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, take with you in addition one or two [others], so that by {the testimony} of two or three witnesses every matter may be established.
You are witnesses of these [things].
And they kept on stoning Stephen [as he] was calling out and saying, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!"
And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I myself also was standing near and was approving, and was guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.'
And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I myself also was standing near and was approving, and was guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.'
And if I parcel out all my possessions, and if I hand over my body in order that I will be burned, but do not have love, it benefits [me] nothing.
'I know where you live, where the throne of Satan [is]. And you hold fast to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan lives.
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. And {I was greatly astonished when I saw her}.
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. And {I was greatly astonished when I saw her}.
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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"My servant Moses [is] dead. Get up and cross the Jordan, you and all this people, into the land that I [am] giving to them, to the {Israelites}.
But if he does not listen, take with you in addition one or two [others], so that by {the testimony} of two or three witnesses every matter may be established.
Then the high priest tore his robes, saying, "He has blasphemed! What further need do we have of witnesses? Behold, you have just 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 will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth."
beginning from the baptism of John until the day [on] which he was taken up from us--one of these [men] must become a witness of his resurrection together with us."
And they put forward false witnesses who said, "This man does not stop speaking words against the holy place and the law!
And [after they] had driven [him] out of the city, they began to stone [him], and the witnesses laid aside their cloaks at the feet of a young man named Saul.
And when the blood of your witness Stephen was being shed, I myself also was standing near and was approving, and was guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.'
For God, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son, is my witness, how constantly I make mention of you,
Anyone who rejected the law of Moses dies without mercy on [the testimony of] two or three witnesses.
'I know where you live, where the throne of Satan [is]. And you hold fast to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan lives.
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. And {I was greatly astonished when I saw her}.
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 lord what I did when Jezebel killed the prophets of Yahweh? I hid a hundred men of the prophets of Yahweh {by fifties} in the cave, and I sustained them [with] food and water.
Thus you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets!
I know that you are descendants of Abraham. But you are seeking to kill me, because my word makes no progress among you.
But now you are seeking to kill me, a man who spoke to 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 myself also was standing near and was approving, and was guarding the cloaks of those who were killing him.'
and from Jesus Christ the faithful witness, the firstborn from the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and released us from our sins by his blood
'I know where you live, where the throne of Satan [is]. And you hold fast to my name and did not deny your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas my faithful witness, who was killed among you, where Satan lives.
"And to the angel of the church in Laodicea write: "This is what the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the originator of God's creation, says:
And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses to Jesus. And {I was greatly astonished when I saw her}.