1. Etymology and use.
2. The truth of God.
3. Christian truth.
4. The truth and Jesus.
5. Truth and life.
6. Truth and liberation.
I. ETYMOLOGY AND USE. Heb. 571 émeth, אֶמֶת = “firmness, stability, reliability, fidelity”, from the verbal root 539 aman, אמן, Assyrian, amanu, from which the word > amen is derived. It means to hold something firmly, lift or confirm. In its simple active form it means “to raise” or “nurture,” like a parent to a child; in the passive, “to be firm” or “established,” and hence “faithful” (Prov. 11:13); and in the Hiphil or causative form, “take as established,” and hence “consider certain, realize” or “believe, trust, trust” (cf. Deut. 28:66; Judg. 11:20; Job 4: 18; 15:15, 31; Mic 7:5). Haman first appears in Gen. 15:6 in relation to Abraham: “he believed Yahweh, and it was credited to him as righteousness.”
The main synonym of émeth is 530 emunah, אֶמוּנָה, “fidelity.” It is found in Hab. 2:4: “The just shall live by his faith”, words that should be read in connection with the preceding text: “I will do a work in your days, that even when it is told you, you will not believe it” ( 1:5).
The LXX almost always adopts the word gr. 4100 pisteúo, πιστεύω, “believe”, as a translation of the causative form of haman, sometimes translates the adjective by the corresponding Gr. 4103 pistós, πιστός, “faithful”; sometimes 228 alethinós, ἀλεθινός, “real” or “true.” The noun is generally translated 4102 pistis, πίστις, “faith”, but sometimes 225 alétheia, ἀλήθεια, “truth”, which indicates the notions of disclosure or discovery.
From all this it follows that for the ancients the truth is the quality of what is stable, proven, on which one can rely. A true peace (Jer. 14:13) is a solid, lasting peace; a path of truth (Gen. 24:48) is a path that leads safely to the goal; “truly” means “steadily” or “forever.” Applied to God or to men, the word truth must often be translated as > fidelity, since a person’s fidelity is what leads us to trust him.
II. THE TRUTH OF GOD. God’s emeth is linked to his intervention in history in favor of his people. It means God’s attitude by which he makes his goodness endure. Yahweh is the God of “faithfulness” (Deut. 7:9; 32:4; Ps. 31:6; Is. 49:7). Often émeth is associated with chesed, “mercy” (eg Ps. 89; 138:2), to indicate God’s fundamental attitude in the alliance, an alliance of grace, which he has never lacked ( 34:6ff., cf. Gen. 24:27; 2 Sam. 2:6; 15:20). Elsewhere fidelity is attached to attributes of justice (Hos. 2:21ff.; Neh. 9:33; Zech. 8:8) or holiness (Ps. 71:22), and assumes a more general meaning, without reference to the alliance.
The emeth also characterizes the word of God and his law (2 Sam. 7:28; Ps. 119:160). The Psalms celebrate the truth of divine law (Ps. 19:7; 111:7ff.; 119:86, 138, 142, 151, 160); according to the text cited last, the truth is what is essential, fundamental in the word of God, his justice, which is irrevocable, remains forever (Ps. 19:9; 111:3; 112:3 , 9; Isa. 40:8; cf. 2 Cor. 9:9; 1 Pet. 1:25).
For the pious Jew, truth is likewise a fundamental attitude of fidelity toward God (Joshua 24:14; 2 Kings 20:3; 2 Chron 31:20; Is 38:2), the lack of which it draws the judgment of God (cf. Hos. 4:1). The “true” man (Ex. 18:21; Neh. 7:2) is the man of confidence, faithful to the alliance and to the divine Law. The expressions “do the truth” (2 Chron. 31:21; Ez. 18:9) and “walk in the truth” (1 Kings 2:4; 3:6; 2 Kings 20:3; Is. 38 :3; Ps. 26:3; 86:11) mean to be faithful observants of the Law of God and his justice. This sense of truth is present in some NT texts (Jn. 3:21; 1 Jn. 1:6; 2 Jn. 4; 3 Jn. 3), although a clear semantic evolution is observed in it, present in the late Judaism.
III. THE CHRISTIAN TRUTH. After the exile, especially in apocalyptic and wisdom literature, “truth” progressively took on a new meaning, which prepares the NT, designates the revelation of God’s plan and becomes synonymous with > wisdom, knowledge of salvation, according to the which men have to live: «Get hold of the truth and do not sell it; with wisdom, instruction, and understanding” (Prov. 23:23; cf. 8:7; 22:21; Eccl. 12:10). In Daniel’s visions of the heavenly world, “the book of truth” (10:21) is the divine book in which the divine plan for the time of salvation is written.
The noun “truth” appears several times juxtaposed with “mystery” and is used with the related verbs “unveil”, “manifest”, and “reveal”. Thus, eg in Tob. 12:11: «I am going to tell you the whole truth, and I will not hide anything from you… It is good to keep the secret of the king and we must celebrate and publish the works of God». In Qumran, “the intelligence of the truth of God” is the knowledge of the mystery (1QH 7, 26s), which is obtained through the true interpretation of the Law, replete with “wonderful mysteries” (1QH 11, 9-10). The members of the sect are the “sons of truth”, those who follow “the paths of truth”.
The conception of truth as a revelation of the mystery is found especially in apocalyptic and wisdom literature. The Book of Wisdom announces that, in times of eschatological judgment, the just “will understand the truth” (Wisdom 3:9); not in the Semitic sense that they will have to experience God’s fidelity to his promises, nor in the Greek sense that they will see the being of God, which is true, but in the apocalyptic sense: they will understand God’s providential plan for men .
Starting from this wisdom, apocalyptic and eschatological background, the Christian notion of truth is progressively formed, which basically consists of the truth provided by Jesus Christ, way, truth and life (Jn. 14:6), that is, the truth in Christological key. Truth is what is “revealed” by God in Christ. The first disciples know this from immediate experience (1 Jn. 1:1-5); those who come later, through their word (Jn. 17:20), and, in extraordinary cases, by direct revelation, like Paul in his experience on the road to Damascus, when the Son of God was revealed to him (cf. Gal. 1:16; 2 Cor. 4:4, 6). Since then, Paul denounces the illusion of the Jews, which one day was his, of believing that they have “in the law the full expression of knowledge and truth” (Rom. 2:20). The Mosaic Law is not the entire revelation of God’s will. For the Apostle, “the truth of the law” has given way to the “truth of the gospel” (Gal. 2:5, 14). The proclamation of the saving Gospel is the “word of truth” (Eph. 1:13; cf. Col. 1:5; 2 Cor. 6:7; 2 Tim. 2:15). Christians who “have learned of Christ” (Eph. 4:20), now know that “the truth is in Jesus” (Eph. 4:21; cf. 1 Jn. 5:20); intended for everyone, because “God wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (2 Tim. 2:4-6). “The truth of God”, as in the AT, designates God’s fidelity to his promises (Rom. 3:3, 7; 15:8; 2 Cor. 1:18ff.), but now they have his “yes” in Christ (2 Cor. 1:20).
In pastoral writings, truth is identified with the content of apostolic teaching, which is authoritative doctrine (1 Tim. 6:5; 2 Tim. 2:18; 3:8; 4:4; Titus 1:1 , 14), transmitted by “the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:15). It is good doctrine (1 Tim. 1:10; 4:6; 2 Tim. 4:3; Tit. 1:9; 2:1), as opposed to fables (1 Tim. 1:4; 4:7; 2 Tim. 4:4; Tit. 1:14) of the masters of lies who have turned their backs on the truth (Tit. 1:14; 1. Ti. 4:2; 6:5; 2 Tim. 2 :18; 4:4); they even rise up against it (2 Tim. 3:8).
Conversion is the essential step to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 2:25). Faith is the means of receiving the truth of the Gospel (2 Thess. 2:13; Tit. 1:1; 2 Thess. 2:12; Gal. 5:7; Rom. 2:8); faith that at the same time demands “the love of the truth” (2 Thess. 2:10).
IV. THE TRUTH AND JESUS. According to Jesus’ own words, recorded in the Gospel of John, his life and mission consist of a witness to the truth: “For this I was born and for this I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth listens to my voice» (Jn. 18:37). But it is not a new doctrine or message, but an “incarnate truth” in the very person of Jesus: “I am the truth” (Jn. 14:6). Christian truth is therefore inseparably linked to the person of Jesus, to what he is and means, to his life, doctrine, conduct and final destiny of him, including his resurrection and ascension to heaven. It is in the writings of John where the notion of truth occupies a prominent position. From the beginning we are told that he who was one with God, the eternal Logos, has come into the world to bring the full truth and bear witness to it (Jn. 1:14). Christ testifies to the word that he has heard from the Father (Jn. 8:26, 40; cf 5:33), a word that “is true” (Jn. 17:17). Therefore, the truth is at the same time the word of the Father and the word that Christ himself directs us and that should lead us to believe in him (8:31-45).
In a similar way to the apostle Paul, John also points out the difference between the “revealed truth” of Jesus and the OT dispensation: “The law was given by Moses, but grace and truth came to us by Jesus Christ” (1:17). ). The great Christian novelty is this: Christ himself is the truth (14:6), or, as he will say elsewhere, “the true God and eternal life” (1 Jn. 5:20), with which he returns to reaffirm the divinity of Jesus from the angle of divine truth. Jesus is true insofar as he transmits to us in himself the revelation of the Father (17:8, 14, 17) and in this way he communicates to us the divine life (3:16; 6:40, 47, 63; 17:2; 1 Jn. 5:1ff.). Thus, this title indirectly reveals the divine person of Christ. Jesus is the truth, the fullness of revelation, because he reveals himself as the only-begotten Son come from the Father (1:14), through whom God has spoken whatever he had to speak (cf. Heb. 1: 1). .
His absence, due to the return to the bosom of the Father, is replaced by the Spirit of truth (14:17; 15:26; 16:13), whose fundamental mission is to bear witness to Christ (15:26), to lead disciples to all the truth (16:13), to bring to their memory everything that Jesus had told them, that is, to make them understand its true meaning (14:26).
V. TRUTH AND LIFE. The truth, or what is true, is not a simple object of internal assent, but something much broader that commits the whole person. It has to do with intellect and morality. Hebrew thought starts from the truth as a revealed concept that must be obeyed and followed. The truth for him is not the search for an abstract knowledge of things, but a set of ethical truths that are founded on God: «Teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth, and teach me” (Ps. 25:4–5; 86:11). The truth is that form of moral life pleasing to God that must be observed in daily practice (Ps. 26:3). In this sense, truth is not so much speculative “knowing” as practical “doing” (Tob. 4:6; 13:6).
The same mentality permeates the Christian conception. Truth is what is revealed by God in Christ.
