Virtues
Emet
Jewish Middot
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Truth, in the sense of reliability and faithfulness as much as factual correctness: a quality attributed to God's own character in Exodus 34:6 and named by Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, in Pirkei Avot 1:18, as one of three things the world stands on, alongside justice and peace. This entry is the ethical trait itself, distinct from the atlas's existing article-level references to the word within Kabbalistic Tree of Life discussion.
Facts
Origins
Place of OriginAncient Israel; the rabbinic teaching is set in Roman-era Judea. 1 Origin of the NameHebrew emet, truth, from a root associated with firmness and reliability; the same root gives amen, that which is confirmed as true. 1 Attributed Author / CompilerNamed by Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel as one of three things the world stands on, alongside justice and peace, in Pirkei Avot 1:18. 1 Status
Status Within the TraditionStandard teaching, not formally defined 1 Doctrinal Status DetailOne of the three foundations the world stands on according to Pirkei Avot 1:18; distinct in Jewish ethical literature from the Kabbalistic sephirah readings this atlas records separately in its existing Tree of Life material. 1 Attestation
Meaning in the Attesting SourceTruth as reliability and faithfulness as much as factual correctness, attributed to God's own character and named as one of the world's three foundations. 1 Disputed
Origin PeriodA central ethical and theological term throughout the Hebrew Bible from its earliest strata; its rabbinic naming as one of the world's three foundations is attributed to Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel, active in the first and second centuries CE, within Pirkei Avot as compiled into the Mishnah around 200 CE. 1 Cross-Tradition Connections
Attested In
Attributed To
Emet, truth, is named by Rabban Shimon ben Gamliel as one of three things the world stands on, alongside justice and peace, in Pirkei Avot 1:18.
Belongs to Tradition
Opposes
Truth stands directly against deceit; Maya, the Sanskrit term for deceit already catalogued among the arishadvarga, is the atlas's existing entry for that disposition, the same cross-tradition pairing already used for Fides.
Related To
Anavah, Virtues Both named in Pirkei Avot or its companion tannaitic teaching as things the world, or a person's standing, stands on.
Chesed, Virtues Both named in Pirkei Avot as one of the things the world stands on.
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