Matthew 5:17-18, One Iota and One Horn

Matthew 5:17-18

17 Don’t think that I have come to destroy the law or the prophets.  I have not come to destroy, but to fulfill (the law).  18 For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, one iota or one horn will never pass away from the law, until all things should happen.

Everyone has heard the phrase “not one iota” (ἰῶτα), but few know that the second part of the saying is the feminine Greek word κεραία for “horn”.  Of course, Jesus is referring to letters of the alphabet in this passage.  The “iota” referring to the “smallest letter” of the alphabet while the “horn” is referring to “hooks” on the letters of the alphabet.  Thus the KJV: “one jot or one tittle” and the NIV: “the smallest letter, not the least stroke of a pen”.

Just some fun facts.