Josephus, explaining his nation’s scriptures to Greek readers, claims exactly what this verse breathes: the Jews hold “only twenty-two books… justly believed to be divine,” and “during so many ages as have already passed, no one has been so bold as either to add any thing to them, to take any thing from them, or to make any change in them”, his countrymen, he says, would die rather than speak against them. That fierce guarding answers Scripture’s own command, “Ye shall not add unto the word… neither shall ye diminish from it” (Deut 4:2), and stands behind Jesus’ “one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass away” (Matt 5:18).
Daily life in Bible times
“Not one jot”: guarding the text
Preserving the text
Sources, trace every one
Every cited verse, in full. Tap any reference to open it in the reader.
- Deuteronomy 4:2bsb
You must not add to or subtract from what I command you, so that you may keep the commandments of the LORD your God that I am giving you.
- Matthew 5:18bsb
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.
On contested questions we show every major view, attributed and cited, and pick no winner. Answers are synthesized from primary sources, truth you can trace, not opinion.