Mark 5 : 23

The Peshitta employs a periphrastic construction with the auxiliary ܗܘܐ (hwā, 'was') plus the active participle ܒܥܐ (bʿā, 'beseeching'), yielding a progressive past tense. Greek uses the simple present παρακαλεῖ, while Latin uses the imperfect deprecabatur, both conveying ongoing action but through different aspectual systems.

The Vulgate inserts a colon after dicens to mark the transition to direct speech, a punctuation convention absent in the Greek and Peshitta manuscripts. The Peshitta uses the indirect object pronoun ܠܗ (leh, 'to him') where Greek employs the recitative ὅτι; both introduce the content of the speech but through different syntactic strategies.

Greek uses the diminutive τὸ θυγάτριόν μου ('my little daughter'), a term of endearment emphasizing the child's youth and the father's affection. The Peshitta employs the simple possessive ܒܪܬܝ (barti, 'my daughter') without diminutive force. The Vulgate renders this as filia mea in extremis est, restructuring the clause entirely: where Greek has the idiomatic ἐσχάτως ἔχει ('is at the extremity'), Latin expands to a prepositional phrase in extremis est ('is in extremities'), making the periphrastic construction explicit.

Greek ἐσχάτως ἔχει is a Semitic idiom meaning 'is at the point of death' (literally 'holds lastly'). The Peshitta renders this with the adverbial ܒܝܫܐܝܬ ܥܒܝܕܐ (bīšāʾīt ʿbīdā, 'badly done/afflicted'), a more explicit description of severe illness. The Vulgate incorporates this into the previous clause (in extremis est), leaving no separate tokens here—a structural divergence reflecting Latin's preference for subordination over parataxis.

Greek uses ἵνα with the aorist participle ἐλθών ('that having come') to express purpose, a participial construction. The Peshitta employs the imperative ܬܐ (tā, 'come'), a more direct command form typical of Syriac syntax. The Vulgate uses the imperative veni, aligning with the Peshitta's directness but diverging from the Greek subordinate structure.

Greek uses the plural τὰς χεῖρας ('the hands') with the subjunctive ἐπιθῇς ('you may lay'), while the Peshitta uses the singular ܐܝܕܟ (ʾīdāk, 'your hand') with the imperative ܣܝܡ (sīm, 'place'). The Vulgate employs the singular manum with the imperative impone, aligning with the Peshitta against the Greek. This reflects a common Semitic idiom where singular 'hand' is used collectively for the act of laying on hands.