True, Truly, Truth
True, Truly, Truth
primarily, “unconcealed, manifest” (a, negative, letho, “to forget,” = lanthano, “to escape notice”), hence, actual, “true to fact,” is used (a) of persons, “truthful,” Mat 22:16; Mar 12:14; Joh 3:33; Joh 7:18; Joh 8:26; Rom 3:4; 2Co 6:8; (b) of things, “true,” conforming to reality, Joh 4:18, “truly,” lit., “true;” Joh 5:31-32; in the best texts, Joh 6:55 (twice), “indeed;” Joh 8:13-14 (Joh 8:16 in some texts: see No. 2), Joh 8:17; Joh 10:41; Joh 19:35; Joh 21:24; Act 12:9; Phi 4:8; Tit 1:13; 1Pe 5:12; 2Pe 2:22; 1Jo 2:8, 1Jo 2:27; 3Jo 1:12.
akin to No. 1, denotes “true” in the sense of “real, ideal, genuine;” it is used (a) of God, Joh 7:28 (cp. No. 1 in Joh 7:18, above); Joh 17:3; 1Th 1:9; Rev 6:10; these declare that God fulfills the meaning of His Name; He is “very God,” in distinction from all other gods, false gods (alethes, see Joh 3:33 in No. 1, signifies that He is veracious, “true” to His utterances, He cannot lie); (b) of Christ, Joh 1:9; Joh 6:32; Joh 15:1; 1Jo 2:8; 1Jo 5:20 (thrice); Rev 3:7, Rev 3:14; Rev 19:11; His judgment, Joh 8:16 (in the best texts, instead of No. 1); (c) God’s words, Joh 4:37; Rev 19:9; Rev 21:5; Rev 22:6; the last three are equivalent to No. 1; (d) His ways, Rev 15:3; (e) His judgments, Rev 16:7; Rev 19:2; (f) His riches, Luk 16:11; (g) His worshipers, Joh 4:23; (h) their hearts, Heb 10:22; (i) the witness of the Apostle John, Joh 19:35; (j) the spiritual, antitypical tabernacle, Heb 8:2; Heb 9:24, not that the wilderness tabernacle was false, but that it was a weak and earthly copy of the heavenly.
Note: “Alethinos is related to alethes as form to contents or substances; alethes denotes the reality of the thing, alethinos defines the relation of the conception to the thing to which it corresponds = genuine” (Cremer).
primarily “lawfully begotten” (akin to ginomai, “to become”), hence, “true, genuine, sincere,” is used in the Apostle’s exhortation to his “true yoke-fellow” in Phi 4:3. See OWN, SINCERITY.
Note: In the AV of 2Co 1:18; 1Ti 3:1, pistos, “faithful” (RV), is translated “true.”
signifies “to deal faithfully or truly with anyone” (cp. Gen 42:16, Sept., “whether ye deal truly or no”), Eph 4:15, “speaking the truth;” Gal 3:16, “I tell (you) the truth,” where probably the Apostle is referring to the contents of his epistle.
“truth,” is used (a) objectively, signifying “the reality lying at the basis of an appearance; the manifested, veritable essence of a matter” (Cremer), e.g., Rom 9:1; 2Co 11:10; especially of Christian doctrine, e.g., Gal 2:5, where “the truth of the Gospel” denotes the “true” teaching of the Gospel, in contrast to perversions of it; Rom 1:25, where “the truth of God” may be “the truth concerning God” or “God whose existence is a verity;” but in Rom 15:8 “the truth of God” is indicative of His faithfulness in the fulfillment of His promises as exhibited in Christ; the word has an absolute force in Joh 14:6; Joh 17:17; Joh 18:37-38; in Eph 4:21, where the RV, “even as truth is in Jesus,” gives the correct rendering, the meaning is not merely ethical “truth,” but “truth” in all its fullness and scope, as embodied in Him; He was the perfect expression of the truth; this is virtually equivalent to His statement in Joh 14:6; (b) subjectively, “truthfulness,” “truth,” not merely verbal, but sincerity and integrity of character, Joh 8:44; 3Jo 1:3, RV; (c) in phrases, e.g., “in truth” (epi, “on the basis of”), Mar 12:14; Luk 20:21; with en, “in,” 2Co 6:7; Col 1:6; 1Ti 2:7, RV (AV, “in … verity”); 1Jo 3:18; 2Jo 1:1, 2Jo 1:3-4.
Note: In Mat 15:27, AV, nai, “yea” (RV), is translated “truth.”
“truly, surely,” is rendered “of a truth” in Mat 14:33; Mat 26:73; Mar 14:70, R.V, (AV, “surely”); Luk 9:27; Luk 12:44; Luk 21:3; Joh 6:14; Joh 7:40; Joh 17:8, RV, “of a truth” (AV, “surely”); Act 12:11, RV (AV, “of a surety”); “in truth,” 1Th 2:13; “truly,” Mat 27:54; Mar 15:39. See INDEED, No. 3.
“sincerely, honorably” (akin to A, No. 3), is rendered “truly” (marg., “genuinely”) in Phi 2:20 (AV, “naturally”).
Notes: (1) The particles ara, men, and de are sometimes rendered “truly” in the AV, but are differently rendered in the RV. (2) In 1Co 14:25, AV, ontos (RV, “indeed”) is rendered “of a truth.” See CERTAIN, C, No. 1, INDEED, No. 4. (3) In Joh 20:30, AV, the particle oun, therefore (RV), is rendered “truly.”