“Jot or Tittle”

Brant Gardner

This particular group of believers, despite their heresy, were sufficiently humble to accept correction. It did not lead to schism.

Translation: “Jot or tittle” shows again the influence of the King James Version on Joseph’s translation. According to William Smith’s A Dictionary of the Bible, a jot is “the English form of the Greek iota, i.e., the smallest letter of the Greek alphabet. The Hebrew is yod, or y formed like a comma… used metaphorically to express the minutest thing.”

According to Easton’s Bible Dictionary, a tittle is “a point (Matt. 5:18; Luke 16:17), the minute point or stroke added to some letters of the Hebrew alphabet to distinguish them from others which they resemble; hence, the very least point.”

“Jot” might have appeared on the plates if it referred to the Hebrew yod. However, “tittle” refers to a notation system for vowels that was not developed until after Lehi left Jerusalem. Thus, “tittle” could not have been part of the Nephite vocabulary. Nevertheless, the Nephites would have understood the concept that the slightest part of the law could not be abrogated, and Joseph obviously translated that idea into a familiar idiom. (See also commentary accompanying Alma 34:13 and 3 Nephi 12:18.)

Second Witness: Analytical & Contextual Commentary on the Book of Mormon, Vol. 5

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