Truth (Bible)

Occurrences in Scripture

In the Old Testament, truth refers chiefly to the character and word of God. Exodus 34:6 describes God as "abundant in goodness and truth." The Hebrew word rendered "truth" here, which some versions translate "faithfulness," is the same original term used elsewhere for truth. Psalm 25:5 and Psalm 119:160 call God's ways and God's word truth.

In the New Testament, the term appears with particular frequency in the Gospel of John and the Johannine epistles. John 1:14 and 1:17 state that grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. In John's Gospel, Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life" (14:6), and teaches, "the truth shall make you free" (8:32). Other well-known passages include "the Spirit of truth" (16:13), "thy word is truth" (17:17), and the question of Pontius Pilate, "What is truth?" (18:38). Paul speaks of "the truth of the gospel" (Galatians 2:5) and urges believers to stand, "having your loins girt about with truth" (Ephesians 6:14).

Original Languages and Background

The Hebrew word emet derives from the root aman, meaning "to be firm" or "to be reliable," the same root from which amen comes. Accordingly, emet carries a strong sense of faithfulness and reliability in addition to the sense of "conforming to fact." It frequently appears paired with hesed, which denotes God's steadfast love. The New Korean Revised Version renders the word as "truth," "faithfulness," "sincerity," and so on, depending on the context. The New Testament Greek word aletheia denotes what is true rather than false, that is, reality. The Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament, commonly rendered emet with this word.

Meaning in the Whole of Scripture

Truth, which in the Old Testament refers to the faithfulness of God, converges in the New Testament on Jesus Christ. The Gospel of John presents truth not merely as a proposition but as a person. The Holy Spirit is the one who guides believers into that truth, and believers are portrayed as those who "walk in truth" (3 John 1:3-4). In Scripture, truth is at once something to be known and something to be lived out in obedience.

Interpretation and Issues

• A widely used explanation contrasts Hebraic truth (faithfulness) with Greek truth (correspondence with fact). Some scholars, however, criticize this distinction as overly simplistic.
• John 17:17 is frequently cited in evangelical and Reformed circles as a basis for biblical inerrancy. Others understand truth primarily in terms of God's self-revelation and its relation to Christ, distinguishing it from the literal inerrancy of the text.
• The Catholic Church reads "the pillar and ground of the truth" in 1 Timothy 3:15 in connection with the teaching authority of the Church. Protestantism generally reads the verse as describing the Church's role in upholding and bearing witness to the truth of Scripture.
• John 8:32 is often quoted as a maxim about academic freedom or the value of knowledge in general. In its context (8:31, 34–36), however, truth refers to the word of Jesus, and freedom refers to release from bondage to sin.

In the Korean Church

In Korean church preaching, the word "truth" is frequently used together with John 14:6 to express the confession that Christ alone is the way of salvation. "The word of truth" is widely used as an expression for the Bible, and in contexts warning against heresy it can also denote sound doctrine. John 8:32 is also known as the motto of Yonsei University.