The powerful Hebrew letter Yud

From the smallest of Hebrew letters, ‘yud’, came the Roman letters ‘I’ and ‘j’, and the Greek letter ‘iota’.

The Yud (jodh; yod; jodh) is the 10^th letter of the Semitic writing system, incl. Phoenician, Hebrew, Aramaic, Syriac and Arabic. The pictograph shows a hand – the Yad in Hebrew. Israelies pronounce the letter as a ‘yood’ (yud).

Because the holy name of God cannot be written, in Hebrew they use ‘’ which is pronounced as ‘Adonai’.

 

Many important words start with a Yud:

The sacred name of God – YHWH (Jaweh)

The land of Israel  

The city of God – Jerusalem

Yeshua (Jesus)

The greatest of God’s works begins with the smallest of strokes; new life begins so small it can’t be seen by human eye. By nature, we avoid newness and change and going from a life of failure to victory is an overwhelming prospect. It can be done by taking the ‘yud’ of steps. We don’t start out with a great victory but by taking a ‘yud’ (little) step towards that great victory. That is a ‘yud’ of courage, an iota of change, a smallest stroke of new beginning, the yud’ of the life we are called to live.

 A look at Matthew 5:18

“For truly I tell you, until the sky and earth pass away and perish, not one smallest letter nor one little hook [identifying certain Hebrew letters] will pass from the Law until all things [it foreshadows] are accomplished.” AMPC

“I tell you the truth, until heaven and earth ·are gone [pass away; disappear], not even ·the smallest letter [T one jot; L one iota; C the smallest Greek letter] or the smallest ·part [stroke; T tittle] of a letter will ·be lost [pass away; disappear] until everything ·has happened [is accomplished/achieved].” EXB (Expanded Bible)

“For, omein, truly I say to you, until Shomayim and haaretz pass away, not one yod, not one tag (ornamental flourish), will pass from the Torah until everything is accomplished.” OJB (Orthodox Jewish Bible)

“You must not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to complete them. Indeed, I assure you that, while Heaven and earth last, the Law will not lose a single dot or comma until its purpose is complete.” Phillips

Someone who worries about ‘the tip of a yud’ (like a Torah Scribe)  is meticulous about small details – each letter must be perfect.

 

The Jewish sages say that the ‘yud’ represents the world to come and completeness.

By being small, the Yud also symbolizes wisdom.

 

 “Never think that something is insignificant 

just because it is small.”

 

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Sources: 

The Book of Mysteries by Jonathan Cahn; Wikipedia; Hebrewtoday.com