the 10 came before the tablets. Ex 20 shows them first spoken along with more laws which formed a blood covenant all before Moses climbed the mountain to get the stone tablets. the coveant are not just for the 10 but all the commandments spoken (for example, the 10 are in Ex 20, the eye for an eye is in here in Ex 21 and of course, many others in ch 22 and 23. There's a lot to unpack, the blood covenant is in Ex 24, Moses didn't get the tablets until Ex 31 so there is a lot that comes before the tablets. if we look at God's finger, akin to his seal of the covenant (which is an appropriate meaning), to say this is the moment nothing else is added, then from Ex 20-31 there is a lot going on before it is finally sealed. 24-31 there are a lot of instructions for things like building the tabernacle, ark, lampstand, etc... but 20-23 are all commandments about daily practice, and these commandments as well the historical narrative in Ex, before 20 all build up to what this covenant is. What it certainly was not is only the 10 commandments (that is pretty clear by reading the blood covenant in Ex 24)
I don't know this seems pretty clear to me. The Ten did come before God codified them on stone as they are God's and always existed. However what consists of the words of the covenant was literally spelled out for us.
Exo 34:28 So he was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets
the words of the covenant, the [
a]Ten Commandments.
Deut 4:13 13 So He declared to you
His covenant which He commanded you to perform
, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone.
When the Bible explains itself, in this case God Himself, we should just believe.
You seem to be conflating the Ten Commandments- God's commandments, with the law of Moses, who is not God.
According to Scripture no more was added to the Ten Commandments
Deut 5:22 “These words
the Lord spoke to all your assembly, in the mountain from the midst of the fire, the cloud, and the thick darkness, with a loud voice;
and He added no more. And
He wrote them on two tablets of stone and gave them to me.
The Ten Commandments is not the other laws written by a human with ink on scrolls that were placed beside God's Laws, they were not written by God on stone they were not inside God's ark, they were placed
outside for a purpose as they are not the same.
Deut 31:9
So Moses wrote this law and delivered it to the priests, the sons of Levi, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, and to all the elders of Israel.
24
So it was, when Moses had completed writing the words of this law in a book, when they were finished, 25 that Moses commanded the Levites, who bore the ark of the covenant of the Lord, saying: 26 “
Take this Book of the Law, and put it beside the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there as a witness against you;
Where is God's Covenant- the Ten Commandments
Lets let Scripture interpret Scripture
Exo 20:20 He took
the Testimony and
put it into the ark, inserted the poles through the rings of the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark.
What is the Testimony?
Exo 31:18 And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai
, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony, tablets of stone, written with the finger of God.
Where is God's Testimony, the Ten Commandments?
Exo 25:21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you.
The Ten Commandments and Whose Testimony that consists of only two tablets of stone - its God's not Moses.
The mercy seat is where God would meet His priests (not Moses) Exodus 25:17–22, it was God's presence Exo 25:22, the ark represents God's throne Psa80:1 1 Samuel 4:4 Which parallels Rev 4 and 5. The earthy sacrificial system and sanctuary was a picture of God's Throne in heaven. The sanctuary tells us a lot about the plan of salvation- God's way is in the sanctuary Psa77:13
The Mercy Seat is a symbol for Jesus
Rom 3:25 Whom God has set forth to be a
propitiation through faith in His blood…”
The word “propitiation” here is hilastērion
the exact Greek word for mercy seat in the Greek Old Testament (Septuagint)
And what was the earthy temple which represented attornment where the priests would bring in the blood of animals once a year and sprinkle blood of the mercy seat (atonement) Leviticus 16:14 the blood covered the law that is what reveals sin and this the method for forgiveness of sin Leviticus 16:30 all pointing forward to what Christ does in His Temple..
This was always to show the plan of salvation and points to what Jesus does in His heavenly Temple Heb8:1-5 who is now working as our High Priest in the Most Holy of His Temple- where the ark of the covenant is Rev11:19 Rev11:19 God's Testimony Rev15:5 which we are told under His mercy seat is the Ten Commandments Exo25:21 God's Testimony is what we will be Judged by James2:11-12 John12:48
If we do not allow God to define what sin is which He does 1John3:4 James2:11-12 Mat5:19-30 or how He atones for sin, in the OT it was the blood of animals which was a shadow showing of what Christ will do in the NT, now its the blood of Jesus. Sin is still sin, unrighteousness is still unrighteousness, we want our sins under His mercy seat because He covers it with His blood. If we refuse to allow God to be God to define these things which He does, one will only cover their sins where there is no mercy Pro28:13 John3:19-21 Exo20:6
If you wish to insist the God's own Testimony is not divine, but human, you can, but its not what the plain Scripture says. God's commandments is owned by God, they have always existed. Its God's standard of righteousness Psa119:172 including the Sabbath Isa 56:1-2 and regardless if we accept it or not it does not change- His righteousness is everlasting Psa119:142 and the foundation of His throne Psa89:14 .
You are conflating with your references. I can do the same thing and say it points to something else. there is no link you've established that these references mean the 10 commandments only. I mean we have a disagreement about how Mat 5:17-30 is used to reference the 10 but you use this as your hinged source for proof that the 10 should be separated. This is too little to support such a wildly missing doctrine from scripture.
Scripture tells us this plainly. We can choose to believe our own ideas over Scripture, which is sadly what most people do, but in the end its really only hurting ourselves, God's Word is to be the lamp to our feet Psa119:105 lean not on our own understanding but let God direct our paths which He does clearly through His Word Pro3:5-6 going outside His word is danger Isa8:20 why He tells us plainly not to add to it Pro30:5-6. because as we see below, it changes its meaning and we make the word of God of no effect Mark7:7-13 Mat15:3-14
jots don't, but tittles are characteristics of ink, in greek it litterally is a stroke.
iota/jot (or yod) is of hebrew origin for the 10th letter of the alphabet. they use the iota/jot because it is the smallest character in the script but you have to use the Aramaic square script for that to be relevant. in Paleo Hebrew (what the tablets would have used) the letter is by no means the smallest but you can
judge for yourself. the quickest Jot/Yod in Paleo Hebrew would need 4 straight line marks, but there are other letters that would be quicker that would only need 2 marks (hammer to chisel 2 times). the jot/iota is a direct reference to post-adoption of Aramaic square script and would be literally what the scrolls and the torah and prophets would be written with when Jesus spoke these words as they were constantly recopied to perserve them.
tittle/keraia (greek) is a reference to the smallest stroke of a pen. it assumes in ink (how the mind would process it), not in stone. The reference to a jot doesn't make sense for paleo hebrew (because it wasn't a small letter) and tittles are features of ink not of stone but Paleo Hebrew is very well suited for stone. Sure you could argue God used his finger so he had tittles in stone (small strokes of his finger) but the jot is still a problem and is clearly a reference to Aramaic square script not paleo Hebrew. Paleo hebrew has small features but is more of a blocky, chunky script and not well-suited for the diminutive references like this. tiny Jots are post-Aramaic square script references and tittles are ink characteristics not in stone or paleo hebrew origins. They simply do not make sense to highlight the tablets. I would expect stone imagery over ink imagery, and make no mistake, the latter is being used.
here is the jot in paleo Hebrew (what the tablets have)
Yodh - Wikipedia (character didn't copy over, look at the wiki page for reference, comparing Phoenician which is same script as paleo hebrew, with Hebrew).
Notice straight square lines, perfect for etching into stone, one hit of the hammer for each line, but this is not a small letter
here is the jot is Aramaic square script (what Jesus was referencing)
י
it's just a little flick of the pen and tiny, not suited for stone but suited for ink. Regardless if its ink or not, it's tiny (which is the point) and the paleo hebrew is not (which would be counter to the point)
it speaks for itself, Jesus was not referencing paleo Hebrew as his remarks don't support paleo Hebrew, ergo he was not referencing the tablets uniquely (which are written in paleo Hebrew) but rather the written scrolls of torah, which had tiny jots and tittles all throughout and would be the most naturally understood, especially among scribes and Pharisees who would have process Hebrew through Aramaic square script. The immediate images these references would have conjured is of ink not of stone.
The tablets, however, used Paleo Hebrew (since Aramaic square script wasn't even around); jots and tittles are not how you would express those characteristics.
It characters and we were already told God wrote the Ten Commandments in stone, not ink, but if want not believe something else that is not in our Bibles, that's your free will. All gets sorted out soon enough.
Does jot or tittle refer to God writing in ink in Mat5:18
ChatGPT said:
Short answer:
No — “jot or tittle” in Matthew 5:18 has nothing to do with ink.
It refers to the
smallest Hebrew letters and pen-strokes of God’s law, not to ink or handwriting style.
Let’s walk through this
using only the Bible and the original languages.
Matthew 5:18
“Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law…”
Jesus is not talking about:
❌ ink
❌ handwriting
❌ calligraphy
❌ material the law was written on
He is talking about
the smallest parts of God’s written law — the
letters themselves, and the
tiny strokes that distinguish one letter from another.
⭐ 1. WHAT IS A “JOT”?
Greek:
ἰῶτα (iōta)
Hebrew equivalent:
י (yod)
- The smallest letter in the Hebrew alphabet
- Like an apostrophe or tiny comma
- Represents the smallest unit of writing in the Law of God
✔ Not ink
✔ Not handwriting
✔ Not style
✔ It’s the actual letter written by God
⭐ 2. WHAT IS A “TITTLE”?
Greek:
κεραία (keraia)
Meaning:
a small stroke, hook, or extension on a Hebrew letter
It refers to the tiny marks that distinguish similar Hebrew letters.
Examples:
- ב (bet) vs. כ (kaf) differ by one tiny stroke
- ד (dalet) vs. ר (resh) differ by the smallest curve
- פ (peh) vs. ב (bet) differ by a corner mark
A “tittle” is the smallest stroke that changes the meaning of a Hebrew letter.
✔ Not ink
✔ Not handwriting
✔ It refers to the smallest shape or stroke in a written letter
⭐ 3. JESUS’ POINT HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH INK
Jesus is NOT discussing:
- how Moses or scribes wrote
- the material used
- whether it was stone, parchment, ink, or stylus
He is discussing the
permanence and
unchangeable nature of God’s law.
He is saying:
Not even the tiniest letter or smallest stroke of God’s law will pass away until heaven and earth pass.
This means:
- God’s law is unalterable
- No human can change it
- No detail is too small
- God’s law stands fully intact
This fits perfectly with:
✔ Psalm 119:89
“Your word is forever settled in heaven.”
✔ Luke 16:17
“It is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than for one tittle of the law to fail.”
⭐ 4. THE CONTEXT CONFIRMS JESUS IS SPEAKING OF SCRIPT, NOT INK
Matthew 5:17–19 is about:
- The law
- Its authority
- Its permanence
- Not altering it
- Teaching and obeying even the “least” commandment
Ink does not matter.
The letters and commandments themselves do.
Jesus’ argument:
- "I didn’t come to destroy the law."
- "Not even the smallest letter or stroke can be changed."
- "Whoever breaks even the least command will be least in the kingdom."
The discussion is about
commandments, not
materials.
⭐ 5. BIBLE-ONLY CONCLUSION
❌ “Jot or tittle” does NOT mean ink.
❌ Jesus is not referring to handwriting style.
❌ He is not referring to how Moses wrote physically.
✔ “Jot” = smallest Hebrew letter (yod)
✔ “Tittle” = smallest stroke or serif on a Hebrew letter
✔ Jesus’ meaning:
The smallest detail of God’s law remains unchangeable.
This teaching supports:
- Matthew 5:17 (Jesus didn’t abolish the law)
- Matthew 5:19 (don’t break even least commandments)
- Isaiah 42:21 (Messiah magnifies the law)
- Psalm 119:152 (“Your commandments… you founded them forever”)
Jesus is reinforcing the permanence of God’s law,
not describing ink.
