Good Morning Yamon Ki Yesepar and Nevim Arith Hayomin:
John 8:32: “And you shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free.”
I used to love to have arguments –uh, discussions with my Jehovah Witness friends. Invariably we would approach an impasse such as John 1:1 which they render as “The Word was a god.” They would argue that in the Greek there is no definite article in front of the word God so therefore it must be rendered as “a god.” I would throw out my usual argument that in the Greek when you have two nominatives (in this case logos and Theos) that have the same ending in the same sentence the grammatical way of determining the direct object is to add the definite article (ho) to the subject and leave it off the direct object. Even though logos comes at the end of the sentence we do not assume logos is the subject, like in English, as the order of words do not determine the subject or predicate. Therefore John was only using good grammar by making it clear that the subject was logos and not Theos so we would properly render the verse as “The Word was God” and not “God was the Word.”
Well at that point they would come back with their ace in the hole and say: “But we teach the truth.” Then I would throw out my trump card by pulling a Pilate and asking: “What is truth.” Actually, I didn’t know any more than they did what I was talking about when I used the word truth, but if you can’t convince ‘em, confuse ‘em, as my old Theology professor would say. But then again, maybe they understood that word truth better than I did. When they said they had the truth, they were saying that they only were expressing what they believed God revealed to them personally. I feel I need to take a better look at this word truth.
So once more with lexicon in hand I return to my quest to understand those words we use so often but do not understand, such as truth. This time I will examine it in the Aramaic and John 8:32 is a good place to start. According to this verse it is truth that will make you free and I like freedom.
Actually, the expression: “The truth shall make you free” is an old Jewish saying that predates Jesus and was in common use during His time. Oral tradition, later recorded in the Talmud, that “No man was free but he that exercises himself in the meditation of the law.” Jesus was most likely addressing this study of the law and coming to a proper understanding of the law.
The word for free in the Greek is eleutherosei which means to liberate or release from captivity. In the Aramaic the word is harar which means to think. In Hebrew the word harar means much the same but as a noun it means a mountain. In a feminine form it means a pregnant woman. Not that the woman is large like a mountain but that a mountain was representative of a place you go to meditate, think, and draw closer to God. Before they knew about raging hormones a pregnant woman was thought to be closer to the mind of God because she has been granted a miracle (giving of life) by God. Hence this word that is used for free in the Aramaic has the idea of independent thinking. In this context it is thinking that is independent of the teachings of the fathers who gave their personal interpretation as to what the law meant and how to apply it. When you know the truth, you will understand the law of God for yourself and not have to rigidly follow man’s interpretation, regardless of how learned or smart that person may be. Man’s interpretation can be a guide, but ultimately you or the revelation inside you makes the decision.
So what is truth? There is an interesting play on words here. The word truth in Greek is aletheia which is used to describe, you guessed it, truth. It is also used for reality, sincerity and a divine revelation. In the Aramaic, however, we see a subtle play on words. The Aramaic word used here is identical to the Hebrew word, sharar. Freedom is spelled “Hei, Resh, Resh” truth is spelled “Shin, Resh, Resh. The words are spelled the same except one starts with a Hei and the other starts with a Shin. The word sharar means to be firm by twisting and tightening. It also means to rule or command. An age old teaching about leadership is to make a decision, stand firmly and tight by that decision and accept responsibility for that decision.
I believe what Jesus is saying here is that He is truth, He is the commander of what is and what is not, He will not change, nor alter his position and he accepts full responsibility for the consequences of his instructions or commands. Yet, to follow His instructions you will receive orders from no one else, you will have the freedom to think on your own. In other words you can make the decision as to how to interpret the law. You will decide if walking a mile on the Sabbath is breaking the Sabbath or not or if eating pork to survive when no other food is available is breaking the dietary laws or saying “That dress looks fantastic on you” when you hate it, is a lie or not. Let the “Truth” the Jesus who lives inside you decided. As Jiminy Cricket would say: “Let your conscience be your guide.” In this case your conscience is the Jesus who lives inside of you.
Oh, by the way, that play on words. The difference between the word truth (sharar) and freedom (harar) is that the one has a Shin which represents the power and passionate love of God and the other has a Hei which represents the presence of God. When you accept Jesus as the sharar (truth) in your life or your authority and not man’s then you will have the freedom to receive His passionate love, power and presence. With that you can move a harar (mountain).
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