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.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Whoever kills any person [intentionally], the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
On the evidence of two or three witnesses he who is worthy of death shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
If I have told you of things that happen right here on the earth and yet none of you believes Me, how can you believe (trust Me, adhere to Me, rely on Me) if I tell you of heavenly things?
But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.
From the baptism of John at the outset until the day when He was taken up from among us -- "one of these men must join with us and become a witness to testify to His resurrection.
This Jesus God raised up, and of that all we [His disciples] are witnesses.
Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him, and the witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,
And from Jesus Christ the faithful and trustworthy Witness, the Firstborn of the dead [first to be brought back to life] and the Prince (Ruler) of the kings of the earth. To Him Who ever loves us and has once [for all] loosed and freed us from our sins by His own 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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If anyone sins in that he is sworn to testify and has knowledge of the matter, either by seeing or hearing of it, but fails to report it, then he shall bear his iniquity and willfulness.
But you shall surely kill him; your hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hands of all the people.
On the evidence of two or three witnesses he who is worthy of death shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
One witness shall not prevail against a man for any crime or any wrong in connection with any sin he commits; only on the testimony of two or three witnesses shall a charge be established. If a false witness rises up against any man to accuse him of wrongdoing, read more. Then both parties to the controversy shall stand before the Lord, before the priests and the judges who are in office in those days. The judges shall inquire diligently, and if the witness is a false witness and has accused his brother falsely, Then you shall do to him as he had intended to do to his brother. So you shall put away the evil from among you. And those who remain shall hear and [reverently] fear, and shall henceforth commit no such evil among you. Your eyes shall not pity: it shall be life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
When it was morning, all the chief priests and the elders of the people held a consultation against Jesus to put Him to death;
But they raised a great shout and put their hands over their ears and rushed together upon him. Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him, and the witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Hastings
This is the rendering of Heb. '
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So come now, let us make a covenant or league, you and I, and let it be for a witness between you and me.
If you should afflict, humiliate, or lower [divorce] my daughters, or if you should take other wives beside my daughters, although no man is with us [to witness], see (remember), God is witness between you and me.
Take this Book of the Law and put it by the side of the ark of the covenant of the Lord your God, that it may be there for a witness against you.
And Joshua said to all the people, See, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the Lord spoke to us; so it shall be a witness against you, lest [afterward] you lie (pretend) and deny your God.
And Boaz said to the elders and to all the people, You are witnesses this day that I have bought all that was Elimelech's and all that was Chilion's and Mahlon's from the hand of Naomi.
And Samuel said to them, The Lord is witness against you, and His anointed is witness this day, that you have not found anything in my hand. And they answered, He is witness.
You have laid firm hold on me and have shriveled me up, which is a witness against me; and my leanness [and wretched state of body] are further evidence [against me]; [they] testify to my face.
He who breathes out truth shows forth righteousness (uprightness and right standing with God), but a false witness utters deceit.
A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he who breathes out lies shall not escape. Many will entreat the favor of a liberal man, and every man is a friend to him who gives gifts. read more. All the brothers of a poor man detest him -- "how much more do his friends go far from him! He pursues them with words, but they are gone. He who gains Wisdom loves his own life; he who keeps understanding shall prosper and find good. A false witness shall not be unpunished, and he who breathes forth lies shall perish.
A false witness will perish, but the word of a man who hears attentively will endure and go unchallenged.
A man who bears false witness against his neighbor is like a heavy sledgehammer and a sword and a sharp arrow.
Because they have committed folly in Israel and have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives and have spoken words in My name falsely, which I had not commanded them. I am the One Who knows and I am witness, says the Lord.
And I signed the deed and sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed out for him the money on the scales.
Then they said to Jeremiah, May the Lord be a true and faithful witness against us if we fail to do according to all the things that the Lord your God sends you to tell us.
And if any community will not receive and accept and welcome you, and they refuse to listen to you, when you depart, shake off the dust that is on your feet, for a testimony against them. Truly I tell you, it will be more tolerable for Sodom and Gomorrah in the judgment day than for that town.
You are witnesses of these things.
But you shall receive power (ability, efficiency, and might) when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you shall be My witnesses in Jerusalem and all Judea and Samaria and to the ends (the very bounds) of the earth.
This Jesus God raised up, and of that all we [His disciples] are witnesses.
But you killed the very Source (the Author) of life, Whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
For God is my witness, Whom I serve with my [whole] spirit [rendering priestly and spiritual service] in [preaching] the Gospel and [telling] the good news of His Son, how incessantly I always mention you when at my prayers.
[And this He will do] provided that you continue to stay with and in the faith [in Christ], well-grounded and settled and steadfast, not shifting or moving away from the hope [which rests on and is inspired by] the glad tidings (the Gospel), which you heard and which has been preached [as being designed for and offered without restrictions] to every person under heaven, and of which [Gospel] I, Paul, became a minister.
In the presence of God, Who preserves alive all living things, and of Christ Jesus, Who in His testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, I [solemnly] charge you
Therefore then, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses [who have borne testimony to the Truth], let us strip off and throw aside every encumbrance (unnecessary weight) and that sin which so readily (deftly and cleverly) clings to and entangles us, and let us run with patient endurance and steady and active persistence the appointed course of the race that is set before us,
And formed us into a kingdom (a royal race), priests to His God and Father -- "to Him be the glory and the power and the majesty and the dominion throughout the ages and forever and ever. Amen (so be it).
And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the trusty and faithful and true Witness, the Origin and Beginning and Author of God's creation:
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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On the evidence of two or three witnesses he who is worthy of death shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness.
But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed and upheld by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
But Jesus kept silent. And the high priest said to Him, I call upon you to swear by the living God, and tell us whether you are the Christ, the Son of God. Jesus said to him, You have stated [the fact]. More than that, I tell you: You will in the future see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming on the clouds of the sky.
Now Jesus stood before the governor [Pilate], and the governor asked Him, Are you the King of the Jews? Jesus said to him, You have stated [the fact].
Now when they saw the boldness and unfettered eloquence of Peter and John and perceived that they were unlearned and untrained in the schools [common men with no educational advantages], they marveled; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.
Yet He did not neglect to leave some witness of Himself, for He did you good and [showed you] kindness and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with nourishment and happiness.
For that which is known about God is evident to them and made plain in their inner consciousness, because God [Himself] has shown it to them. For ever since the creation of the world His invisible nature and attributes, that is, His eternal power and divinity, have been made intelligible and clearly discernible in and through the things that have been made (His handiworks). So [men] are without excuse [altogether without any defense or justification],
and there are three witnesses on the earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree [are in unison; their testimony coincides]. If we accept [as we do] the testimony of men [if we are willing to take human authority], the testimony of God is greater (of stronger authority), for this is the testimony of God, even the witness which He has borne regarding His Son. read more. He who believes in the Son of God [who adheres to, trusts in, and relies on Him] has the testimony [possesses this divine attestation] within himself. He who does not believe God [in this way] has made Him out to be and represented Him as a liar, because he has not believed (put his faith in, adhered to, and relied on) the evidence (the testimony) that God has borne regarding His Son. And this is that testimony (that evidence): God gave us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
And to the angel (messenger) of the assembly (church) in Laodicea write: These are the words of the Amen, the trusty and faithful and true Witness, the Origin and Beginning and Author of God's creation:
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/am'>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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He said, You are to accept these seven ewe lambs from me as a witness for me that I dug this well.
Laban called it Jegar-sahadutha [witness heap, in Aramaic], but Jacob called it Galeed [ witness heap, in Hebrew.]
This heap is a witness and this pillar is a witness, that I will not pass by this heap to you, and that you will not pass by this heap and this pillar to me, for harm.
You shall not witness falsely against your neighbor.
If it be torn in pieces [by some wild beast or by accident], let him bring [the mangled carcass] for witness; he shall not make good what was torn.
You shall not repeat or raise a false report; you shall not join with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.
You shall not have intercourse with your brother's wife; she belongs to your brother.
You must not marry a woman in addition to her sister, to be a rival to her, having sexual relations with the second sister when the first one is alive.
And a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and it is kept secret though she is defiled, and there is no witness against her nor was she taken in the act,
Whoever kills any person [intentionally], the murderer shall be put to death on the testimony of witnesses; but no one shall be put to death on the testimony of one witness.
Beware lest there be a base thought in your [minds and] hearts, and you say, The seventh year, the year of release, is at hand, and your eye be evil against your poor brother and you give him nothing, and he cry to the Lord against you, and it be sin in you.
On the evidence of two or three witnesses he who is worthy of death shall be put to death; he shall not be put to death on the evidence of one witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the first against him to put him to death, and afterward the hands of all the people. So you shall purge the evil from among you.
When a man takes a wife and marries her, if then she finds no favor in his eyes because he has found some indecency in her, and he writes her a bill of divorce, puts it in her hand, and sends her out of his house,
And if the latter husband dislikes her and writes her a bill of divorce and puts it in her hand and sends her out of his house, or if the latter husband dies, who took her as his wife,
And when they came to the region of the Jordan in the land of Canaan, the Reubenites, Gadites, and the half-tribe of Manasseh built there an altar by the Jordan, an altar great to behold.
So we said, Let us now prepare to build us an altar, not for burnt offering nor for sacrifice,
The Reubenites and Gadites called the altar Ed [witness], saying, It shall be: A Witness Between Us that the Lord is God.
And Joshua wrote these words in the Book of the Law of God; and he took a great stone and set it up there under an oak that was in [the court of] the sanctuary of the Lord. And Joshua said to all the people, See, this stone shall be a witness against us, for it has heard all the words the Lord spoke to us; so it shall be a witness against you, lest [afterward] you lie (pretend) and deny your God.
Bind up the testimony, seal the law and the teaching among my [Isaiah's] disciples.
And I signed the deed and sealed it, called witnesses, and weighed out for him the money on the scales. So I took the deed of the purchase -- "both that which was sealed, containing the terms and conditions, and the copy which was unsealed -- " read more. And I gave the purchase deed to Baruch son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and the witnesses who signed the purchase deed, in the presence of all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard. And I charged Baruch before them, saying, Thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Take these deeds, both this purchase deed which is sealed and this unsealed deed, and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may last a long time. For thus says the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel: Houses and fields and vineyards shall be purchased yet again in this land. Now when I had delivered the purchase deed to Baruch son of Neriah, I prayed to the Lord, saying:
In your [own] Law it is written that the testimony (evidence) of two persons is reliable and valid.
Then they dragged him out of the city and began to stone him, and the witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.
Listen to no accusation [presented before a judge] against an elder unless it is confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.