Stability ; (figuratively) certainty , truth , trustworthiness
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אֶמֶת (ʾemet) can describe truth, faithfulness, reliability, or that which proves trustworthy. English readers often hear “truth” chiefly as a correct statement, and that sense can be present, but the Hebrew noun also speaks about the dependability of words, judgments, promises, and persons.
Reader summary
Full entry for אֶמֶת (H571) · Open the biblical lexicon
אֶמֶת (ʾemet) can describe truth, faithfulness, reliability, or that which proves trustworthy. English readers often hear “truth” chiefly as a correct statement, and that sense can be present, but the Hebrew noun also speaks about the dependability of words, judgments, promises, and persons.
The BSB source-word alignment has 127 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include and faithfulness (16), true (8), faithfully (7), truth (7), of truth (6).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 24:27. Its strongest book concentrations include Psalms (37), Isaiah (12), Proverbs (12), Jeremiah (11).
אֶמֶת (ʾemet) can describe truth, faithfulness, reliability, or that which proves trustworthy. English readers often hear “truth” chiefly as a correct statement, and that sense can be present, but the Hebrew noun also speaks about the dependability of words, judgments, promises, and persons. Its word-family background suggests firmness, yet etymology cannot decide the meaning of a verse. The actual use in narrative, law, poetry, wisdom, or prophecy must set the emphasis.
In Genesis 24, Abraham's servant blesses the Lord for not withholding kindness and faithfulness during the journey. The word there is relational and experienced: the servant recognizes that God's covenant care has proved dependable in events. Exodus 34:6 places faithfulness beside loving devotion in the Lord's proclamation of His name. The two qualities belong together, but they should not be collapsed into synonyms. Loving devotion names God's committed care, while emet emphasizes that His character and dealings can be trusted.
Other passages show the word's range. David confesses in 2 Samuel 7 that the Lord's words are true while resting his prayer on God's promise. Psalm 31 addresses the Lord as the God of truth when entrusting life into His hands. Proverbs speaks of truthful lips that endure, and Zechariah commands a restored community to speak truth and render judgments that are true and sound. Biblical truth therefore has doctrinal, relational, and ethical force. The God who is reliable forms people whose speech and judgments should no longer be governed by deceit.
Christian teaching may connect this Old Testament witness to the New Testament's language about God's faithfulness and the truth revealed in Christ. Luke records Jesus praying the first line of Psalm 31:5 from the cross, and John's writings give truth a central place in describing Jesus and the life of His people. These connections are canonical, not proof that every Greek occurrence of alētheia reproduces the full range of H571. Pastorally, emet invites confidence in God's proven character and calls the church to truthful life shaped by loyal love.
H571 describes reliability in divine kindness, God's own self-revelation, the truth of His promises, confidence offered in prayer, enduring honest speech, and sound communal judgment. The selected witnesses move across narrative, Torah, royal prayer, lament, wisdom, and restoration prophecy while keeping each claim tied to its passage.
Saying, “Blessed be the Lord, the God of my master Abraham, who has not withheld His kindness and faithfulness from my master. As for me, the Lord has led me on the journey to the house of my master’s relatives.”
Abraham's servant praises the Lord because kindness and faithfulness became visible in guidance toward the master's relatives.
Then the Lord passed in front of Moses and called out: “The Lord, the Lord God, is compassionate and gracious, slow to anger, abounding in loving devotion and faithfulness,
In the proclamation of the divine name, faithfulness stands with compassion, grace, patience, and abundant loving devotion.
And now, O Lord God, You are God! Your words are true, and You have promised this goodness to Your servant.
David grounds his response to the covenant promise in God's identity and in the truth of the words God has spoken.
Into Your hands I commit my spirit; You have redeemed me, O Lord, God of truth.
The psalmist entrusts life to the Lord and names Him the God of truth, joining confidence with experienced redemption.
These are the things you must do: Speak truth to one another, render true and sound judgments in your gates,
The restored community is commanded to speak truth and render judgments that are both true and conducive to peace.
Truthful lips endure forever, but a lying tongue lasts only a moment.
The proverb contrasts the endurance of truthful lips with the brief life of deceit, emphasizing speech whose reliability lasts.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Hebrew word. Theological centerpiece: truth rooted in unwavering stability and reliability, not mere correspondence to fact
Theological centerpiece: truth rooted in unwavering stability and reliability, not mere correspondence to fact
stability; (figuratively) certainty, truth, trustworthiness BDB: firmness Usage: assured(-ly), establishment, faithful, right, sure, true (-ly, -th), verity.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 4 selected witnesses from 127 lexical occurrence verses.
It affirms that God’s mercy fulfills, rather than nullifies, His covenant promises.Hosea 4:1-3
The ruler governs with integrity consistent with God’s character.Isaiah 16:1-5
Highlights the lack of genuine covenant fidelity.Isaiah 48:1-8
Indicates absence of covenant reliability.Micah 7:18-20
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Emet gives the church language for truth that can bear weight. In Exodus 34, it belongs to the Lord's revealed character alongside compassion, grace, patience, and loving devotion. In 2 Samuel 7, David relies on the truth of God's words when responding to covenant promise. Psalm 31 places that reliability inside prayer, where the sufferer entrusts his spirit to the God of truth.
Proverbs and Zechariah turn the same moral field toward human life: truthful lips should endure, and restored neighbors should speak truth while courts render sound judgments. A preacher should preserve both poles. Truth is not merely warmth, loyalty, or sincerity, because lies can be sincerely defended and communities need judgments that correspond to reality.
Truth is also not a weapon for cold precision, because Scripture repeatedly sets God's reliability within covenant mercy and calls His people to speech that serves peace and justice. The Christian connection to Jesus is substantial at the canonical level, especially through the New Testament's truth language and Jesus' use of Psalm 31:5, but it should not be presented as a simplistic transfer of every Hebrew nuance into every Greek verse.
Exod.34.6
H571 is a Hebrew noun whose uses include truth, reliability, faithfulness, and trustworthiness. Its relation to the ʾmn word family can illuminate the idea of firmness, but passage-level usage must govern; the Greek alētheia tradition supplies a canonical bridge, not an automatic one-to-one transfer.
Jesus prays the opening words of Psalm 31:5 in Luke 23:46, placing His death within the psalm's posture of trust, though Luke does not repeat its full “God of truth” address. New Testament truth language reaches its center in Christ and truthful discipleship, but each Greek context must be interpreted on its own terms.