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This article was inspired by a question from Jane Allen about David Bivin’s Hebrew Nuggets, Lesson 1: Jesus’ Hebrew Name (Part 1). |
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In a statement about the continuing validity of the Torah, Jesus uses a difficult-to-understand idiom. The Greek reads: ἕως ἂν παρέλθῃ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ, ἰῶτα ἓν ἢ μία κεραία οὐ μὴ παρέλθῃ ἀπὸ τοῦ νόμου (“…until pass away the heaven and the earth, iota one or one point by no means will pass way from the law…”; Matt. 5:18).
Most English translations have not helped readers understand the idiom:
“Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law…” (KJV)
“…till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law…” (RSV)
“…until heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the Law…” (ESV)
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- [1] Walter Bauer, Frederick W. Danker, William F. Arndt, and F. Wilbur Gingrich, A Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament and Other Early Christian Literature (3d ed.; Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2000), 540. ↩
- [2] See, for instance, Michael Avi-Yonah, Views of the Biblical World Vol. 5: The New Testament (Jerusalem: International Publishing Co., 1961), 32. ↩
- [3] See Avraham Even-shoshan, Ha-Millon He-Hadash (Jerusalem: Kiryath Sepher, 1966), 1181. ↩
- [4] See the entry for “Tagin” in Encyclopaedia Judaica (16 vols.; ed. Cecil Roth and Geoffrey Wigoder; Jerusalem: Keter, 1971-1972), 15:700. ↩
- [5] A variant of this statement is found in b. Men. 29a where we find לקוצה של יוד. ↩
- [6] Text according to Moshe A. Merkin, ed., Midrash Rabbah (11 vols.; Tel Aviv: Yavneh, 1956-1967), 5:107. Translation according to H. Freedman and Maurice Simon ed., The Midrash Rabbah (10 vols.; London: Soncino, 1983), 3:103. ↩
- [7] The NIV translators should be commended for their translation of this verse: “...not the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen, will by any means disappear from the Law...” (Matt. 5:18). ↩
