SEV Biblia, Chapter 5:18
Porque de cierto os digo, que hasta que perezca el cielo y la tierra, ni una jota ni una tilde perecer de la Ley, hasta que todas las cosas sean cumplidas.
Clarke's Bible Commentary - Matthew 5:18
Verse 18. For verily I say unto you, Till heaven] In the very commencement of his ministry, Jesus Christ teaches the instability of all visible things. "The heaven which you see, and which is so glorious, and the earth which you inhabit and love, shall pass away; for the things which are seen are temporal, proskaira, are for a time; but the things which are not seen are eternal aiwnia, ever-during," 2 Cor. iv. 18. And the WORD of the Lord endureth for ever. One jot or one tittle] One yod, ( y ,) the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. One tittle or point, keraia, either meaning those points which serve for vowels in this language, if they then existed; or the seraphs, or points of certain letters, such as r resh, or d daleth, h he, or j cheth (as the change of any of these into the other would make a most essential alteration in the sense, or, as the rabbins say, destroy the world.) Or our Lord may refer to the little ornaments which certain letters assume on their tops, which cause them to appear like small branches. The following letters only can assume coronal apices, tsaddi-g gimel-z zain] n nun-f teth-[ ayin- shin. These, with the coronal apices, often appear in MSS.
That this saying, one jot or one tittle, is a proverbial mode of expression among the Jews, and that it expressed the meaning given to it above, is amply proved by the extracts in Lightfoot and Schoettgen. The reader will not be displeased to find a few of them here, if he can bear with the allegorical and strongly figurative language of the rabbins.
"The book of Deuteronomy came and prostrated itself before the Lord, and said: 'O Lord of the world, thou hast written in me thy law; but now, a Testament defective in some parts is defective in all. Behold, Solomon endeavours to root the letter yod out of me.' (In this text, Deut. xvii. 5. yn hbry al lo yirbeh, nashim, he shall not multiply wives.) The holy blessed God answered, 'Solomon and a thousand such as he shall perish, but the least word shall not perish out of thee.'" In Shir Hashirim Rabba, are these words: "Should all the inhabitants of the earth gather together, in order to whiten one feather of a crow, they could not succeed: so, if all the inhabitants of the earth should unite to abolish one y yod, which is the smallest letter in the whole law, they should not be able to effect it." In Vayikra Rabba, s. 19, it is said: "Should any person in the words of Deut. vi. 4, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is dja achad, ONE Lord, change the d daleth into a r resh, he would ruin the world." [Because, in that case, the word rja achar, would signify a strange or false God.] "Should any one, in the words of Exod. xxxiv. 14, Thou shalt worship no OTHER, rja achar, God, change r resh into d daleth, he would ruin the world." [Because the command would then run, Thou shalt not worship the ONLY or true God.] "Should any one in the words of Lev. xxii. 32, Neither shall ye PROFANE wlljt techelelu, my holy name, change j cheth into h he, he would ruin the world." [Because the sense of the commandment would then be, Neither shall ye PRAISE my holy name.] "Should any one, in the words of Psa. cl. 6, Let every thing that hath breath PRAISE, llht tehalel, the Lord, change h he into j cheth, he would ruin the world." [Because the command would then run, Let every thing that hath breath PROFANE the Lord.] "Should any one, in the words of Jer. v. 10, They lied AGAINST the Lord, hwhyb beihovah, change b beth into k caph, he would ruin the world." [For then the words would run, They lied LIKE the Lord.] "Should any one, in the words of Hosea, Hos. v. 7, They have dealt treacherously, hwhyb beihovah, AGAINST the Lord, change b beth into k caph, he would ruin the world." [For then the words would run, They have dealt treacherously LIKE the Lord.] "Should any one, in the words of 1 Sam. ii. 2, There is none holy AS the Lord, change k caph into b beth, he would ruin the world." [For then the words would mean, There is no holiness IN the Lord.] These examples fully prove that the mia keraia of our Lord, refers to the apices, points, or corners, that distinguish b beth from k caph; j cheth from h he; and r resh from d daleth. For the reader will at once perceive, how easily a k caph may be turned into a b beth; a h he into a j cheth; and a r resh into a d daleth: and he will also see of what infinite consequence it is to write and print such letters correctly.
Till all be fulfilled.] Or, accomplished. Though all earth and hell should join together to hinder the accomplishment of the great designs of the Most High, yet it shall all be in vain-even the sense of a single letter shall not be lost. The words of God, which point out his designs, are as unchangeable as his nature itself. Every sinner, who perseveres in his iniquity, shall surely be punished with separation from God and the glory of his power; and every soul that turns to God, through Christ, shall as surely be saved, as that Jesus himself hath died.
John Gill's Bible Commentary
Ver. 18. For verily I say unto you , etc.] Or I Amen say unto you, which is one of the names of Christ; (see Revelation 3:14) or the word Amen is only used by Christ as an asseveration of what he was about to say; and which, for greater confirmation, is usually doubled in the Evangelist John, Amen, Amen, or verily, verily. The word is used by the Jews for an oath; they swore by it; and it is a rule with them, that whoever answers Amen after an oath, it is all one as if he had pronounced the oath itself. The thing so strongly affirmed in this solemn manner is, till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled . The iwta or jot, in the Greek language, answers to jod in the Hebrew, the least of all the letters in the alphabet; hence a little city is called by this name, and this reason is given for it, f264 twytwab hnjq dwy , because that jod is the least among letters. We read also of Rabbi Jod f265 , perhaps so called because jq hyh , he was little, as the author of Juchasin observes f266 . This shows in what language the law was written; not in the Samaritan language, for the jod in that is a large letter, but in the Hebrew, in which it is very small; and particularly is written in a very diminutive character, in ( Deuteronomy 32:18) by one tittle some think is meant one of those ducts, dashes, or corners of letters, which distinguish one letter from another, that are much alike; others have thought that one of the pricks or vowel points is intended; others, one of those little strokes in the tops of letters, which the Jews call crowns and spikes, is here meant, in which they imagined great mysteries were contained; and there were some persons among them, who made it their business to search into the meaning of every letter, and of everyone of these little horns, or pricks, that were upon the top of them. So says R.
Meir f268 , in the time of the prophets there were such who very diligently searched every letter in the law, and explained every letter by itself; and do not wonder at this that they should expound every letter by itself, for they commented twaw twa lk l Uwqw Uwq lk l[ , upon everyone of the tops of each letter.
Such an expounder was Akiba ben Joseph f269 . To which custom Christ is here supposed to have respect: however, certain it is that he speaks very much in the language, and agreeably to the mind of the Jewish doctors; and some things in their writings will serve to illustrate this passage, If, (say they f270 ,) all the nations of the world were gathered together, to root one word out of the law, they could not do it; which you may learn from Solomon, who sought to root one letter out of the law, the letter jod, in ( Deuteronomy 17:16,17) but the holy blessed God said, Solomon shall cease, and an hundred such as he (in the Talmud it is a thousand such as he) lw[l hlyjb hnya mm dwyw , but, jod shall not cease from thee (the law) for ever.
And elsewhere the same expression is used f272 , and it is added, ljbm ynya mm hxwqw , but a tittle from thee shall not perish.
The design of Christ, in conformity to the language of the Jews, is to declare, that no part of the law, not one of the least commandments in it, as he explains himself in the next verse, should be unaccomplished; but all should be fulfilled before heaven and earth pass away, as they will, with a great noise and fervent heat, as to their present form and condition; or sooner shall they pass away, than the least part of the law shall: which expresses the perpetuity of the law, and the impossibility of its passing away, and the superior excellency of it to the heavens and the earth. It is a saying of one of the Jewish doctors f273 , that the whole world is not equal even to one word out of the law, in which it is said, there is not one letter deficient or superfluous.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 17-20 - Let none suppose that Christ allows his people to trifle with an commands of God's holy law. No sinner partakes of Christ's justifyin righteousness, till he repents of his evil deeds. The mercy revealed in the gospel leads the believer to still deeper self-abhorrence. The la is the Christian's rule of duty, and he delights therein. If a man pretending to be Christ's disciple, encourages himself in any allowe disobedience to the holy law of God, or teaches others to do the same whatever his station or reputation among men may be, he can be no tru disciple. Christ's righteousness, imputed to us by faith alone, i needed by every one that enters the kingdom of grace or of glory; but the new creation of the heart to holiness, produces a thorough chang in a man's temper and conduct.
Greek Textus Receptus
αμην 281 HEB γαρ 1063 CONJ λεγω 3004 5719 V-PAI-1S υμιν 5213 P-2DP εως 2193 CONJ αν 302 PRT παρελθη 3928 5632 V-2AAS-3S ο 3588 T-NSM ουρανος 3772 N-NSM και 2532 CONJ η 3588 T-NSF γη 1093 N-NSF ιωτα 2503 N-LI εν 1520 A-NSN η 2228 PRT μια 1520 A-NSF κεραια 2762 N-NSF ου 3756 PRT-N μη 3361 PRT-N παρελθη 3928 5632 V-2AAS-3S απο 575 PREP του 3588 T-GSM νομου 3551 N-GSM εως 2193 CONJ αν 302 PRT παντα 3956 A-NPN γενηται 1096 5638 V-2ADS-3S
Vincent's NT Word Studies
18. Jot, tittle (ijwta, keraia). Jot is for jod, the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Tittle is the little bend or point which serves to distinguish certain Hebrew letters of similar appearance. Jewish tradition mentions the letter jod as being irremovable; adding that, if all men in the world were gathered to abolish the least letter in the law, they would not succeed. The guilt of changing those little hooks which distinguish between certain Hebrew letters is declared to be so great that, if such a thing were done, the world would be destroyed.
Robertson's NT Word Studies
5:18 {One jot or one tittle} (iwta hen e mia kerea). "Not an iota, not a comma" (Moffatt), "not the smallest letter, not a particle" (Weymouth). The iota is the smallest Greek vowel, which Matthew here uses to represent the Hebrew _yod_ (jot), the smallest Hebrew letter. "Tittle" is from the Latin _titulus_ which came to mean the stroke above an abbreviated word, qen any small mark. It is not certain here whether kerea means a little horn, the mere point which distinguishes some Hebrew letters from others or the "hook" letter _Vav_. Sometimes _yod_ and _vav_ were hardly distinguishable. "In _Vay_. R. 19 the guilt of altering one of them is pronounced so great that if it were done the world would be destroyed" (McNeile).
