English · KJV

Matthew 5:18

“Christ Fulfills the Law”Matthew 5:17–20

King James Version
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.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

KJV (with Strong's)
For G1063 verily G281 I say G3004 unto you G5213, Till G2193 G302 heaven G3772 and G2532 earth G1093 pass G3928, one G1520 jot G2503 or G2228 one G3391 tittle G2762 shall in no wise G3364 pass G3928 from G575 the law G3551, till G2193 G302 all G3956 be fulfilled G1096.

Bible text: King James Version with Strong's numbers · Public domain

Berean Standard Bible
For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished.

Bible text: Berean Standard Bible · Public domain

American Standard Version
For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away from the law, till all things be accomplished.

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

World English Bible Messianic
For most certainly, I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the Torah, until all things are accomplished.

Bible text: World English Bible, Messianic edition · Public domain

Geneva Bible (1599)
For truely I say vnto you, Till heauen, and earth perish, one iote or one title of the Law shall not scape, till all things be fulfilled.

Bible text: Geneva Bible (1599) · Public domain

Young's Literal Translation
for, verily I say to you, till that the heaven and the earth may pass away, one iota or one tittle may not pass away from the law, till that all may come to pass.

Bible text: Young's Literal Translation · Public domain

King James Version — Interlinear
27 Greek words
  1. ἀμὴνamēnAmenG281INJ-HEBInterjection
  2. γὰρgarforG1063CONJConjunction
  3. λέγωlegōI sayG3004V-PAI-1SVerb Present Active Indicative 1st Singular
  4. ὑμῖν·huminto youG4771P-2DPPersonal pronoun Dative 2nd Plural
  5. ἕωςhe'ōsuntilG2193PREPPreposition
  6. ἂνanwhenG302PRTParticle or Disjunctive
  7. παρέλθῃparelthēmay pass awayG3928V-2AAS-3SVerb 2nd Aorist Active Subjunctive 3rd Singular
  8. ὁhotheG3588T-NSMDefinite article Nominative Singular Masculine
  9. οὐρανὸςouranosheavenG3772N-NSMNoun Nominative Singular Masculine
  10. καὶkaiandG2532CONJConjunction
  11. ἡhētheG3588T-NSFDefinite article Nominative Singular Feminine
  12. γῆgēearthG1093N-NSFNoun Nominative Singular Feminine
  13. ἰῶταiōtaiotaG2503N-NSNNoun Nominative Singular Neuter
  14. ἓνhenoneG1520A-NSNAdjective Nominative Singular Neuter
  15. ἢēorG2228CONJConjunction
  16. μίαmiaoneG1520A-NSFAdjective Nominative Singular Feminine
  17. κεραίαkeraiastroke of a letterG2762N-NSFNoun Nominative Singular Feminine
  18. οὐoucertainlyG3756PRT-NNegative Particle Negative
  19. μὴmēnotG3361PRT-NNegative Particle Negative
  20. παρέλθῃparelthēmay pass awayG3928V-2AAS-3SVerb 2nd Aorist Active Subjunctive 3rd Singular
  21. ἀπὸapofromG575PREPPreposition
  22. τοῦtoutheG3588T-GSMDefinite article Genitive Singular Masculine
  23. νόμουnomoulawG3551N-GSMNoun Genitive Singular Masculine
  24. ἕωςhe'ōsuntilG2193PREPPreposition
  25. ἂνanwhenG302PRTParticle or Disjunctive
  26. πάνταpantaeverythingG3956A-NPNAdjective Nominative Plural Neuter
  27. γένηταιgenētaimay happenG1096V-2ADS-3SVerb 2nd Aorist Middle Deponent Subjunctive 3rd Singular
English is a literal word-by-word gloss of the Greek, not the KJV's wording. Why?

This is the original text the KJV's translators worked from — each Greek word with its own literal English meaning in this verse, prepared by scholars at Tyndale House, Cambridge. The KJV translates whole sentences, not word by word, so its wording differs: one Greek word can become several English words, and the KJV may choose “charity” where the gloss reads “love”. Both are faithful — they answer different questions. For the KJV's own rendering, switch to the KJV text.

Words in [ ] are added by the English.

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Study this verse

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This verse

Jesus solemnly declares that the smallest letter and the smallest stroke of the Law will stand as long as heaven and earth endure, until all of it has come to pass.

“For verily I say unto you,”

“Verily” is amēn, which opens a solemn statement spoken on Jesus’ own authority.

“Till heaven and earth pass,”

For as long as the present heaven and earth endure.

“one jot or one tittle”

The iōta, the Hebrew yod, smallest of the letters, and the keraía, the small stroke that tells one letter from another.

“shall in no wise pass from the law,”

Ou mḗ with parérchomai, “pass away”, an emphatic denial. The Law is meant down to its smallest detail.

“till all be fulfilled.”

Gínomai, to come to pass. The Law stands until everything it speaks of has come about, and Jesus came to fulfil it.

Passage studyMatthew 5:17–20

Christ Fulfils the Law and the Prophets

17Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil. 18For 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. 19Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. 20For I say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.

Summary

Jesus tells his hearers that he has come to fulfil the Law and the Prophets, the whole of the Scriptures God had already given. Every jot and tittle of the Law stands until all is accomplished. Anyone who sets aside the least of its commandments and teaches others to do the same will be called least in the kingdom of heaven, and the one who does and teaches them will be called great. Then comes the word that startled his hearers: the righteousness of those who enter the kingdom must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees. In four verses Jesus shows us that the Old Testament is God’s lasting word, that he himself is its goal, and that the righteousness God asks for reaches the heart and comes to us through him.

Why Jesus speaks about the Law here

These words come early in the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:1–7:29), after the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:3–12) and the sayings about salt and light (Matthew 5:13–16). Jesus has described who his disciples are and what they are to be in the world. Now he speaks to a question his hearers would surely have had: how does his teaching stand toward the Scriptures they already held as God’s word?

They had grown up with the Law, the Torah, as God’s own revelation, guiding every part of life. The Prophets, the Nevi’im, spoke of God’s covenant with Israel, of his judgment and of the hope still to come, above all the coming Messiah. Groups such as the Pharisees kept the Law with great care, together with their oral traditions, and any teacher thought to be undermining it would have met suspicion or open hostility. So Jesus makes clear at the outset that his ministry is the appointed completion of what God had already said, and those who loved their sacred heritage could hear that it was safe in his hands.

These four verses also open the rest of Matthew 5. In Matthew 5:21–48 Jesus takes one command after another with the words “Ye have heard that it was said” and “But I say unto you”, and shows how far into the heart each one reaches. The command against adultery, for example, reaches to the lustful look (Matthew 5:27–28).

What Jesus came to do with the Law and the Prophets

“Think not” uses nomízō, “to deem, regard or suppose”. Jesus answers a supposition before anyone voices it, the idea that he had come to set aside what God had revealed before. “The law, or the prophets” means the whole of the Old Testament Scriptures. After his resurrection he says the same of himself, that “all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning me” (Luke 24:44).

The word for destroy, katalýō, is built from katá, “down”, and lýō, “to loosen”, so it pictures loosening something until it falls apart. It means to demolish, overthrow, annul or abolish. Jesus names that purpose twice and sets it aside both times, and then he gives his own: “but to fulfil.”

Fulfil is plēróō, to fill full, to complete, to carry out, to finish or to verify. It speaks of bringing something to its intended completion and full meaning. Fulfilment runs through all of Matthew’s Gospel, which often shows events in Jesus’ life fulfilling what the prophets said, beginning with the promise of Immanuel (Matthew 1:22–23). Jesus fills the Law and the Prophets full in several ways at once:

  • He obeyed the Law perfectly and lived a sinless life. At his baptism he said, “thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness” (Matthew 3:15).
  • He showed its full spiritual meaning, as the rest of this chapter does, so that we see the righteousness God truly desires, reaching to the intentions of the heart.
  • He completed its sacrifices by offering himself once for all as the perfect sacrifice for sin, bringing the animal sacrifices to their end (Hebrews 9:11–14, Hebrews 10:1–18).
  • He is the Messiah its prophecies promised, the one to whom the whole Old Testament points, from the seed of Abraham to the Son of David. On the road to Emmaus, “beginning at Moses and all the prophets, he expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning himself” (Luke 24:27).

Paul puts it in one sentence: “For Christ is the end of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth” (Romans 10:4). He also writes that “all the promises of God in him are yea, and in him Amen” (2 Corinthians 1:20). In Christ the shadows of the old covenant give way to their substance, and he is the mediator of “a better covenant, which was established upon better promises” (Hebrews 8:6).

This is why the Old Testament is still God’s word to us. It is the foundation he laid, pointing forward to Christ, and we read it well when we look for him in its stories, its prophecies and its types. God has had one plan of salvation from the beginning, and the gospel is that same plan come to its fullness.

Are Christians still under the Law of Moses?

Christians live under the new covenant that Christ brought, in which God says, “I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts” (Jeremiah 31:33), words the letter to the Hebrews applies to believers (Hebrews 8:10). Christ fulfilled the Law in every part. He obeyed it perfectly, and on the cross he paid the penalty for the sin it exposed, “Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us ... nailing it to his cross” (Colossians 2:13–14).

So Paul can say, “ye are not under the law, but under grace” (Romans 6:14). The Law was “our schoolmaster to bring us unto Christ, that we might be justified by faith” (Galatians 3:24–25), and our standing with God rests on Christ, received by faith.

We often speak of the Law as having ceremonial, civil and moral parts. Its sacrifices, temple rituals and food laws find their completion in Christ’s death, and its regulations for Israel as a nation belonged to the old covenant. Its moral commands, such as the Ten Commandments, are repeated in the New Testament, and Christ upholds and deepens them, as the rest of this chapter shows. We are called to “fulfil the law of Christ” (Galatians 6:2), which is the law of love, for “love is the fulfilling of the law” (Romans 13:8–10). God sent his Son “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:4).

Every jot and tittle of the Law stands

“Verily I say unto you” is Jesus’ own way of opening a weighty statement. “Verily” is amēn, and in John’s Gospel it is doubled, “Verily, verily”. It marks what follows as certain and spoken with his authority.

The jot is iōta, the Greek name for the smallest letter of the Hebrew alphabet, the yod (י). The tittle is keraía, literally “a little horn”, a small stroke or hook that tells one Hebrew letter from another that looks almost the same, such as resh from daleth. Together they were a proverbial way of naming the smallest detail of the written Law, and Jesus’ hearers, who knew how carefully the Law was copied and handed down, would have felt their force at once.

“In no wise” translates ou mḗ, two Greek negatives side by side, which make the denial emphatic, “not at all”. The verb “pass” is parérchomai, to pass by or pass away. Luke records the same teaching: “And it is easier for heaven and earth to pass, than one tittle of the law to fail” (Luke 16:17). The Old Testament speaks of God’s word in the same way: “For ever, O LORD, thy word is settled in heaven” (Psalm 119:89), and “The grass withereth, the flower fadeth: but the word of our God shall stand for ever” (Isaiah 40:8).

Since Jesus held the Law in such regard, down to its smallest stroke, we can trust all of Scripture and come to it with reverence and careful study. God’s word stands above every human revision, and it stays settled while the opinions and fashions of each age shift around it.

What “till heaven and earth pass” and “till all be fulfilled” mean

“Till heaven and earth pass” is a strong expression for lasting permanence: as long as the present heaven and earth endure, the Law stands. The second “till” sets the other limit. Here the word for “fulfilled” is gínomai, where verse 17 had plēróō. It means to become or come into being, and so to come to pass. The Law stands until all things have come to pass, and Jesus has just told us that he came to fulfil it.

People ask whether this means the Law will one day pass away. Its passing is its accomplishment. The Law pointed to Christ, revealed sin and set out righteousness, and when he completed those purposes through his life, death and resurrection, its work as a guardian and its system of rituals reached their end. Its moral heart is upheld for ever, lived out perfectly by Christ and by believers who walk by the Spirit (Romans 8:4). So the Law is accomplished and taken up into the finished work of Christ.

Least and great in the kingdom of heaven

“Therefore” ties this verse to the two before it. Since every stroke of the Law stands, how we treat even its smallest commands matters. To “break” is lýō, to loosen, dissolve or put off, the simple verb inside the katalýō of verse 17. Here it means to loosen a command’s hold, treating it as void.

“One of these least commandments” uses eláchistos, least in size, amount or dignity, and “these” points back to the Law Jesus has just upheld. In Jewish teaching the commandments were sometimes sorted into “heavy” and “light”, by their importance or difficulty, though all were held to come from God. Jesus counts every one of them as God’s command, the light with the heavy, and he condemns the attitude that would treat any part of God’s revealed will lightly. James says the same of the Law as a whole: “For whosoever shall keep the whole law, and yet offend in one point, he is guilty of all” (James 2:10).

The same word eláchistos then gives the outcome. The one who breaks a command and teaches others to do the same “shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven”, and the one who does and teaches them “shall be called great”. The two halves of the verse mirror each other, and “whosoever” in each makes the rule apply to anyone at all.

Doing and teaching

Jesus adds “and shall teach men so” with didáskō, the ordinary word for teaching. He weighs what a person teaches along with how he lives, because our teaching shapes how others treat God’s word. That weight falls on anyone who teaches or influences others, from a pulpit or in daily conversation. Doing comes first and teaching follows, as Jesus later says of the wise man who hears his sayings and does them (Matthew 7:24–27) and of the one who “doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 7:21). James writes, “be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22–25).

Jesus is himself the one who did and taught perfectly. He was “in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin” (Hebrews 4:15), and he sent his disciples out “Teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you” (Matthew 28:19–20). We do and teach his commands by the power of the Holy Spirit, whom he promised: “he shall teach you all things” (John 14:26).

Does “least in the kingdom” mean someone is shut out?

The one called least is still in the kingdom of heaven, and Jesus is speaking of the honour and reward each person has there. Salvation is God’s gift, received through faith: “For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8–9). Within the kingdom there are degrees of honour, given according to faithfulness, a truth the parable of the pounds also teaches (Luke 19:11–27). Paul writes that each man’s work will be tried by fire, and that a man whose work is burned “shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire” (1 Corinthians 3:13–15). So “least” and “great” speak of standing and commendation, and to be in the kingdom at all is God’s grace. Being called great is God’s own recognition of faithful obedience and faithful teaching, and it gives every disciple reason to pursue a life of integrity.

What “the kingdom of heaven” is

Kingdom is basileía, a word that comes from basileús, “king”, so it speaks first of a king’s rule. Heaven is ouranós, the word for both the sky and heaven. The kingdom of heaven is God’s own sovereign rule. Many in Israel expected it to come as a political kingdom on earth, and Jesus shows it to be God’s reign, present now and still to be completed, entered through repentance and faith and marked by obedience to God’s will. John the Baptist had already preached, “Repent ye: for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 3:2).

A righteousness that exceeds the scribes and Pharisees

“For I say unto you” opens with gár, “for”, the little word that introduces the reason for what has just been said. Jesus has told us that the Law stands and that its least command matters, and now, on his own authority, he says what kind of righteousness the kingdom requires.

Righteousness is dikaiosýnē, uprightness of character and of action. In this verse it covers both a right standing before God and the right conduct that flows from it.

The scribes, grammateús, a word meaning a writer or secretary, were experts in the Law who copied, interpreted and taught it. The Pharisees, Pharisaîos, a name meaning a separatist, were a leading sect known for strict keeping of the Law and of oral traditions: ritual purity, tithing, the Sabbath and other outward observances. People regarded both groups as the very models of piety. That is why this verse would have shocked its hearers. Jesus names the most scrupulous people they knew and says that those who enter his kingdom must be more righteous still.

What kind of righteousness exceeds theirs

To exceed is perisseúō, to abound, overflow or excel, and here it is joined to pleíōn, “more”. Our righteousness must overflow and surpass theirs. What Jesus means becomes clear from the rest of his teaching. He later says that the scribes and Pharisees tithe mint and anise and cummin and have omitted “the weightier matters of the law, judgment, mercy, and faith”, and that they are like whited sepulchres, beautiful outside and full of uncleanness within (Matthew 23:23–28). In the next chapter he warns against giving alms and praying “that they may be seen of men” (Matthew 6:1–6).

The righteousness he asks for is of a deeper kind, reaching thoughts, motives and desires. It flows from a heart made new, one that loves God and neighbour, seeks God’s approval above the applause of others, and shows itself in deeds that match God’s character. The rest of the sermon shows what this looks like in matters of anger, lust, divorce, oaths, retaliation and love for enemies.

“Ye shall in no case enter” uses ou mḗ again, the same emphatic double denial as in verse 18. Entry into the kingdom is at stake, and so the standard is as serious as any Jesus ever set.

How can anyone have this righteousness?

Christ has this righteousness in full, and he gives it to everyone who believes in him. Set beside the scribes and Pharisees, the demand sounds impossible, and it is meant to show us how little our own effort can do. The Law itself shows us our need: “by the deeds of the law there shall no flesh be justified in his sight: for by the law is the knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). Paul goes straight on to the answer, “the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe” (Romans 3:20–22).

Jesus lived in perfect obedience to his Father, in every thought and intention as well as in his deeds (Hebrews 4:15), and his righteousness truly exceeded that of every other man. Through his death and resurrection he gives that righteousness to those who believe: God “hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Paul counted his own law-keeping as loss so that he might “be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith” (Philippians 3:7–9).

So the righteousness that exceeds is first received as a gift, through union with Christ. Then, by his Spirit, it is lived out, for God sent his Son “That the righteousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit” (Romans 8:3–4). Right standing and right living both come from him.

Taking God’s word as Jesus took it

Jesus held the Scriptures in such regard that he spoke of their smallest strokes. You can open the Old Testament with the same confidence, reading it as God’s word and looking in it for Christ, who fulfils it. Every command of God is worth keeping, including the ones that look small, and what you say about God’s word to others, at home, in church or in passing, carries weight with him. Jesus asks for a heart that loves God and wants to please him, and he gives what he asks: his own righteousness to all who trust him, and his Spirit so that we can do and teach what he has commanded.

Last revised

Public-domain commentary

Matthew Henry

From his Commentary on the Whole Bible. Henry wrote on whole passages, and this entry covers Matthew 5:17–20. He set out his notes in a three-level outline, kept here as he numbered it.

1662–1714 · 4 verses
Passage under commentMatthew 5:17–20
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points(1.) (2.) Details

Those to whom Christ preached, and for whose use he gave these instructions to his disciples, were such as in their religion had an eye, 1. To the scriptures of the Old Testament as their rule, and therein Christ here shows them they were in the right: 2. To the scribes and the Pharisees as their example, and therein Christ here shows them they were in the wrong; for,

I.The rule which Christ came to establish exactly agreed with the scriptures of the Old Testament, here called the law and the prophets.

The prophets were commentators upon the law, and both together made up that rule of faith and practice which Christ found upon the throne in the Jewish church, and here he keeps it on the throne.

1.He protests against the thought of cancelling and weakening the Old Testament; Think not that I am come to destroy the law and the prophets. (1.) "Let not the pious Jews, who have an affection for the law and the prophets, fear that I come to destroy them." Let them be not prejudiced against Christ and his doctrine, from a jealousy that this kingdom he came to set up, would derogate from the honour of the scriptures, which they had embraced as coming from God, and of which they had experienced the power and purity; no, let them be satisfied that Christ has no ill design upon the law and the prophets. "Let not the profane Jews, who have a disaffection to the law and the prophets, and are weary of that yoke, hope that I am come to destroy them." Let not carnal libertines imagine that the Messiah is come to discharge them from the obligation of divine precepts and yet to secure to them divine promises, to make the happy and yet to give them leave to live as they list. Christ commands nothing now which was forbidden either by the law of nature or the moral law, nor forbids any thing which those laws had enjoined; it is a great mistake to think he does, and he here takes care to rectify the mistake; I am not come to destroy. The Saviour of souls is the destroyer of nothing but the works of the devil, of nothing that comes from God, much less of those excellent dictates which we have from Moses and the prophets. No, he came to fulfil them. That is, [1.] To obey the commands of the law, for he was made under the law, Galatians 4:4. He in all respects yielded obedience to the law, honoured his parents, sanctified the sabbath, prayed, gave alms, and did that which never any one else did, obeyed perfectly, and never broke the law in any thing. [2.] To make good the promises of the law, and the predictions of the prophets, which did all bear witness to him. The covenant of grace is, for substance, the same now that it was then, and Christ the Mediator of it. [3.] To answer the types of the law; thus (as bishop Tillotson expresses it), he did not make void, but make good, the ceremonial law, and manifested himself to be the Substance of all those shadows. [4.] To fill up the defects of it, and so to complete and perfect it. Thus the word plērōsai properly signifies. If we consider the law as a vessel that had some water in it before, he did not come to pour out the water, but to fill the vessel up to the brim; or, as a picture that is first rough-drawn, displays some outlines only of the piece intended, which are afterwards filled up; so Christ made an improvement of the law and the prophets by his additions and explications. [5.] To carry on the same design; the Christian institutes are so far from thwarting and contradicting that which was the main design of the Jewish religion, that they promote it to the highest degree. The gospel is the time of reformation (Hebrews 9:10), not the repeal of the law, but the amendment of it, and, consequently, its establishment.

2.He asserts the perpetuity of it; that not only he designed not the abrogation of it, but that it never should be abrogated (Matthew 5:18); "Verily I say unto you, I, the Amen, the faithful Witness, solemnly declare it, that till heaven and earth pass, when time shall be no more, and the unchangeable state of recompences shall supersede all laws, one jot, or one tittle, the least and most minute circumstance, shall in no wise pass from the law till all be fulfilled;" for what is it that God is doing in all the operations both of providence and grace, but fulfilling the scripture? Heaven and earth shall come together, and all the fulness thereof be wrapped up in ruin and confusion, rather than any word of God shall fall to the ground, or be in vain. The word of the Lord endures for ever, both that of the law, and that of the gospel. Observe, The care of God concerning his law extends itself even to those things that seem to be of least account in it, the iotas and the tittles; for whatever belongs to God, and bears his stamp, be it ever so little, shall be preserved. The laws of men are conscious to themselves of so much imperfection, that they allow it for a maxim, Apices juris non sunt jura - The extreme points of the law are not the law, but God will stand by and maintain every iota and every tittle of his law.

3.He gives it in charge to his disciples, carefully to preserve the law, and shows them the danger of the neglect and contempt of it (Matthew 5:19); Whosoever therefore shall break one of the least commandments of the law of Moses, much more any of the greater, as the Pharisees did, who neglected the weightier matters of the law, and shall teach men so as they did, who made void the commandment of God with their traditions (Matthew 15:3), he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven. Though the Pharisees be cried up for such teachers as should be, they shall not be employed as teachers in Christ's kingdom; but whosoever shall do and teach them, as Christ's disciples would, and thereby prove themselves better friends to the Old Testament than the Pharisees were, they, though despised by men, shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. Note,

(1.)Among the commands of God there are some less than others; none absolutely little, but comparatively so. The Jews reckon the least of the commandments of the law to be that of the bird's nest (Deuteronomy 22:6, Deuteronomy 22:7); yet even that had a significance and an intention very great and considerable.

(2.)It is a dangerous thing, in doctrine or practice, to disannul the least of God's commands; to break them, that is, to go about either to contract the extent, or weaken the obligation of them; whoever does so, will find it is at his peril. Thus to vacate any of the ten commandments, is too bold a stroke for the jealous God to pass by. it is something more than transgressing the law, it is making void the law, Psalm 119:126.

(3.)That the further such corruptions as they spread, the worse they are. It is impudence enough to break the command, but is a greater degree of it to teach men so. This plainly refers to those who at this time sat in Moses' seat, and by their comments corrupted and perverted the text. Opinions that tend to the destruction of serious godliness and the vitals of religion, by corrupt glosses on the scripture, are bad when they are held, but worse when they are propagated and taught, as the word of God. He that does so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven, in the kingdom of glory; he shall never come thither, but be eternally excluded; or, rather, in the kingdom of the gospel-church. He is so far from deserving the dignity of a teacher in it, that he shall not so much as be accounted a member of it. The prophet that teaches these lies shall be the tail in that kingdom (Isaiah 9:15); when truth shall appear in its own evidence, such corrupt teachers, though cried up as the Pharisees, shall be of no account with the wise and good. Nothing makes ministers more contemptible and base than corrupting the law, Malachi 2:8, Malachi 2:11. Those who extenuate and encourage sin, and discountenance and put contempt upon strictness in religion and serious devotion, are the dregs of the church. But, on the other hand, Those are truly honourable, and of great account in the church of Christ, who lay out themselves by their life and doctrine to promote the purity and strictness of practical religion; who both do and teach that which is good; for those who do not as they teach, pull down with one hand what they build up with the other, and give themselves the lie, and tempt men to think that all religion is a delusion; but those who speak from experience, who live up to what they preach, are truly great; they honour God, and God will honour them (1 Samuel 2:30), and hereafter they shall shine as the stars in the kingdom of our Father.

II.The righteousness which Christ came to establish by this rule, must exceed that of the scribes and Pharisees, Matthew 5:20.

This was strange doctrine to those who looked upon the scribes and Pharisees as having arrived at the highest pitch of religion. The scribes were the most noted teachers of the law, and the Pharisees the most celebrated professors of it, and they both sat in Moses' chair (Matthew 23:2), and had such a reputation among the people, that they were looked upon as super-conformable to the law, and people did not think themselves obliged to be as good as they; it was therefore a great surprise to them, to hear that they must be better than they, or they should not go to heaven; and therefore Christ here avers it with solemnity; I say unto you, It is so. The scribes and Pharisees were enemies to Christ and his doctrine, and were great oppressors; and yet it must be owned, that there was something commendable in them. They were much in fasting and prayer, and giving of alms; they were punctual in observing the ceremonial appointments, and made it their business to teach others; they had such an interest in the people that they ought, if but two men went to heaven, one would be a Pharisee; and yet our Lord Jesus here tells his disciples, that the religion he came to establish, did not only exclude the badness, but excel the goodness, of the scribes and Pharisees. We must do more than they, and better than they, or we shall come short of heaven. They were partial in the law, and laid most stress upon the ritual part of it; but we must be universal, and not think it enough to give the priest his tithe, but must give God our hearts. They minded only the outside, but we must make conscience of inside godliness. They aimed at the praise and applause of men, but we must aim at acceptance with God: they were proud of what they did in religion, and trusted to it as a righteousness; but we, when we have done all, must deny ourselves, and say, We are unprofitable servants, and trust only to the righteousness of Christ; and thus we may go beyond the scribes and Pharisees.

Historical interpretation

Nine Centuries of Reception

16 surviving comments on this verse. Each one is dated, so this reads as a timeline rather than a list.

16 quotes · AD 253–1150
Ante-NicenePost-NiceneEarly MedievalMedieval
200300400500600700800900100011001200

Select a marker to jump to its quote. Markers stagger vertically where authors wrote within a few decades of each other.

d. AD 253Origen of AlexandriaAnte-NiceneSourceFRAGMENT 99
But the “one dot” is not only the iota of the Greeks but also that which among the Hebrews is called the yod. And the “one iota” or “one dot” can symbolically be said to be Jesus, since the beginning of his name is written not only by Greeks with an iota but also by Hebrews with a yod. So Jesus will be the one dot, the Word of God in the law which does not pass from the law until all is accomplished. But the iota might also be (as he himself says) the Ten Commandments of the law, for everything else passes away, but these do not pass away. But neither does Jesus pass away; if he “falls to the ground” he does so willingly, in order to bear much fruit. Again, the “one iota” or “one dot” has mastery over things both in heaven and on earth.
d. AD 367Hilary of Poitiersas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
He means not that we should seek glory of men, but that though we conceal it, our work may shine forth in honour of God to those among whom we live.

From the expression here used pass, we may suppose that the constituting elements of heaven and earth shall not be annihilatedb.

Or, He calls the passion, and the cross, the least, which if one shall not confess openly, but be ashamed of them, he shall be least, that is, last, and as it were no man; but to him that confesses it He promises the great glory of a heavenly calling.
d. AD 406Chromatius of AquileiaPost-NiceneSourceTRACTATE ON MATTHEW 20.1.3-4
He fulfilled the law at the time by completing the sacrifices of the law and all the examples prefigured in himself … by accepting a body. Certainly he fulfilled the law at the time he confirmed with evangelical grace the precepts of the law he had given. He proceeds to demonstrate he had come to fulfill the law: “Until heaven and earth pass away, not one iota, not a dot, shall be lost from the law until all is accomplished.” Therefore we know from Christ’s teaching how true and divine is the preaching of the law. The Lord reveals that not a single iota or a dot will be lost.
d. AD 407John Chrysostomas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. xvi.) Christ then fulfilled the Prophets by accomplishing what was therein foretold concerning Himself—and the Law, first, by transgressing none of its precepts; secondly, by justifying by faith, which the Law could not do by the letter.

He speaks not this of the old laws, but of those which He was now going to enact, of which he says, the least, though they were all great. For as He so oft spoke humbly of Himself, so does He now speak humbly of His precepts.

Or, when you hear the words, least in the kingdom of heaven, imagine nothing less than the punishment of hell. For He oft uses the word 'kingdom,' not only of the joys of heaven, but of the time of the resurrection, and of the terrible coming of Christ.
d. AD 407John ChrysostomPost-NiceneSourceHomily on the Gospel of Matthew 16
"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 come to pass."

Now what He saith is like this: it cannot be that it should remain unaccomplished, but the very least thing therein must needs be fulfilled. Which thing He Himself performed, in that He completed it with all exactness.

And here He signifies to us obscurely that the fashion of the whole world is also being changed. Nor did He set it down without purpose, but in order to arouse the hearer, and indicate, that He was with just cause introducing another discipline; if at least the very works of the creation are all to be transformed, and mankind is to be called to another country, and to a higher way of practising how to live.
d. AD 420JeromePost-NiceneSourceCommentary on Matthew
(Verse 18.) Until heaven and earth pass away. The new heavens and the new earth are promised to us, which the Lord God will create. Therefore, if new things are to be created, the old things will necessarily pass away. And what follows is:

One iota, or one iota, will not pass from the Law until all is done. It is shown from the figure of the letter, that even what are thought to be the least in the Law, are full of spiritual sacraments, and all are recapitulated in the Gospel. Whose, then, is the erudition and whose teaching, to demonstrate that even diverse sacrifices and those which appear superstitious are fulfilled in daily victims?
d. AD 420JeromePost-NiceneSourceCOMMENTARY ON MATTHEW 1.5.18
We are promised a new heaven and a new earth, which the Lord God will make. If new ones are to be created, the old ones will therefore pass away. As for what follows, “Not one iota, not a dot, shall be lost from the law until all is accomplished,” this literally shows that even what is considered least important in the law is full of spiritual sacraments, and it is all summed up in the gospel.
d. AD 420Jeromeas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
This head is closely connected with the preceding. It is directed against the Pharisees, who, despising the commandments of God, set up traditions of their own, and means that their teaching the people would not avail themselves, if they destroyed the very least commandment in the Law. We may take it in another sense. The learning of the master if joined with sin however small, loses him the highest place, nor does it avail any to teach righteousness, if he destroys it in his life. Perfect bliss is for him who fulfils in deed what he teaches in word.
d. AD 430Augustine of HippoPost-Nicene
For, if even those things which are added for completion are fulfilled, much more are those things fulfilled which are sent in advance as a commencement. Then, as to what He says, One iota or one tittle shall in nowise pass from the law, nothing else can be understood but a strong expression of perfection, since it is pointed out by means of single letters, among which letters iota is smaller than the others, for it is made by a single stroke; while a tittle is but a particle of some sort at the top of even that. And by these words He shows that in the law all the smallest particulars even are to be carried into effect.
d. AD 430Augustine of Hippoas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(Serm. in Mont. i. 8.) By the words, one iota or one point shall not pass from the Law, we must understand only a strong metaphor of completeness, drawn from the letters of writing, iota being the least of the letters, made with one stroke of the pen, and a point being a slight dot at the end of the same letter. The words there show that the Law shall be completed to the very least matter.
AD 500Pseudo-Chrysostomas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
And that for two reasons. First, that by these words He might admonish His disciples, that as He fulfilled the Law, so they should strive to fulfil it. Secondly, because the Jews would falsely accuse them as subverting the Law, therefore he answers the calumny beforehand, but in such a manner as that He should not be thought to come simply to preach the Law as the Prophets had done.

But since all things which should befal from the very beginning of the world to the end of it, were in type and figure foreshewn in the Law, that God may not be thought to be ignorant of any of those things that take place, He therefore here declares, that heaven and earth should not pass till all things thus foreshewn in the Law should have their actual accomplishment.

If even an honourable man blushes to be found in a falsehood, and a wise man lets not fall empty any word he has once spoken, how could it be that the words of heaven should fall to the ground empty? Hence He concludes, Whoso shall break the least of these commandments, &c. And, I suppose, the Lord goes on to reply Himself to the question, Which are the least commandments? Namely, these which I am now about to speak.

Otherwise; the precepts of Moses are easy to obey; Thou shall not kill. Thou shall not commit adultery. The very greatness of the crime is a check upon the desire of committing it; therefore the reward of observance is small, the sin of transgression great. But Christ's precepts, Thou shalt not be angry, Thou shalt not lust, are hard to obey, and therefore in their reward they are great, in their transgression, 'least.' It is thus He speaks of these precepts of Christ, such as Thou shall not be angry, Thou shalt not lust, as 'the least;' and they who commit these lesser sins, are the least in the kingdom of God; that is, he who has been angry and not sinned grievously is secure from the punishment of eternal damnation; yet he does not attain that glory which they attain who fulfil even these least.
d. AD 533Remigius of Rheimsas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Post-NiceneSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
He here asserts two things; He denies that He was come to subvert the Law, and affirms that He was come to fulfil it.

Amen is a Hebrew word, and may be rendered in Latin, 'vere,' 'fidenter,' or 'fiat;' that is, 'truly,' 'faithfully,' or 'so be it.' The Lord uses it either because of the hardness of heart of those who were slow to believe, or to attract more particularly the attention of those that did believe.

But shall abide in their essence, but pass through renewal.
d. AD 604Gregory the Dialogistas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Early MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(Hom. in Ev. xii. 1.) Or, by the kingdom of heaven is to be understood the Church, in which that teacher who breaks a commandment is called least, because he whose life is despised, it remains that his preaching be also despised.
d. AD 856Rabanus Maurusas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274Early MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
He fitly mentions the Greek iota, and not the Hebrew jod, because the iota stands in Greek for the number ten, and so there is an allusion to the Decalogue of which the Gospel is the point and perfection.
d. AD 1107Theophylact of OhridMedieval
The "amen" is an assurance, meaning, "Yes, truly I say unto you."

. He indicates here that the world passes away and undergoes a change in form. He is saying, therefore, that while the universe subsists, not the least letter of the law will pass away. Some say that the "jot" [i.e. the Greek letter iota] and the "tittle" [i.e. accent mark] signify the ten commandments of the law; others say that they indicate the Cross, for the iota is the upright beam of the Cross, and the accent, the transverse beam. Christ is saying, therefore, that everything that was spoken concerning the Cross will be fulfilled.
AD 1150Glossa Ordinariaas quoted by Aquinas, AD 1274MedievalSourceCatena Aurea by Aquinas
(ord.) Having now exhorted His hearers to undergo all things for righteousness' sake, and also not to hide what they should receive, but to learn more for others' sake, that they may teach others, He now goes on to tell them what they should teach, as though He had been asked, 'What is this which you would not have hid, and for which you would have all things endured? Are you about to speak any thing beyond what is written in the Law and the Prophets;' hence it is He says, Think not that I am come to subvert the Law or the Prophets.

(ord.) By 'break,' is meant, the not doing what one understands rightly, or the not understanding what one has corrupted, or the destroying the perfectness of Christ's additions.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.

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