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Tyndale Open Bible Dictionary

JOT OR TITTLE*

An expression Jesus used in the Sermon on the Mount. In Matthew 5:18 jot is a transliteration of the Greek letter iota. In this context it originally referred to the Hebrew letter yod, the smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet. Tittle is a Middle English word referring to the diacritical dot placed over abbreviated words. The KJB translators used it to render a Greek word meaning “little horn.” The Jews used that word to refer to the small marking that distinguished certain Hebrew letters from one another. Jesus used the two terms to emphasize the importance of the law when he said not one jot or tittle would pass from the law until all was fulfilled.

Show passage in OET: MAT 5:18

OET-RV MAT 5:18

18 because I can assure you all that until heaven and earth reach their end, not one letter or mark will be taken away from those instructions until everything is fulfilled.

OET-LV MAT 5:18

18 For/Because truly I _am _saying to _you _all, until the heaven and the earth wishfully may _pass _away, one Iota or one serif by _no _means may_ not _pass _away from the law, until wishfully all things may _become.

Jump to OET MAT 5:18 section.