Mark 12 : 18

Greek ἔρχονται is a discrete present-tense verb, while the Syriac fuses conjunction and verb in a single token ܘܐܬܘ ('and they came', perfect); the Vulgate venerunt likewise renders the action as perfect, both versions historically narrating what the Greek presents vividly in the historic present.

All three name the Sadducees, but their syntactic placement differs: Greek and Syriac position the subject immediately after the verb, whereas the Vulgate delays sadducæi to the end of the clause after the prepositional phrase ad eum, a word-order difference of stylistic rather than semantic weight.

Greek and Latin construct the denial with negative particle plus infinitive (μὴ εἶναι / non esse, 'that there is not'), forming an accusative-and-infinitive complement, while Syriac employs the existential negator ܠܝܬ ('there is no'), a particle of non-existence that achieves the same predicate denial through a distinct Semitic construction.

Greek ἐπηρώτων is a single imperfect verb conveying durative past action; Syriac achieves the same continuous aspect periphrastically with participle plus auxiliary ܡܫܐܠܝܢ ܗܘܘ, while the Vulgate interrogabant uses the synthetic imperfect, all three agreeing in aspect though differing in morphological strategy.

Greek λέγοντες and Vulgate dicentes are participles, while Syriac ܘܐܡܪܝܢ adds a coordinating conjunction ('and saying'), a typical Syriac paratactic chaining of finite/participial clauses; the Vulgate colon (index 15) marks the introduction of direct speech with no counterpart in the other witnesses.