Reference: Martyr
American
A witness, Mt 18:16; Lu 24:48; in ecclesiastical history, "a witness, by the shedding of his blood, in testifying to the truth." Thus martyrs are distinguished from "confessors," properly so called, who underwent great afflictions for their confession of the truth, but without suffering death. The term "martyr" occurs only thrice in the New Testament, Ac 22:20; Re 2:13; 17:6. Since the time of Stephen, Ac 7:59; 22:20, myriads of martyrs have sealed the truth of Christianity by a painful death; which they willingly endured through faith, rather than to deny Christ, and which they often eagerly desired as a special privilege. It is doubtless possible to be put to death as a Christian, without real love for Christ, 1Co 13:3; but in general "the noble army of the martyrs" have borne a true and overwhelming testimony to the power and preciousness of faith in Christ; and their blood witnesses before God against their foes, especially against that apostate church which is "drunken with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus," Re 17:6.
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"But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.
"You are witnesses of these things.
They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
'And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.'
'And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.'
And if I give all my possessions to feed the poor, and if I surrender my body to be burned, but do not have love, it profits me nothing.
'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.
Easton
one who bears witness of the truth, and suffers death in the cause of Christ (Ac 22:20; Re 2:13; 17:6). In this sense Stephen was the first martyr. The Greek word so rendered in all other cases is translated "witness." (1.) In a court of justice (Mt 18:16; 26:65; Ac 6:13; 7:58; Heb 10:28; 1Ti 5:19). (2.) As of one bearing testimony to the truth of what he has seen or known (Lu 24:48; Ac 1:8,22; Ro 1:9; 1Th 2:5,10; 1Jo 1:2).
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"Moses My servant is dead; now therefore arise, cross this Jordan, you and all this people, to the land which I am giving to them, to the sons of Israel.
"But if he does not listen to you, take one or two more with you, so that BY THE MOUTH OF TWO OR THREE WITNESSES EVERY FACT MAY BE CONFIRMED.
Then the high priest tore his robes and said, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have now heard the blasphemy;
"You are witnesses of these things.
but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
beginning with the baptism of John until the day that He was taken up from us--one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection."
They put forward false witnesses who said, "This man incessantly speaks against this holy place and the Law;
When they had driven him out of the city, they began stoning him; and the witnesses laid aside their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
'And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.'
For God, whom I serve in my spirit in the preaching of the gospel of His Son, is my witness as to how unceasingly I make mention of you,
Anyone who has set aside the Law of Moses dies without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.
Hastings
Morish
The Greek word is ??????, and is very frequently translated 'witness;' a martyr is one who meets with death because of the witness he bears. Stephen was a martyr, Ac 22:20; also Antipas, Re 2:13. The 'two witnesses ' in Rev. 11 will also be martyrs, and Babylon the Great is charged with being drunken "with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus." Re 17:6. The history of the church records the faithfulness of many of these. There can be no doubt that many of the O.T. saints also died as martyrs. Jezebel cut off the prophets of Jehovah. 1Ki 18:13. The Lord charged the Pharisees with being the children of them which killed the prophets, Mt 23:31; and in the "cloud of witnesses" spoken of in Heb. 11, were some of whom it is said "others were tortured lit. broken on the wheel, not accepting deliverance," as many martyrs since then might have saved their lives by denying their faith. Christ Himself was the faithful and true witness, Re 1:5; 3:14; and He said to His persecutors, "Ye seek to kill me, because my word hath no place in you . . . . ye seek to kill me, a man that hath told you the truth." Joh 8:37,40. Thus the Lord Jesus was the true Martyr, though His death comprehended much more than dying as a martyr, namely, atonement.
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"Has it not been told to my master what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of the LORD, that I hid a hundred prophets of the LORD by fifties in a cave, and provided them with bread and water?
"So you testify against yourselves, that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets.
"I know that you are Abraham's descendants; yet you seek to kill Me, because My word has no place in you.
"But as it is, you are seeking to kill Me, a man who has told you the truth, which I heard from God; this Abraham did not do.
'And when the blood of Your witness Stephen was being shed, I also was standing by approving, and watching out for the coats of those who were slaying him.'
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth To Him who loves us and released us from our sins by His blood--
'I know where you dwell, where Satan's throne is; and you hold fast My name, and did not deny My faith even in the days of Antipas, My witness, My faithful one, who was killed among you, where Satan dwells.
"To the angel of the church in Laodicea write: The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Beginning of the creation of God, says this:
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus. When I saw her, I wondered greatly.