Greek employs a comparative clause with ὡς + imperfect ἦν ('as he was in the boat'); Latin mirrors this with ita ut erat in navi; Syriac uses a circumstantial participle construction ܟܕ ܒܣܦܝܢܬܐ ܗܘ ('while he [was] in the boat'), a typical Semitic participial idiom expressing the same temporal-circumstantial sense.