"One jot or tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled" Matt.5.18

In these words Jesus endorsed the immutability of the Mosaic Law until the time came for its supersession by the higher Law of Christianity. The Rabbis insisted that not one word or letter of the Law could be changed. Jesus went further, to jot or tittle. The smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet is "Yod" or "Jot", almost like an overgrown English comma. About eight of the letters possessed a minute mark at the top like a tiny crown; this was known as the horn or "tittle". Thus Jesus referred to the tiniest distinguishing marks in Hebrew writing; not one of these marks. He said, would fail until the Law had achieved its purpose. That purpose was accomplished when Christ, the greater than Moses, was finally rejected by the nation and put to death by them, and the calling of God went instead to the Gentile nations. At that point Christ "took it" (the Law) "out of the way, nailing it to the cross" (Col.2.14).

Both words are preserved to this day in the English language to indicate anything small or insignificant; the derived word "tittle tattle", meaning idle or small talk, comes from the same source.

Selected (Jan/Feb '92)