perfect ('you have said'). The idiomatic non-committal reply is preserved, but the Syriac aspectual choice subtly frames Pilate's words as a completed utterance rather than an ongoing assertion.