MAT 5:18 Parallel Verse View

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Text critical issues=small word differences Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

OET (OET-RV) [ref]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.

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object, red:negative.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT For truly I say to you, until the heaven and the earth passes away, one jot or one tittle will certainly not pass away from the law until all things are accomplished.

UST Every part of the Scriptures will be authoritative as long as what God has created continues to exist. Further, the Scriptures will be authoritative until everything that their authors wrote about happens. What I have said is true.

BLB For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth shall pass away, not even one iota, nor one stroke of a letter, shall pass away from the law, until everything should happen.

AICNT “For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or one stroke will pass from the law until [when][fn] all is accomplished.

5:18, when: Absent from some manuscripts. B(03)

OEB For I tell you, until the heavens and the earth disappear, not even the smallest letter, nor one stroke of a letter, will disappear from the Law until all is done.

WEBBE For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter[fn] or one tiny pen stroke[fn] shall in any way pass away from the law, until all things are accomplished.

5:18 literally, iota

5:18 or, serif

WMBB For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter[fn] or one tiny pen stroke[fn] shall in any way pass away from the Torah, until all things are accomplished.

5:18 literally, iota

5:18 or, serif

NET I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth pass away not the smallest letter or stroke of a letter will pass from the law until everything takes place.

LSV for truly I say to you, until the heaven and the earth may pass away, one iota or one tittle may not pass away from the Law, until all may come to pass.

FBV I assure you, until heaven and earth come to an end, not a single letter, not a single dot of the law will come to an end before everything is fulfilled.

TCNT For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one letter or stroke of a letter will by any means pass from the law until all is accomplished.

T4T Keep this in mind: Every point of those laws, including those points that seem least important, and even the smallest details of the laws [MTY] will surely be in effect [HYP, LIT] until the heavens and the earth disappear and until all that God told their authors to write happens.

LEB For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not one tiny letter or one stroke of a letter will pass away from the law until all takes place.

BBE Truly I say to you, Till heaven and earth come to an end, not the smallest letter or part of a letter will in any way be taken from the law, till all things are done.

Moff (I tell you truly, till heaven and earth pass away not an iota, not a comma, will pass from the Law until it is all in force.

Wymth Solemnly I tell you that until Heaven and earth pass away, not one iota or smallest detail will pass away from the Law until all has taken place.

ASV For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.

DRA For amen I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one jot, or one tittle shall not pass of the law, till all be fulfilled.

YLT for, verily I say to you, till that the heaven and the earth may pass away, one iota or one tittle may not pass away from the law, till that all may come to pass.

Drby For verily I say unto you, Until the heaven and the earth pass away, one iota or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law till all come to pass.

RV For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.
(For verily/truly I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished. )

SLT For verily I say to you, Till heaven pass away, and earth, one iota, or one mark, should not pass away from the law, till all should be.

Wbstr For verily I say to you, Till heaven and earth shall pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.

KJB-1769 For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.
( For verily/truly I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. )

KJB-1611 For verily I say vnto you, Till heauen and earth passe, one iote or one title, shall in no wise passe from the law, till all be fulfilled.
(For verily/truly I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one iote or one title, shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled.)

Bshps For truely I say vnto you, tyll heauen and earth passe, one iotte, or one title of the lawe shall not scape, tyll all be fulfylled.
(For truly I say unto you, till heaven and earth pass, one iotte, or one title of the law shall not scape, till all be fulfilled.)

Gnva For truely I say vnto you, Till heauen, and earth perish, one iote or one title of the Law shall not scape, till all things be fulfilled.
(For truly I say unto you, Till heaven, and earth perish, one iote or one title of the Law shall not scape, till all things be fulfilled. )

Cvdl For truly I saye vnto you: till heauen and earth perisshe, one iott or one tyttle of the lawe shall not escape, tyll all be fulfilled.
(For truly I say unto you: till heaven and earth perisshe, one iott or one tyttle of the law shall not escape, till all be fulfilled.)

TNT For truely I saye vnto you till heven and erth perisshe one iott or one tytle of the lawe shall not scape tyll all be fulfilled.
(For truly I say unto you till heaven and earth perish one iott or one tytle of the law shall not scape till all be fulfilled. )

Wycl Forsothe Y seie to you, til heuene and erthe passe, o lettir or o titel shal not passe fro the lawe, til alle thingis be doon.
(For_certain/Truly I say to you, till heaven and earth pass, o lettir or o titel shall not pass from the law, till all things be done.)

Luth Denn ich sage euch: Wahrlich, bis daß Himmel und Erde vergehe, wird nicht vergehen der kleinste Buchstabe noch ein Tüttel vom Gesetz, bis daß es alles geschehe.
(Because I said you: Truly, until that heaven and earth/land/ground perish, becomes not pass_away the/of_the smallest booktabe still a Tüttel from_the law, until that it all/everything happen.)

ClVg Amen quippe dico vobis, donec transeat cælum et terra, jota unum aut unus apex non præteribit a lege, donec omnia fiant.[fn]
(Amen indeed/sure I_mean/say to_you(pl), until let_it_pass the_sky and earth/land, yota one or one apex not/no besidesibit from lawfully, until everything be_done. )

5.18 Iota. BEDA. Hic ostenditur, quod quæ minima putantur in lege, sacramentis spiritualibus plena sunt, et omnia, etc., usque ad quia iota decem significat, id est decalogum, cujus apex est Evangelii perfectio. Omnia fiant. Spiritualiter impleantur, vel imperfecta perficiantur, et significantia, id est impletione, consummentur.

5.18 Iota. BEDA. Here/This is_shown, that which minima they_thinkur in/into/on lawfully, sacraments spiritual full are, and everything, etc., until to because iota ten means, that it_is decalogum, whose apex it_is of_the_Gospels perfectio. Everything be_done. By_Spiritaliter impleantur, or imperfecta perficiantur, and significantia, that it_is fillsione, consummentur.

UGNT ἀμὴν, γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κερέα οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται.
(amaʸn, gar legō humin, heōs an parelthaʸ ho ouranos kai haʸ gaʸ, iōta hen aʸ mia kerea ou maʸ parelthaʸ apo tou nomou, heōs an panta genaʸtai.)

SBL-GNT ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται.
(amaʸn gar legō humin, heōs an parelthaʸ ho ouranos kai haʸ gaʸ, iōta hen aʸ mia keraia ou maʸ parelthaʸ apo tou nomou, heōs an panta genaʸtai.)

RP-GNT Ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται.
(Amaʸn gar legō humin, heōs an parelthaʸ ho ouranos kai haʸ gaʸ, iōta hen aʸ mia keraia ou maʸ parelthaʸ apo tou nomou, heōs an panta genaʸtai.)

TC-GNT Ἀμὴν γὰρ λέγω ὑμῖν, ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία [fn]κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου, ἕως ἂν πάντα γένηται.
(Amaʸn gar legō humin, heōs an parelthaʸ ho ouranos kai haʸ gaʸ, iōta hen aʸ mia keraia ou maʸ parelthaʸ apo tou nomou, heōs an panta genaʸtai. )

5:18 κεραια ¦ κερεα WH

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 5:1–7:29: Jesus preached a sermon on a mountain

For many years, English versions and Christians have commonly referred to Matthew 5–7 as “The Sermon on the Mount.” In some translations, it may be helpful to include a heading for chapters 5–7 that is on a level above the section heading for 5:1–12.

Here are some other possible headings for this section:

The Sermon on the Mountain

The sermon that Jesus preached on a mountain

Jesus taught people on the side of a mountain/hill

5:18a

For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away,

I assure you^(plur) that, as long as the sky and earth remain,
Listen^(plur) to this: until the earth and sky end/finish,

For: The Greek conjunction that the BSB translates as For introduces the basis for Jesus’ statement in 5:17. It does not introduce the reason for something. Many English versions do not translate this conjunction.

I tell you truly: Jesus often used the words that the BSB translates as I tell you truly to introduce a statement that he wanted to emphasize. When he began a statement with these words, he was asking people to listen with extra attention.

Here are some other ways to introduce this:

I assure you (NLT96)

Listen to this:

Let me tell you this:

If you have another way in your language to emphasize a statement or to alert people to listen with special attention, consider using it here.

until heaven and earth pass away: The phrase until heaven and earth pass away is another way of saying “until the end of the world.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

as long as heaven and earth last (GNT)

as long as earth and sky are still here

until the earth and heaven cease to exist

heaven: In this context, the word heaven refers to the sky (including the place where the sun, moon, and stars are). It does not refer to the place where God lives.

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

the sky

the above

5:18b–c

not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law: This clause indicates that no part of God’s law will ever be removed or become invalid, not even the smallest part.

This clause uses the parts of writing words to refer figuratively to the commands and teachings in the law. It may be more natural in your language to refer to the commands and teachings directly rather than use parts of writing figuratively. For example:

not the least point nor the smallest detail of the Law will be done away with (GNT)

even the smallest detail of God’s law will remain (NLT96)

5:18b

not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen,

not even the smallest letter nor the smallest part of a letter
even the smallest point and the smallest detail of the law of God

a single jot: The Greek word that the BSB translates as jot is literally “iota.” An “iota” is the smallest letter in the Greek alphabet. It can also refer to a very small stroke of a pen or it can represent a small letter, like the English letter “i.”

Here are some other ways to translate this word:

the smallest part of a word

the shortest word

the smallest point of writing

not a stroke of a pen: The Greek phrase that the BSB translates as not a stroke of a pen is more literally “not one pen stroke.” This phrase refers to the smallest part of a letter. It would be like the dot above the letter “i” or the cross mark on the letter “t.”

Here are some other ways to translate this phrase:

a dot (ESV)

even the smallest part of a letter

5:18c

will disappear from the Law

will disappear from the law of God
will certainly/indeed remain valid

will disappear from: The Greek word that the BSB translates as disappear is the same word as in 5:18a. There the BSB translates this word as “pass away.”

Some languages may not use the same verb in both places. Here are some other ways to translate this word:

pass (ESV)

be removed

be changed

the Law: Here the words the Law refer generally to the whole Old Testament. Use a phrase that can refer to the whole Old Testament. For example:

God’s Law (NLT)

5:18d

until everything is accomplished.

until all that must happen has happened. (REB)
until everything in it has happened.

until everything is accomplished: The Greek clause that the BSB translates as until everything is accomplished is more literally “until all (things) happen.” This indicates that the law is in effect until everything happens that is supposed to happen. Every prophecy must be fulfilled, and every commandment must be completed/accomplished. Then the end will come, and only at that time will the law no longer be valid.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

until everything has happened (NCV)

until all that must happen has happened (REB)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-logic-result

γὰρ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀμήν Γάρ λέγω ὑμῖν ἕως ἄν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανός καί ἡ γῆ ἰῶτα ἕν ἤ μία κεραία οὒ μή παρέλθῃ ἀπό τοῦ νόμου ἕως ἄν παντᾶ γένηται)

Here, the word For introduces a reason or basis for Jesus’ statement that he did not come to destroy the Scriptures but to fulfill them. If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word or phrase that introduces a reason or basis for a claim, or you could leave For untranslated. Alternate translation: [In fact,] or [That is because,]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ

until until (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀμήν Γάρ λέγω ὑμῖν ἕως ἄν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανός καί ἡ γῆ ἰῶτα ἕν ἤ μία κεραία οὒ μή παρέλθῃ ἀπό τοῦ νόμου ἕως ἄν παντᾶ γένηται)

Here Jesus refers to how the heaven and the earth that currently exist will pass away, and God will either renew them or make new ones. You could include this information if that would be helpful to your readers. Alternate translation: [until this world ends] or [until God recreates the heaven and the earth]

Note 3 topic: figures-of-speech / merism

ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ

¬the (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀμήν Γάρ λέγω ὑμῖν ἕως ἄν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανός καί ἡ γῆ ἰῶτα ἕν ἤ μία κεραία οὒ μή παρέλθῃ ἀπό τοῦ νόμου ἕως ἄν παντᾶ γένηται)

Here, Jesus is referring to all of the created world by naming the parts that are at the extreme ends of it. If it would be helpful in your language, you could state the meaning plainly. Alternate translation: [all creation] or [the universe]

Note 4 topic: translate-unknown

ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κερέα

Iota (Some words not found in SR-GNT: ἀμήν Γάρ λέγω ὑμῖν ἕως ἄν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανός καί ἡ γῆ ἰῶτα ἕν ἤ μία κεραία οὒ μή παρέλθῃ ἀπό τοῦ νόμου ἕως ἄν παντᾶ γένηται)

A jot is a very small letter or character used in writing. A tittle is a small part of a letter or character. If your readers would not be familiar with these terms, you could use the names of the smallest parts of the writing system in your area or you could use more general terms. Alternate translation: [one word or one part of a word] or [one character or stroke in a character]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / doublet

ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κερέα

The terms jot and tittle mean similar things. Jesus is using the two terms together for emphasis. If it would be clearer for your readers, you could express the emphasis with a single phrase. Alternate translation: [one jot] or [one tittle]

Note 6 topic: figures-of-speech / doublenegatives

οὐ μὴ

The words translated as certainly not are two negative words. In this construction, the second negative does not cancel the first to create a positive meaning. Instead, it gives greater emphasis to the negative. If your language can use two negatives that do not cancel one another to create a positive meaning, you could use a double negative here. If your language does not use two negatives in that way, you could translate with one strong negative, as the ULT does. Alternate translation: [by no means]

Note 7 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

τοῦ νόμου

the law

Here, the phrase the law could refer to: (1) the Old Testament Scriptures in general, just as the phrases “the law” and “the prophets” in [5:17](../05/17.md) refer to the Old Testament Scriptures. Alternate translation: [the law and the prophets] or [the Old Testament] (2) just the law, which is the first five books of the Old Testament. Alternate translation: [the Old Testament law] or [the law in the Scriptures]

Note 8 topic: figures-of-speech / activepassive

πάντα γένηται

If your language does not use this passive form, you could express the idea in active form or in another way that is natural in your language. If you need to say who did the action, you could use an indefinite subject. Alternate translation: [all things take place] or [they accomplish all things]

Note 9 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

πάντα