Study notes from Bill Dogterom’s teaching on the nature of God
Summary
When God revealed his character to Moses, he called himself abounding in chesed and emet (Exodus 34:6). John says Jesus is “full of grace and truth” (charis and alētheia, John 1:14), deliberately echoing that moment. Same God, more fully revealed: what Moses heard proclaimed, the disciples saw in person.
The chain in one line: Hebrew chesed (covenant love) and emet (reliability) → Greek charis (grace) and alētheia (truth) → Jesus, who makes the unseen God known (John 1:18).
The Hebrew: chesed and emet
The two words appear together in Exodus 34:6, where the Lord says he is “abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness” (rav-chesed ve-emet).
Chesed (חֶסֶד) is covenant loyalty: love that keeps its commitment even when the other party has not earned it. It is more than a feeling, since it shows up in action. Common translations are steadfast love, lovingkindness, mercy, and loyal love. No single English word covers it.
Emet (אֱמֶת) is truth, but in the sense of what is firm and dependable. It comes from the same root as amen (aman, to be firm or trustworthy). Hebrew truth is less “accurate information” and more “that which can be counted on,” so it is often translated faithfulness.
Paired, the two work almost as one idea: love that stays, and reliability you can lean on. God is both warm and dependable, and the second guarantees the first.
The Greek: charis and alētheia
John uses these two words in John 1:14 (“full of grace and truth”) and again in John 1:17.
Charis (χάρις) means grace: favor, kindness, a gift freely given. John uses it only in the prologue (1:14, 16, 17) and never again in his Gospel, which makes its placement here deliberate. The Hebrew idea behind it is often chen (favor), and Exodus 33–34 is full of that word: Moses repeatedly says he has “found favor” in God’s sight.
Alētheia (ἀλήθεια) means truth. The Greek word carries the sense of unveiled reality, what is no longer hidden. John returns to truth constantly: “the truth will set you free” (8:32), “I am the way, the truth, and the life” (14:6).
How the pairs line up:
| Hebrew | Greek | Core idea | Common translations |
|---|---|---|---|
| chesed | charis (John’s choice); eleos (usual Septuagint choice) | Covenant love that acts | steadfast love, mercy, grace |
| emet | alētheia | What is firm, real, dependable | truth, faithfulness |
The match is not one-to-one. The Septuagint (the Greek Old Testament) usually renders chesed as eleos (mercy), so John’s charis is a slight shift. Most scholars still hear Exodus 34:6 behind it. John seems to carry both senses of alētheia: Hebrew faithfulness and Greek unveiled reality.
The Moses connection
John 1 is built to echo Exodus 33–34, and the parallels are specific.
- Moses asks to see God’s glory (Exodus 33:18). God says Moses cannot see his face and live, but promises to proclaim his name and let his goodness pass by.
- God proclaims his name (Exodus 34:6). The content of that name is his character: compassionate, gracious, slow to anger, abounding in chesed and emet.
- God’s glory fills the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34–35). He chooses to dwell with his people in a tent.
- John 1:14 picks up all three. The Word “dwelt among us,” literally “tabernacled” (eskēnōsen, from skēnē, tent). “We beheld his glory.” And that glory is “full of grace and truth.”
- John 1:18 answers Moses’ request. “No one has ever seen God,” yet the Son “has made him known” (exēgēsato, from which we get “exegesis”). What Moses could only hear proclaimed, Jesus shows.
Some note that eskēnōsen sounds like the Hebrew root behind shekinah (the later Jewish term for God’s dwelling presence). That is a common observation, though it is not certain John intended the wordplay.
Same God, more fully revealed
John 1:17 says the law “was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ.” Some read that as law versus grace. The text itself leans toward continuity, for three reasons.
- The connector is “for,” not “but.” Verse 17 begins with hoti (for, because), so it explains verse 16 rather than opposing it.
- Verse 16 says “grace upon grace” (charin anti charitos). The phrase can mean grace stacked on grace, or grace taking the place of grace. Either way, the law is itself counted as grace, and Jesus brings the fuller measure.
- The grace and truth were God’s character all along. Exodus 34:6 is spoken to Moses. Jesus does not introduce a new God; he makes visible the one who had already named himself that way.
The verbs differ: the law “was given” (edothē), while grace and truth “came” or “came to be” (egeneto), the same verb as “the Word became flesh” in verse 14. The fullness arrives in a person, not only in words.
The contrast still matters: Moses was a mediator who saw only part, and Jesus is the Son who is himself God’s glory in the flesh.
Where else the pair appears
Exodus 34:6 became the Old Testament’s central statement of who God is, quoted and echoed across the canon. Some passages use the full formula; others keep only part of it.
| Passage | How it uses the words |
|---|---|
| Numbers 14:18 | Moses repeats the Exodus 34 formula back to God when pleading for Israel |
| Genesis 24:27 | Abraham’s servant praises God for not forsaking his chesed and emet toward Abraham’s family |
| Psalm 25:10 | All the Lord’s paths are chesed and emet to those who keep his covenant |
| Psalm 85:10 | Chesed and emet “meet” together |
| Psalm 86:15 | Nearly a direct quotation of Exodus 34:6 |
| Psalm 89:14 | Chesed and emet go before God’s throne |
| Nehemiah 9:17; Psalm 103:8; Joel 2:13; Jonah 4:2 | Echo the Exodus 34 formula (some drop emet) |
| Micah 7:18–20 | God pardons and delights in chesed; shows emet to Jacob and chesed to Abraham |
The pattern: whenever Israel needs to remember who God is, especially after failure, they reach for this description. John’s Gospel claims that this same description now has a face.
Questions for further study
- Read Exodus 33:12–34:9 in one sitting, then John 1:1–18. What parallels stand out that are not listed above?
- Trace chesed through the Psalms. How does the psalmists’ confidence rest on this one description of God?
- Compare how Paul uses charis with how John uses it only in the prologue. Why might John save it for the opening?
- Where in John’s Gospel does alētheia show up next (8:32, 14:6, 17:17), and how does it deepen “grace and truth”?
- What does it change to hear “truth” as faithfulness (emet) rather than only as correct information?
- Ask Bill which reading of John 1:17 he leans toward: contrast or continuity.
Verify before quoting
These notes come from general scholarly knowledge of Hebrew and Greek, not from a fresh look-up. Before teaching from them, check the word meanings and Septuagint renderings against a lexicon such as BDB (Hebrew) or BDAG (Greek), or a tool like Blue Letter Bible.