The Peshitta omits the initial conjunction καί / Et, beginning directly with the scribes. This is a minor stylistic difference, as Syriac narrative frequently omits coordinating conjunctions where Greek and Latin retain them for continuity.
EN The scribes who came down from Jerusalem said, “He has Beelzebul,” and, “By the prince of the demons he casts out the demons.”
ES Y los escribas que habían venido de Jerusalem, decían que tenía á Beelzebub, y que por el príncipe de los demonios echaba fuera los demonios.
ZH-HANS 从耶路撒冷下来的文士说:「他是被别西卜附着」;又说:「他是靠着鬼王赶鬼。」
ZH-HANT 從耶路撒冷下來的文士說:「他是被別西卜附着」;又說:「他是靠着鬼王趕鬼。」
The Peshitta omits the initial conjunction καί / Et, beginning directly with the scribes. This is a minor stylistic difference, as Syriac narrative frequently omits coordinating conjunctions where Greek and Latin retain them for continuity.
Greek employs a double-article construction (οἱ ἀπὸ Ἱεροσολύμων) with prepositional phrase; Latin uses a relative pronoun (qui ab Jerosolymis); Peshitta uses the relative particle ܐܝܠܝܢ ܕܡܢ. All three express the same restrictive modification, but through distinct syntactic strategies typical of each language.
The Peshitta uses a periphrastic construction ܐܡܪܝܢ ܗܘܘ (participle + auxiliary 'were'), rendering the Greek imperfect ἔλεγον more analytically. Greek and Latin employ synthetic imperfect forms; Syriac's periphrastic strategy is a standard morphological feature for expressing past progressive aspect.
The Vulgate inserts a colon after dicebant to mark the transition to direct discourse, a punctuation convention absent in Greek manuscripts and unnecessary in Syriac, which uses ܕ- to introduce reported speech. This is a scribal/editorial feature, not a textual variant.
Greek ὅτι Βεελζεβοὺλ ἔχει and Latin Quoniam Beelzebub habet use transitive 'has' with the demon-name as direct object. Peshitta employs the existential particle ܐܝܬ with prepositional phrase ܒܗ ('in him'), a typical Syriac idiom for possession or indwelling, semantically equivalent but syntactically distinct.
Greek uses καὶ ὅτι ('and that') to coordinate the two accusations; Latin mirrors this with et quia; Peshitta uses ܘܒܪܫܐ ('and by the head/prince'), omitting a second ὅτι-equivalent and integrating the conjunction directly with the prepositional phrase. This reflects Syriac preference for tighter clause linkage.
Greek ἐν τῷ ἄρχοντι τῶν δαιμονίων uses a prepositional phrase with double article and genitive modifier. Latin in principe dæmoniorum mirrors this structure. Peshitta ܕܕܝܘܐ uses a construct-state genitive chain ('head-of demons'), a more compact Semitic construction, already introduced by ܘܒܪܫܐ in the previous token group.
Greek places the verb ἐκβάλλει before the object τὰ δαιμόνια (verb-object order); Latin ejicit dæmonia follows the same pattern. Peshitta ܡܦܩ ܕܝܘܐ uses verb-object order but omits the article (Syriac lacks a definite article system), and the object is in construct with the preceding genitive, yielding a more compressed phrase.