📖 Biblical Definition
In Scripture, truth (emet in Hebrew; alētheia in Greek) is not merely factual accuracy — it is the very character of God. God is truth (Deut. 32:4), His Word is truth (John 17:17), and Jesus declared Himself the Truth (John 14:6). Biblical truth is objective, eternal, and binding on all creation. It cannot be relativized, voted upon, or privately interpreted apart from its Source. To know truth is to know God; to suppress it is to invite judgment (Rom. 1:18). Truth is the foundation of all genuine freedom: "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free" (John 8:32).
John 14:6 — "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
John 17:17 — "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth."
John 8:32 — "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
Romans 1:18 — "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."
Psalm 119:160 — "The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever."
🔗 Greek & Hebrew Roots
H571 — emet (אֱמֶת): firmness, faithfulness, truth; from H539 aman (to confirm, support). Related to "amen."
G225 — alētheia (ἀλήθεια): truth, reality, that which is unconcealed; from a- (not) + lēthē (concealment). Truth as that which cannot be hidden.
Usage
"A man of truth keeps his word even when it costs him."
"The prophet spoke truth to power, knowing the king would reject it."
"There is no conflict between truth rightly understood and Scripture rightly interpreted."
Related Words
Post-modern culture has reduced truth to personal perspective — "your truth," "my truth," "speaking your truth." This linguistic sleight-of-hand smuggles in the assumption that truth is subjective, constructed by the individual, and that no one's "truth" may be questioned. The result is a culture where feelings override facts, preferences override revelation, and personal narrative replaces accountability to an objective standard. When "truth" becomes plural and possessive, it ceases to be truth at all — it becomes preference wearing truth's clothing.
PIE *drew- / *deru- ("tree, firm, solid, steadfast")
→ Proto-Germanic *trewwō ("faith, trust, fidelity")
→ Old English trēowþ / trēoþ ("truth, faith, fidelity")
→ Middle English trouthe → Modern English "truth"
Cognates: tree, true, trust, troth, truce — all from the "firm/solid" root
Key insight: truth is what is FIRM, SOLID, RELIABLE — like a tree.
Old English trēowe = "faithful, trustworthy" (a tree that stands firm)
Greek:
ἀλήθεια (alētheia, G225) — truth, reality, unconcealment
→ a- (not) + lēthē (forgetfulness/hiddenness) → literally "unhidden"
→ Truth = what is UNCOVERED, REVEALED, not hidden
→ River Lethe in Greek mythology: river of forgetfulness/oblivion
Biblical parallel:
Proto-Semitic *ʾmn → Hebrew אֶמֶת (emet, H571) — truth, faithfulness, reliability
→ Same root as aman (to be firm) and amen ("truly!")
→ Truth in Hebrew = what is FIRM, RELIABLE, TRUSTWORTHY
→ The first and last letters: aleph + mem + tav → "truth spans A to Z"
→ Jesus: "I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life" (John 14:6)
📖 Key Scripture
• John 14:6 — "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me."
• John 17:17 — "Sanctify them in the truth; Your word is truth."
• John 8:32 — "You will know the truth, and the truth will set you free."
• Romans 1:18 — "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness."
• Psalm 119:160 — "The entirety of Your word is truth, and every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever."
• "A man of truth keeps his word even when it costs him."
• "The prophet spoke truth to power, knowing the king would reject it."
• "There is no conflict between truth rightly understood and Scripture rightly interpreted."