TRUTH,
TRUE
“And ye shall know the
truth, and the truth shall make you free”
And Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and
the life,
no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
John 8:32; 14:6
This
is the translation of the Greek words aletheia
and aletes. The words are a compound
made up of lanthano which means “to
escape notice, to be unknown, unseen hidden, concealed,” and the Greek letter
Alpha prefixed. When a Greek wants to make a word mean the opposite to what it
originally meant, he prefixes the Greek letter Alpha. For instance, dikaios means “righteous,” adikaios, “unrighteous.” Thus lanthano means “hidden, concealed,” and alanthano means “unhidden, unconcealed.”
The Greek idea of truth is therefore that which is unconcealed, unhidden, that
which will bear scrutiny and investigation, that which is open to the light of
day.
Thayer
defines aletheia the noun (truth) as
follows; “verity, truth, what is true in any matter under consideration.” In
reference to religion, the word denotes “what is true in things appertaining to
God and the duties of man.” When used of the body of truth in Christianity, it
refers to the taught as taught therein respecting God and the execution of His
purposes through Christ, and respecting the duties of man, opposed alike to the
superstitions of the Gentiles, the inventions of the Jews, and the corrupt
opinions and precepts of false teachers. It is used also of that candor of mind
which is free from affectation, pretence, simulation, falsehood, deceit. It is
also used of sincerity of mind and integrity of character, also of a mode of
life in harmony with divine truth. The noun aletheia
(truth), the verb aletheuo (to speak
the truth), and the adjective alethes
(true), are all translated in the N.T., by the words “truth” or “true.” There
is another word alethinos which is
also translated by the word “true,” but which has an added content of meaning
that throws further light upon the places where it is used.
The
word alethinos, used twenty two times
in John’s writings and only five times in the rest of the N.T., means, “that
which has not only the name and semblance, but the real nature corresponding to
the name.” It is particularly used to express that which is all that it
pretends to be, for instance, pure gold as opposed to adulterated metal. In
every respect it corresponds to the idea signified by the name. It is real and
true, genuine. It is opposed to that which is fictitious, counterfeit imaginary,
simulated and pretended. It is what we mean by the expression, “All wool and a
yard wide.” It contrasts realities with semblances. It is opposed to that which
is imperfect, defective, frail uncertain. The differences between alethes, and the word alethinos are covered up in the A.V.,
since both are translated by the one word “true.”
For
instance, in John 3:33 and Rom. 3:4, God is the alethes God in that He cannot lie (Tit. 1:2). He is the
truth-speaking and the truth-loving God. But in I Thes. 1:9 and John 17:3, He
is the alethinos God. He is not like
idols and other false gods that are the product of the diseased fancy of man. But
a God who in His completeness of Being has the real nature corresponding to the
name. He is in His Being all that the term “God” implies. In every respect He
corresponds to the idea which is signified by the term “God.” In the words of
the Nicene Creed, the Lord Jesus is very God of very God. The Latin Vulgate distinguishes
between the word alethes and alethinos by the use of verax for the former, and the word verus (very) for the latter. By the
words “Very God of Very God” we mean therefore that the >lord Jesus is alethinos God. He is in His Being all
that the term “God” implies. We have almost lost the word verus (very) as an adjective, retaining it only as an adverb. Thus
the word “truth” must do duty for both words, with a consequent loss of part of
the meaning of the second word. Wycliffe’s translation of John 15:1 is, “I am
the verri vine,” that is, the alethinos vine, the vine that
corresponds in all details to what one would expect of the Lord Jesus as a
Vine. This does not deny that Israel also was God’s vine (Ps. 80:8; Jer. 2:21).
But it does imply that no vine except the Lord Jesus realized this name in the
sense that He was all that the name implied, and that to the full.
(Wuest’s
Word Studies, Vol. iii, pag. 88, 89)