The Hebrew word אמת (emes), translated as ‘truth,’ occurs in the Torah for the first time in the 24th chapter of Genesis in verse 27. It occurs soon after in the same passage as an adjective in verse 48, and again as a noun in 24: 49.
What is the structure of the event in which this word emes–‘truth’ enters the world of the Torah? Who utters it? And to whom? And most important, what does it mean? What does its novelty add to the world? And possibly to our own world? Why did it happen? This is the question (these are the questions) I am going to address in the remarks that follow. I will start with the last question: why did it happen?
It happens, on the first layer of explanation, because Avraham decided it would happen. He had already accomplished three of his four greatest actions: 1) circumcision; 2) the offering up of Yitzak on the altar on Mt. Moriah; and 3) the burial of Sarah in the cave of Machpelah. His fourth and culminating great action is to bring about the marriage of Yitzak. The arranging of this marriage is the context in which the word emes–truth first occurs.