Reference: Witness
American
One who testifies to any fact from his own personal knowledge. Under the Mosaic law, two witnesses under oath were necessary to convict a person charged with a capital crime, Nu 35:30; and if the criminal was stoned, the witnesses were bound to cast the first stones, De 17:6-7; Ac 7:58. The Greek word for witness is MARTYR, which see. The apostles were witnesses, in proclaiming to the world the facts of the gospel, Ac 1:8,22; 2:32; 2Pe 1:12,16-18; and Christ is a "faithful witness," in testifying to men of heavenly things, Joh 3:12; Re 1:5. The heroes of the ancient church are "witnesses" to the power of true faith, Heb 12:1.
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whoso smiteth a person, by the mouth of witnesses doth one slay the murderer; and one witness doth not testify against a person -- to die.
By the mouth of two witnesses or of three witnesses is he who is dead put to death; he is not put to death by the mouth of one witness; the hand of the witnesses is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.
if the earthly things I said to you, and ye do not believe, how, if I shall say to you the heavenly things, will ye believe?
but ye shall receive power at the coming of the Holy Spirit upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and unto the end of the earth.'
beginning from the baptism of John, unto the day in which he was received up from us, one of these to become with us a witness of his rising again.'
'This Jesus did God raise up, of which we are all witnesses;
and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning him -- and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul --
Therefore, we also having so great a cloud of witnesses set around us, every weight having put off, and the closely besetting sin, through endurance may we run the contest that is set before us,
and from Jesus Christ, the faithful witness, the first-born out of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth; to him who did love us, and did bathe us from our sins in his blood,
Easton
More than one witness was required in criminal cases (De 17:6; 19:15). They were the first to execute the sentence on the condemned (De 13:9; 17:7; 1Ki 21:13; Mt 27:1; Ac 7:57-58). False witnesses were liable to punishment (De 19:16-21). It was also an offence to refuse to bear witness (Le 5:1).
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And when a person doth sin, and hath heard the voice of an oath, and he is witness, or hath seen, or hath known -- if he declare not, then he hath borne his iniquity:
'But thou dost surely kill him; thy hand is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last;
By the mouth of two witnesses or of three witnesses is he who is dead put to death; he is not put to death by the mouth of one witness; the hand of the witnesses is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.
'One witness doth not rise against a man for any iniquity, and for any sin, in any sin which he sinneth; by the mouth of two witnesses, or by the mouth of three witnesses, is a thing established. 'When a violent witness doth rise against a man, to testify against him apostasy, read more. then have both the men who have the strife stood before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges who are in those days, and the judges have searched diligently, and lo, the witness is a false witness, a falsehood he hath testified against his brother: 'Then ye have done to him as he devised to do to his brother, and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst, and those who are left do hear and fear, and add not to do any more according to this evil thing in thy midst; and thine eye doth not pity -- life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
And morning having come, all the chief priests and the elders of the people took counsel against Jesus, so as to put him to death;
And they, having cried out with a loud voice, stopped their ears, and did rush with one accord upon him, and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning him -- and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul --
Hastings
This is the rendering of Heb. '
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and now, come, let us make a covenant, I and thou, and it hath been for a witness between me and thee.'
if thou afflict my daughters, or take wives beside my daughters -- there is no man with us -- see, God is witness between me and thee.'
'Take this Book of the Law, and thou hast set it on the side of the ark of the covenant of Jehovah your God, and it hath been there against thee for a witness;
And Joshua saith unto all the people, 'Lo, this stone is against us for a witness, for it hath heard all the sayings of Jehovah which He hath spoken with us, and it hath been against you for a witness, lest ye lie against your God.'
And Boaz saith to the elders, and to all the people, 'Witnesses are ye to-day that I have bought all that is to Elimelech, and all that is to Chilion and Mahlon, from the hand of Naomi;
And he saith unto them, 'A witness is Jehovah against you: and a witness is His anointed this day, that ye have not found anything in my hand;' and they say, 'A witness.'
And Thou dost loathe me, For a witness it hath been, And rise up against me doth my failure, In my face it testifieth.
Also, now, lo, in the heavens is my witness, And my testifier in the high places.
Whoso uttereth faithfulness declareth righteousness, And a false witness -- deceit.
A false witness is not acquitted, Whoso breatheth out lies is not delivered. Many entreat the face of the noble, And all have made friendship to a man of gifts. read more. All the brethren of the poor have hated him, Surely also his friends have been far from him, He is pursuing words -- they are not! Whoso is getting heart is loving his soul, He is keeping understanding to find good. A false witness is not acquitted, And whoso breatheth out lies perisheth.
A false witness doth perish, And an attentive man for ever speaketh.
A maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow, Is the man testifying against his neighbour a false testimony.
Because that they have done folly in Israel, and commit adultery with the wives of their neighbours, and speak a word in My name falsely that I have not commanded them, and I am He who knoweth and a witness -- an affirmation of Jehovah.
And I write in a book, and seal, and cause witnesses to testify, and weigh the silver in balances;
And they have said to Jeremiah, 'Jehovah is against us for a witness true and faithful, if -- according to all the word with which Jehovah thy God doth send thee unto us -- we do not so.
and as many as may not receive you, nor hear you, going out thence, shake off the dust that is under your feet for a testimony to them; verily I say to you, It shall be more tolerable for Sodom or Gomorrah in a day of judgment than for that city.'
and ye -- ye are witnesses of these things.
but ye shall receive power at the coming of the Holy Spirit upon you, and ye shall be witnesses to me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and unto the end of the earth.'
'This Jesus did God raise up, of which we are all witnesses;
and the Prince of the life ye did kill, whom God did raise out of the dead, of which we are witnesses;
for God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit in the good news of His Son, how unceasingly I make mention of you,
if also ye remain in the faith, being founded and settled, and not moved away from the hope of the good news, which ye heard, which was preached in all the creation that is under the heaven, of which I became -- I Paul -- a ministrant.
I charge thee, before God, who is making all things alive, and of Christ Jesus, who did testify before Pontius Pilate the right profession,
Therefore, we also having so great a cloud of witnesses set around us, every weight having put off, and the closely besetting sin, through endurance may we run the contest that is set before us,
and did make us kings and priests to his God and Father, to him is the glory and the power to the ages of the ages! Amen.
And to the messenger of the assembly of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the witness -- the faithful and true -- the chief of the creation of God;
Morish
The testimony or evidence adduced or given in confirmation of an assertion, and so often used judicially. The term also sometimes speaks simply of an expression of mind or feeling. Until God intervenes in power to establish His own purpose in regard to this world, He maintains a testimony to that which He will assuredly accomplish.
The words ????????, ????????, and ????????? are translated both 'testimony' and 'witness.' The idea runs all through the scriptures in respect both to God Himself and to His people. Paul declared before the heathen at Lystra that God 'had not left himself without witness' as to His existence and His goodness, in giving rain and fruitful seasons, filling their 'hearts with food and gladness,' Ac 14:17. The invisible things of God are testified of, "being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, or divinity." Ro 1:19-20.
God having for fifteen hundred years manifested His patience towards the guilty antediluvian world, He, after warning the people by the preaching of Noah, bore witness to His righteousness and His power by the deluge, and at the same time manifested His grace in saving Noah and his family in the ark.
The witness which God vouchsafed of Himself to Abraham was that He was 'THE ALMIGHTY GOD'; to Moses it was 'I AM THAT I AM'; and to Israel, 'JEHOVAH.' The ark was often called the "Ark of the testimony," and the tabernacle was the "Tent of witness," the witness of good things to come. To Nebuchadnezzar God was witnessed to as the 'GOD OF HEAVEN.' To the Christian He is 'GOD AND FATHER.'
Israel were of old God's witnesses, and will also be in the future.
When Christ was on earth He bore witness to God as LOVE and LIGHT. The Lord Jesus is declared to be "the faithful and true witness," Re 3:14; and His works and His words were witnesses that He had come from God. The Father also bore witness to Him as His beloved Son, in whom He was well pleased. The Lord Jesus confessed before the Jewish council that He was the Son of God, and before Pilate that He was the King of the Jews. Mt 26:63-64; 27:11.
Peter and John were witnesses of the truth before the council, so that they took knowledge of them that they had been with Jesus. Ac 4:13. Stephen also was a true witness, and his testimony led to his becoming a martyr (??????). In Heb. 11 is given a 'great cloud' of witnesses to the principle of faith in Old Testament saints, some of whom were also martyrs. God will to the last have a testimony on earth as seen in His 'two witnesses' of Rev. 11.
In Christianity there are said to be three witnesses
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By the mouth of two witnesses or of three witnesses is he who is dead put to death; he is not put to death by the mouth of one witness;
and if he may not hear, take with thee yet one or two, that by the mouth of two witnesses or three every word may stand.
and Jesus was silent. And the chief priest answering said to him, 'I adjure thee, by the living God, that thou mayest say to us, if thou art the Christ -- the Son of God.' Jesus saith to him, 'Thou hast said; nevertheless I say to you, hereafter ye shall see the Son of Man sitting on the right hand of the power, and coming upon the clouds, of the heaven.'
And Jesus stood before the governor, and the governor did question him, saying, 'Art thou the king of the Jews!' And Jesus said to him, 'Thou sayest.'
And beholding the openness of Peter and John, and having perceived that they are men unlettered and plebeian, they were wondering -- they were taking knowledge also of them that with Jesus they had been --
though, indeed, without witness He did not leave himself, doing good -- from heaven giving rains to us, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness;'
Because that which is known of God is manifest among them, for God did manifest it to them, for the invisible things of Him from the creation of the world, by the things made being understood, are plainly seen, both His eternal power and Godhead -- to their being inexcusable;
and three are who are testifying in the earth, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood, and the three are into the one. If the testimony of men we receive, the testimony of God is greater, because this is the testimony of God that He hath testified concerning His Son. read more. He who is believing in the Son of God, hath the testimony in himself; he who is not believing God, a liar hath made Him, because he hath not believed in the testimony that God hath testified concerning His Son; and this is the testimony, that life age-during did God give to us, and this -- the life -- is in His Son;
And to the messenger of the assembly of the Laodiceans write: These things saith the Amen, the witness -- the faithful and true -- the chief of the creation of God;
Smith
Witness.
Among people with whom writing is not common the evidence of a transaction is given by some tangible memorial or significant ceremony: Abraham gave seven ewe-lambs to Abimelech as an evidence of his property in the well of Beersheba. Jacob raised a heap of stones, "the heap of witness." as a boundary-mark between himself and Laban.
The tribes of Reuben and Gad raised an "altar" as a witness to the covenant between themselves and the rest of the nation. Joshua set up a stone as an evidence of the allegiance promised by Israel to God.
But written evidence was by no means unknown to the Jews. Divorce was to be proved by a written document.
De 24:1,3
In civil contracts, at least in later times documentary evidence was required and carefully preserved.
On the whole the law was very careful to provide and enforce evidence for all its infractions and all transactions bearing on them. Among special provisions with respect to evidence are the following:
1. Two witnesses at least are required to establish any charge.
Nu 35:30; De 17:6; Joh 8:17; 2Co 13:1
comp. 1Tim 5:19
2. In the case of the suspected wife, evidence besides the husband's was desired.
3. The witness who withheld the truth was censured.
4. False witness was punished with the penalty due to the offence which it sought to establish.
5. Slanderous reports and officious witness are discouraged.
Ex 20:16; 23:1; 18/16/type/ylt'>Le 18:16,18
etc.
6. The witnesses were the first executioners.
De 15:9; 17:7; Ac 7:58
7. In case of an animal left in charge and torn by wild beasts, the keeper was to bring the carcass in proof of the fact and disproof of his own criminality.
8. According to Josephus, women and slaves were not admitted to bear testimony. In the New Testament the original notion of a witness is exhibited in the special form of one who attests his belief in the gospel by personal suffering. Hence it is that the use of the ecclesiastical term ("martyr." the Greek word for "witness," has arisen.
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And he saith, 'For -- the seven lambs thou dost accept from my hand, so that it becometh a witness for me that I have digged this well;'
this heap is witness, and the standing pillar is witness, that I do not pass over this heap unto thee, and that thou dost not pass over this heap and this standing pillar unto me -- for evil;
'Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony.
if it is certainly torn, he bringeth it in -- a witness; the torn thing he doth not repay.
'Thou dost not lift up a vain report; thou dost not put thy hand with a wicked man to be a violent witness.
The nakedness of thy brother's wife thou dost not uncover; it is thy brother's nakedness.
'And a woman unto another thou dost not take, to be an adversary, to uncover her nakedness beside her, in her life.
and a man hath lain with her with the seed of copulation, and it hath been hid from the eyes of her husband, and concealed, and she hath been defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she hath not been caught,
whoso smiteth a person, by the mouth of witnesses doth one slay the murderer; and one witness doth not testify against a person -- to die.
Take heed to thee lest there be a word in thy heart -- worthless, saying, Near is the seventh year, the year of release; and thine eye is evil against thy needy brother, and thou dost not give to him, and he hath called concerning thee unto Jehovah, and it hath been in thee sin;
By the mouth of two witnesses or of three witnesses is he who is dead put to death; he is not put to death by the mouth of one witness; the hand of the witnesses is on him, in the first place, to put him to death, and the hand of all the people last; and thou hast put away the evil thing out of thy midst.
When a man doth take a wife, and hath married her, and it hath been, if she doth not find grace in his eyes (for he hath found in her nakedness of anything), and he hath written for her a writing of divorce, and given it into her hand, and sent her out of his house,
and the latter man hath hated her, and written for her a writing of divorce, and given it into her hand, and sent her out of his house, or when the latter man dieth, who hath taken her to himself for a wife:
and they come in unto the districts of the Jordan, which are in the land of Canaan, and the sons of Reuben, and the sons of Gad, and the half of the tribe of Manasseh, build there an altar by the Jordan -- a great altar for appearance.
And we say, Pray let us prepare for ourselves to build the altar -- not for burnt-offering nor for sacrifice --
And the sons of Reuben and the sons of Gad proclaim concerning the altar, that 'it is a witness between us that Jehovah is God.'
And Joshua writeth these words in the Book of the Law of God, and taketh a great stone, and raiseth it up there under the oak which is in the sanctuary of Jehovah. And Joshua saith unto all the people, 'Lo, this stone is against us for a witness, for it hath heard all the sayings of Jehovah which He hath spoken with us, and it hath been against you for a witness, lest ye lie against your God.'
And I write in a book, and seal, and cause witnesses to testify, and weigh the silver in balances; And I take the purchase-book, the sealed one, according to law and custom, and the open one. read more. And I give the purchase-book unto Baruch son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, before the eyes of Hanameel, my uncle's son, and before the eyes of the witnesses, those writing in the purchase-book, before the eyes of all the Jews who are sitting in the court of the prison. And I charge Baruch before their eyes, saying, 'Thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Take these books, this purchase-book, both the sealed one and the open one, and thou hast put them in an earthen vessel, that they may remain many days; For thus said Jehovah of Hosts, God of Israel, Again are houses and fields and vineyards bought in this land.' And I pray unto Jehovah -- after my giving the purchase-book unto Baruch son of Neriah -- saying,
and also in your law it hath been written, that the testimony of two men are true;
and having cast him forth outside of the city, they were stoning him -- and the witnesses did put down their garments at the feet of a young man called Saul --
Against an elder an accusation receive not, except upon two or three witnesses.