Greek uses the simple conjunction Καὶ ('And'), Peshitta employs the temporal particle ܟܕ ('when/while'), while Vulgate omits any coordinating conjunction, beginning directly with the ablative absolute construction.
EN When Jesus heard it, he said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need for a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.”
ES Y oyéndolo Jesús, les dice: Los sanos no tienen necesidad de médico, mas los que tienen mal. No he venido á llamar á los justos, sino á los pecadores.
ZH-HANS 耶稣听见,就对他们说:「康健的人用不着医生,有病的人才用得着。我来本不是召义人,乃是召罪人。」
ZH-HANT 耶穌聽見,就對他們說:「康健的人用不着醫生,有病的人才用得着。我來本不是召義人,乃是召罪人。」
Greek uses the simple conjunction Καὶ ('And'), Peshitta employs the temporal particle ܟܕ ('when/while'), while Vulgate omits any coordinating conjunction, beginning directly with the ablative absolute construction.
Greek uses an aorist participle ἀκούσας ('having heard'), Peshitta uses a finite verb ܫܡܥ ('he heard'), and Vulgate employs an ablative absolute Hoc audito ('this having been heard'), representing three syntactically distinct but semantically equivalent constructions.
Greek includes the definite article ὁ before Ἰησοῦς, which neither Syriac nor Latin possesses as a grammatical category; both traditions render the proper name without article.
Peshitta inserts the discourse particle ܕܝܢ ('now/then'), a characteristic Syriac connective absent from both Greek and Latin, serving to mark narrative progression.
Greek employs the recitative ὅτι to introduce direct discourse, Vulgate uses a colon for punctuation, while Peshitta transitions directly to the quoted speech without marker—reflecting differing conventions for representing direct discourse.
Greek uses οὐ χρείαν ἔχουσιν (negation + noun + verb), Peshitta employs ܠܐ ܣܢܝܩܝܢ (negation + participle), and Vulgate Non necesse habent (negation + adjective + verb), representing three distinct but semantically equivalent constructions for expressing lack of necessity.
Greek uses the substantival participle οἱ ἰσχύοντες ('those being strong'), Peshitta employs the simple adjective ܚܠܝܡܐ ('the healthy'), and Vulgate uses the adjective sani ('the healthy'), with Greek preferring a participial construction where the other traditions use simple adjectives.
Greek uses the genitive ἰατροῦ ('of a physician') dependent on χρείαν, Peshitta employs the preposition ܥܠ ('upon') with ܐܣܝܐ ('physician'), and Vulgate uses the ablative medico, reflecting three different case systems expressing the same semantic relationship.
Greek uses οἱ κακῶς ἔχοντες ('those having badly'), Vulgate mirrors this with qui male habent ('who have badly'), while Peshitta employs the emphatic construction ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܒܝܫ ܒܝܫ ܥܒܝܕܝܢ ('those who are very badly made/done'), using reduplication for intensification—a characteristic Semitic idiom.
Vulgate inserts a colon to mark the transition to the second saying, while Greek uses a raised dot and Peshitta continues without punctuation marker.
Vulgate adds the emphatic particle enim ('for/indeed') to strengthen the logical connection, absent from both Greek and Peshitta, representing Latin rhetorical style.
Greek includes the prepositional phrase εἰς μετάνοιαν ('to/unto repentance'), which is absent from both the Peshitta and Vulgate traditions. This phrase is textually disputed in the Greek manuscript tradition (omitted by א B W and some Old Latin witnesses), suggesting it may represent a later harmonization toward Luke 5:32 or Matthew 9:13 in some Greek witnesses.