The Truth

aletheia G225 [truth] AND: alethes G227 [true] alethinos G228 [true]
aletheuo G226 [to speak the truth]
Details aletheia A. The OT Term for Truth. 1. The common OT word for truth
appears some 126 times. It denotes a reality that is firm, solid, binding, and
hence true. With reference to persons it characterizes their action, speech, or
thought, and suggests integrity. 2. In law the word is used for a. the actual truth
of a cause or process as shown by the facts (cf. Dt. 22:20; 1Kg. 10:6; Da. 10:1).
Only rarely is there a more abstract use, e. g., Ge. 4:16 ( "whether it is as you
say" or "whether there is any truth in you"). Normally the facts establish a matter
beyond cavil, as also in the case of God's word (cf. 1Kg. 17:24; Je. 23:28). Regard
for facts is indispensable for the right dispensing of justice (tech. 7:9; 8:16). b. An
extension of this usage is to more general facts which demand recognition by all
people as reality, as the normal state corresponding to divine and human order.
3. The religious use runs parallel to the legal but is not just a figurative
application of it. It often denotes a religious reality that need not be explained by
the forensic use. The righteous base their attitude to God on incontestable truth
and practice truthfulness as God himself is truthful (cf. Ps 51:6). Those who are
qualified to dwell on God's hill speak truth in the heart, i.e., have their minds set
on it (Ps 15:2). Truth is linked with knowledge of God (Ho. 4:1). If it is
fundamentally an attitude, the rational element in the legal use ties it to
instruction in the law, i.e., Scripture (Ps 119:160), for God's ordinances are true
(Ps 19:9). Thus walking in the truth can be taught (Ps 86:11). Truth can also be
set in opposition to deceit (cf. Mat. 2:6; Pr. 11:8;12:19). Poetic expressions have
truth springing from the ground or falling in the street (Ps 85:11; Isa 59:14), but
when it is said to be dashed to the ground in Dan. 8:12 it seems to be equated
with the true religion. Along similar lines God is said to be the true (i.e., the only)
God in 2Ch. 15:3. Yet a parallel phrase in Ps 31:5 refers to the "reliable" God and
thus adds an ethical dimension whereby God guarantees both moral and legal
standards. Rich in truth (Ex. 34:6), God is worthy of trust. God does truth (Ne.
9:33), gives true laws (Ne. 9:13), gives valid commands (Ps 111:7), swears truth
(Ps 132:11), and keeps the norm of truthfulness forever (Ps 146:6). The element
of trust, based on God's character, finds pregnant expression in 2Sa. 7:28: "Thou
art God, and thy words are true." [G. QUELL] B. The Word for Truth in
Rabbinic Judaism. The rabbinic use follows that of the OT. Truth is the basis of
law, but with a religious reference, since law is a religious function. God's
judgment is one of truth, but this is because God's very being is truth, and truth
has its being in God. The image of the seal symbolizes this: God's seal is truth,
truth meaning that God lives. A problem arises regarding the relationship
between God's truth and kindness when truth signifies judgment. If truth is
sometimes put first, the two are both seen to be essential qualities in God. [G.
KITTEL] C. The Greek and Hellenistic Use of aletheia. The NT usage is partly
determined by the Hebrew term and partly by the nonbiblical use
of aletheia. The two are not coincident, for the LXX had to use such words
as pistis and dikaiosyne as well as aletheia for the Hebrew. If it could
use aletheia too, this is to be seen in the light of the flexible Greek usage. 1. The

Original Greek Usage and Its Differentiations. Etymologically aletheia means

"nonconcealment." It thus denotes what is seen, indicated, exressed, or
disclosed, i.e., a thing as it really is, not as it is concealed or falsified. aletheia is
"the real state of affairs," e.g., the truth in law, or real events in history, or true
being in philosophy. Links develop with logos, whose function it is to reveal,
and pistis, since one may rely on truth and is also trustworthy when speaking
it. aletheia can thus denote "truthfulness" as a personal quality. The
philosophical question of absolute truth as distinct from relative truths, while
alien to the OT, raises the similar concept of truth as a norm, which in practice
yields the sense of "correct doctrine" that indicates the truth. 2. The Usage of
Dualism. If in philosophy aletheia denotes true being, and if this is located in the
world of ideas that is hidden from the senses and comprehended in
thought, aletheia comes to mean "genuine reality" in antithesis to appearance. In
Hellenism what truly is can then be equated with what is divine or eternal, in
which one must share to be saved. Many circles no longer think this can be
attained by thought but only by ecstasy or revelation, i.e., from the divine
sphere. aletheia thus comes into relation with dynamis (power) and then with
the gnosis (knowledge) that it mediates and the zoe (life) and phos (light) that it
gives. Similar connections are made with pneuma (spirit) and nous (mind) insofar
as these concepts describe the divine sphere. D. The Early Christian Use
of aletheia . 1. aletheia is "that which has certainty and force": a. as a valid
norm (with a hint of what is genuine) in Ep 4:21; Ga 1:6; b. as judicial
righteousness (in the case of alethinos, cf. Rev 15:3); c. as uprightness in Jn
3:21; 2Jn 4; 1Co 13:6; Ep 4:24. 2. aletheia is "that on which one can rely": a. as
trustworthiness (Ro 3:3ff.; 15:8); b. as sincerity or honesty (2Co 7:14; 11:10; 2 Jn
1; 3Jn 1). 3. aletheia is "the state of affairs as disclosed" (Ro 1:18, 25; 2:2; 1Jn
3:18). 4. aletheia is "truth of statement," used with speaking (Lk 4:25) or
teaching (Mk 12:14). 5. aletheia is "true teaching or faith" (2Co 13:8; 4:2; Ga
5:7; 1Pe 1:22); thus the preaching of the gospel is the word of truth (2Co 6:7),
becoming a Christian is coming to a knowledge of truth (1Ti 2:4), the Christian
revelation is truth (2Th 2:10ff.), the church is the pillar and ground of truth (1Ti
3:15), and the aletheia is Christianity (2Pe 1:12). 6. aletheia is "authenticity,"
"divine reality, "revelation," especially in John, where this reality, as a possibility
of human existence, is out of reach through the fall but is granted to faith
through revelation by the word (cf. Jn 8:44; 1 Jn 1:8; 2:4). Ambiguity thus arises
when Jesus is said to speak the truth, for this means not only that what he says
is true but also that he brings revelation in words (Jn 8:40, 45; 18:37). As
revelation, aletheia is known (Jn 8:32; 2 Jn 1). This is not just a knowledge of a
complex of statements but an encounter with Christ, who is the truth (Jn 14:6)
and who sanctifies in truth (Jn 17:17,19). God himself is disclosed herewith, the
incarnate word being "full of grace and truth" (Jn 1:14; cf. v. 17). Worship in truth
is to be understood similarly, i.e., not just in pure knowledge but as determined
by God's own reality, in pneuma (Spirit), and by the revelation made in Jesus (Jn
4:23-24). Again, the Paraclete as the Spirit of truth insures ongoing revelation in
the community (Jn 14:17; 16:13; cf. 1 Jn 5:6), and this comes to expression in
right doctrine (1Jn 2:21) and a right way of life (1Jn 1:6). Thus the church's
witness may be equated with that of truth (3Jn 12) and Christians are to be fellow

workers in the truth (3 Jn 8), loving one another in the truth and united in truth
and love (2Jn 1ff.). alethes 1. alethes means a. constant or valid, as in 1Pe
5:12; b. "judicially righteous" (alethinos in the NT); c. "upright" (Php 4:5). 2. It
also means a. "trustworthy" (Ro 3:4); b. "sincere" (Mk 12:14; 2Co 6:8; Jn 3:33). 3.
Another sense is "real" (Ac 12:9; Jn 4:18; 1Jn 2:8). 4. It indicates a "true
statement" (e.g., Titus 1:13; Jn 5:31). 5. It also indicates "correct doctrine," but
the NT does not have this sense. 6. It then means "genuine" (Jn 6:55; probably Jn
3:33; 7:18, i.e., he himself is not just truthful but authentic). alethinos 1. This
often has the same meaning as alethes, e.g., "sincere" (Heb 10:22). With
reference to words it means "true" or "correct" (Jn 4:37; 8:16), "sure and certain"
(Rev 21:5-with pistol), "real" (Rev 19:9); with reference to God's ways or
judgments "valid" (Rev 15:3; 16:7; 19:2). 2. As a divine attribute it has the sense
of "reliable," "righteous," or "real" (cf. Ex. 34:6; Isa 65:16; 1Th 1:9; Jn 7:28; 1Jn
5:20; Rev 3:7; 6:10); in the NT it can be used of Christ as well as God. 3. In
Hellenism it also takes on the sense of "real as eternal" or "real as mediated by
revelation." Thus in Heb 8:2 the heavenly tabernacle is "true" in contrast to the
earthly, and in Heb 9:24 the human sanctuary is a copy of the true one, which is
genuine as divine, and as thus containing truth and dispensing revelation.
Similarly the true light of Jn 1:9 is the light of life of Jn 8:12, and the true bread
from heaven is the bread of life (Jn 6:32, 35, 48), while the true God of Jn 7:28 is
he who gives revelation, and Christ's true judgment is not merely just or
trustworthy but authentic and definitive. aletheuo. In Ga 4:16 this may mean
"speak the truth" but more probably means "preach the truth." In Ep 4:15 (with
love) it means "be sincere in love," or perhaps "live by true faith in love." [R.
BULTMANN]