Jots and Tittles

We are probably all familiar with the following verse found in 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.

In this verse Yeshua was stating in no uncertain terms that unless both heaven and earth passed away neither would the jots and tittles found in Torah.  If you are reading this it should be obvious that neither heaven nor the earth has passed away.  So this must mean that the jots and tittles have also not passed away.

Now, with these facts established do you really know what a jot or a tittle is?  There are many varying opinions and commentaries on exactly what the jots and tittles found in Torah really are and what they mean.  However, the best information that I’ve found so far was in an article written by Monte Judah entitled “The Jots and Tittles” in the 2004 July issue of his publication – Yahvoh. 

In the article he provides us with the following explanation of what the jots and tittles of Moses really are:

The Jots and tittles are signs given by Moses in the text of the Torah that are not translated, but every scribe copies them precisely in every Torah scroll. Jots are exactly as they say – jots or dots put above letters in the text. Four times Moses did this – twice in Genesis, once in Numbers and once in Deuteronomy. Tittles are a class of other kinds of markings in the text. They include enlarged letters (bolded letters), letters made smaller (subscripted), gaps in the text (intentional spacings), and letters drawn in unique ways (elongated and reversed).  [See link to entire article below]

He further explains by stating that one of the keys to understanding the enlarged and small letters known as tittles is to know what each individual letter means separate and apart from the rest of the word in which it’s found.  It helps to understand that each of the Hebrew letters has its own specific meaning.  Obviously only a combination of these individual letters form words.  But it’s important to remember that a deep understanding of any Hebrew word can only come from the meanings found in the combination of each of its individual letters. 

The tittles of Moses include both small and enlarged letters.  The enlarged tittles may have been Moses’ way of cross-referencing us to other portions of scripture.  Anytime we find an enlarged tittle in the Hebrew text we should immediately STOP and pay close attention.  Moses wanted us to take note of and remember other scripture passages when we find these enlarged tittles in his writings.  He knew that related passages in scripture would always interact with each other and help to give us a much deeper understanding of the words. 

There are only six letters that appear as the small tittles of Moses (Hey – Kaf – Kof – Aleph – Mem – Yod).  When you encounter one of Moses’ small tittles in the Torah it appears that he may have been indicating an exact opposite meaning of the letter used. 

The Jots of Moses are only found in four places in the Torah.  He placed them in the following sequence:  Jacob kissed (Gen 33:4), Jacob’s flock (Gen 37:12), Aaron’s court (Num 3:39), and to our sons forever (Deut 29:29).  Moses used these four sets of jots to point us to the areas of Torah that form the prophetic teachings about the scattered family of Jacob that is soon to be re-gathered. 

The Jots and Tittles of Moses:

1. The Enlarged Bet Gen 1:1

2. The Small Hey Gen 2:4

3. The Small Kaf Gen 23:2

4. The Small Kof Gen 27:46

5. The Jots Gen 33:4

6. The Jots Gen 37:12

7. The Enlarged Nun Exo 34:7

8. The Enlarged Resh Exo 34:14

9. The Small Aleph Lev 1:1

10. The Small Mem Lev 6:9 (Lev 6:2 in Hebrew Bibles)

11. The Elongated Vav Lev 11:42 *mark of the scribes

12. The Jots Num 3:39

13. The Inverted Nuns Num 10:35-36

14. The Enlarged Yod Num 14:18

15. The Small Yod Num 25:11

16. The Gap Num 26:1

17. The Enlarged Nun Sofit Num 27:5

18. The Gap Deut 2:8

19. The Enlarged Ayin Deut 6:4

20. The Enlarged Dalet Deut 6:4

21. The Enlarged Lamed Deut 29:28

22. The Jots Deut 29:29

23. The Enlarged Hey Deut 32:6

* The elongated Vav is a mark made by the scribes of the Torah which is similar to the jots and tittles of Moses. It was included for explanation since it’s very similar.