Jot
“The smallest letter of the alphabet”
Summary
The smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet (yod), used metaphorically by Jesus in Matthew 5:18 to express the minutest portion of the law.
☩Biblical Usage
The word 'jot' is a transliteration of the Greek iota, which corresponds to the Hebrew letter yod (י), the smallest character in the Hebrew alphabet. In Matthew 5:18, Jesus declared, 'Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law,' using this tiny letter as a metaphor for the complete and permanent validity of Scripture. The yod is so small that it was often omitted in writing or mistaken for part of another letter, making Jesus's statement all the more emphatic about preserving every detail of God's law.
☩Jewish Tradition
The Talmud records a similar tradition about the permanence of even the smallest letter. In one account, the book of Deuteronomy complained to God that Solomon sought to remove the letter yod from the command 'he shall not multiply wives.' God answered that Solomon and a thousand like him would perish before the least letter would pass from the law. This rabbinic parallel illustrates that Jesus's teaching in Matthew 5:18 drew upon a well-established Jewish reverence for Scripture's verbal inspiration down to its smallest elements.
Related Verses1 mention
Matthew· 1 verse
References
- 1.James Orr (ed.), "Jot," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. III (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 2.George Morrish, "Jot," in Morrish's Concise Bible Dictionary (George Morrish, 1898).
- 3.John McClintock and James Strong, "Jot," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. IV (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).