Deuteronomy 1:13, “Take you wise men, and understanding, and known among your tribes, and I will make them rulers over you.”
Matthew 5:18. “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.”
Luke 16:17, “It is easier for heaven and earth to disappear than for the least stroke of a pen to drop out of the Law.”
I have heard many explanations about the jot and tittle and what it is. The common explanation is that the jot is the letter Yod and that is the smallest letter in the Hebrew Alphabet and the tittle is really means a stroke and refers to the crown that was on certain letters. Thus Jesus is saying that not even the smallest letter or stoke will be changed. Many just say it is a mystery as to what Jesus was talking about.
Most Bible scholars today believe Jesus spoke Aramaic and when we go to the Aramaic Bible or the Peshitta we discover that for the word jot the Aramaic word is Yodh. The word for tittle in Aramaic is serta which simply means a line or stroke. In the Quadrate Schrift or the Square script which was used in the day of Jesus the Vav was just a line or a stroke. So what Jesus was likely saying is that not one Yod or one Vav will pass from the law until all be fulfilled.
The original Hebrew had only consonants and no vowels. The Quadrate Schrift or the Square Script which is the script that is in use today both in our Hebrew Bibles and in Israel grew out of the ancient Phoenician alphabet (often mistakenly referred to as the Ancient Hebrew Alphabet) which were made up of consonants. When the Torah moved from Oral Tradition to written tradition it was most likely written in a form of the Phoenician Alphabet where their Yod was a representation of their gods and was a picture of an arm or closed hand and represented worship of this pagan god. The Phoenician form of the Yod was slightly larger than all the other letters because it was a representation of their gods and they did not want to minimize their gods. When Ezra and his scribes formed the Qudrate Schrift they sought to remove any form of paganism from their alphabet and hence they made the Yod the smallest letter in the alphabet Where the Phoenician Yod was the arm of their gods laying on its side with a closed hand shutting out their message to man, the Qudrate Schrift’s Yod was the open hand of man, the smallest letter, reaching up to receive a message from God that was freely given.
The Vav in the Quadrate Schrift is just a stroke or line. This was similar to the Phoenician Vav except that the top of the Phoenician Vav had two horns. Some tend to call this a picture of a tent peg, but many scholars indicate that this is also a pagan symbol of another god.
Our first Hebrew grammar books were not written until over one thousand years after the birth of Christ. However, there was a traditional understanding of Hebrew grammar during the time of Jesus that is often not taught in our Bible Colleges and Seminaries, but you would learn it if you studied Hebrew under Jewish rabbis.
The Baal Hatanya, a Hebrew master who lived in the sixteenth century pointed out that in the traditional rules of Hebrew grammar the alphabet is divided into groups of letters each group being interchangeable with one another. The letters Aleph, Hei, Vav and Yod are such letters in one group. These letters were often used interchangeably for vowels or consonants. Hence you will find that at times the Yod and the Vav are used interchangeably or cross over. In fact the passage in Luke says that not one stroke of the pen will drop out of the law. In the Aramaic this word drop out is ‘avar which means to cross over.
There are two possibilities here that Jesus might have been referring to and in fact I believe He was referring to both. It is possible that the idea of crossing over is that Jesus was referring to the Quadrite Schrift’s growth out of the Phoenician Alphabet and that not one suggestion of paganism and pagan gods would cross over into the Law.
More than likely, however, the use of the word ‘avar (cross over) would suggest that not one jot or tittle or one Yod or Vav will cross over that is be interchanged in that grammatical grouping until all be fulfilled. The word in Aramaic for fulfilled is hoa which means to exist or occur. I don’t believe Jesus is saying that the law will be fulfilled as we understand it, but that it will fully understood.
This is what the rabbis and sages have attempted to do throughout the ages and that was to fully understand the law of God. The Vav and the Yod will not cross over until. Let’s stop there, the word until in Aramaic is edema which literally has the idea of going all the way or full understanding. The Vav and the Yod will not cross over until there is a full understanding. I believe Jesus was talking Hebrew grammar here. Yesterday I read something interesting in the Talmud which is an excellent example of this ‘avar (crossing over) in Deuteronomy 1:13.
God is commanding that wise men and the rulers be chosen among the tribes. Then we have the word in Hebrew va’asimaim and I will place them. This is found in the Masoretic text. The original prior to the Masoretic text read va’shamam and their guilt. The Yod was not found. That is not problem in traditional Hebrew grammar that Yod was meant to ‘avar to cross over and is properly found in the Masoretic to provide, what Jesus called a hoa, a full understanding.
So pastors, teachers and other Christian leaders take note of the hoa full understanding of the Yod and its lack in the original. There is a double meaning here. God was going to take the wise and understanding and place them va’asimaim (Masoretic text with the Yod) in a ruler ship position, but these wise and understanding leaders are people who themselves are guilty va’shamam (no Yod) of sin. It is their mission to use their wisdom and understand, much of it gained by their own guilt to instruct others not to make their mistakes and where they can go to find deliverance from their own guilt. Your job, your primary mission as a pastor or Christian leader is to use your own experience as a sinner yourself and direct others to the place where you found your deliverance which is in Jesus Christ.
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