Witness
WITNESS
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, Num 35:30 ; and if the criminal was stoned, the witnesses were bound to cast the first stones, Deu 17:6-7 Mal 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, Mal 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 Jer 1:5 . The heroes of the ancient church are “witnesses” to the power of true faith, Heb 12:1 .
Fuente: American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
Witness
In confirmation of the gospel message the NT appeals to two kinds of witness, in themselves distinct, but serving the same end.
1. The human witness to Christ.-The primary business of the Apostles was to testify as eyewitnesses to the facts of the earthly life of Christ and above all to His resurrection. The ability to do this was the qualification demanded in the successor to Judas (Act 1:22), and the ground on which the Apostles justified their claim to preach Jesus (Act 2:32; Act 3:15; Act 5:32; Act 10:39) and to speak with authority in the Church (1Pe 5:1). This witness could be borne only by those who had been specially chosen to do so, and had been trained by personal communion with the risen Christ (Act 10:41, 1Jn 1:2; 1Jn 4:14). It is noticeable that St. Paul is careful to show that he had experienced this, though not in the same way as that in which it had been granted to the older apostles (Act 22:15, 1Co 9:1). It soon became clear that this witness must be given at the risk of liberty and life, and, though in the NT does not pass absolutely into the sense of martyr (see Martyr), yet in Rev. the , in nearly every case, is connected with suffering (e.g. Rev 1:9; Rev 6:9; Rev 20:4). In 1Ti 6:13 a like connexion of ideas is applied to our Lord Himself, who is said to have witnessed the good confession before Pontius Pilate. A similar sense may attach to in Heb 12:1 if we regard the cloud of witnesses as consisting of those who have already sealed their faith by suffering. But the word may here mean no more than interested onlookers watching those engaged in the warfare which they themselves have already accomplished.
2. The Divine Witness.-Throughout the apostolic writings runs the conviction that God is constantly witnessing in various ways to the truth of the gospel. In Act 14:3; Act 15:8 miracles are taken to be the means by which the preaching of Christ among the Gentiles is so attested (cf. Gal 3:5). But it is chiefly through the work of the Holy Spirit that this witness is borne. This work is seen in the individual and in the Church. The hope that Christ has made us sons of God is converted into a certainty by the voice of the Divine Spirit speaking within us (Rom 8:16). In 1Jn 5:6-11 the meaning of this witness is drawn out in fuller detail. Christs coming was by water (baptism) and blood (the Cross). But these historic facts must be brought into personal relation with every life, or they have no reality for that life. It is the Holy Ghost who does this. He teaches every man to know that new life has come to him because Christ accepted His mission and died upon Calvary. There are three who bear witness, the Spirit, and the water, and the blood (v. 8). This witness is Divine (v. 9); every one can test it in his own heart (v. 10); and it consists of the possession of eternal life through the Son (v. 11). But the witness of the Holy Spirit to Christ is not confined to this inward conviction. It appears also in the bestowal of charismatic gifts on the faithful (Heb 2:4), especially that of preaching, which exists only to testify to Jesus (Rev 19:10), and in the fulfilment by Christ of Scriptures in which the Spirit has spoken of Him (Heb 10:15; Hebrews 10 :1Pe 1:11).
The consistency with which the NT writers dwell upon this varied testimony of the Holy Spirit to Christ is remarkable. Modern preaching has not yet fully recovered this note, but there is an increasing sense of the need of it, and the results of evangelistic work, especially in the foreign mission field, are daily illustrating its meaning in the life of the Church.
Literature.-H. B. Swete, The Holy Spirit in the NT, London, 1909; D. W. Forrest, The Authority of Christ, Edinburgh, 1906, ch. vii.
C. T. Dimont.
WOE
The word occurs freely in the LXX , in the Book of Enoch (esp. xciv., c.), and in the Gospels, but is found only twice in the Epistles (1Co 9:16 -Woe is unto me, if I preach not the gospel, and Jud 1:11, where a reference is made to the false teachers in the Church-Woe unto them! for they went in the way of Cain, i.e. as men in the wrong, entertaining a murderous hostility towards the lovers of truth. The idiom here is the familiar one of prophetic denunciation-Woe be to. The sense in 1Co 9:16 is Woe is mine, i.e. Divine penalty awaits me).
In the Apocalypse, the word is used followed by the accusative in Rev 8:13. The solitary eagle flying across the sky cries with a great voice, Woe, woe, woe, for them that dwell on the earth (the three-fold woe possibly corresponding to the three plagues yet to fall upon the earth). The idea here is hardly that of denunciation, but of ominous announcement. Similarly in Rev 12:12 (where the accusative instead of the dative is again used)-Alas for the earth and for the sea. introduces each section of the three-fold dirge of lamentation uttered by the mourners of fallen Babylon (Rev 18:10; Rev 18:16; Rev 18:19) and is followed by the nominative-the broken construction suggesting the emotion of the mourners.
is used in Rev 9:12; Rev 11:14 as a feminine substantive (woe, calamity) indicating the disasters following the blowing of the last three of the seven trumpets. The first woe is the plague of tormenting locusts; the second is the slaughter wrought by the fiery horses and their angel riders; the last is apparently the final overthrow of Satan and the completed destruction of the wicked in the drama of 12-20.
H. Bulcock.
Fuente: Dictionary of the Apostolic Church
Witness
One who is present, bears testimony, furnishes evidence or proof. Witnesses are employed in various ecclesiastical matters, as in civil, in proof of a statement, fact, or contract. According to various circumstances a witness is one who is personally present and sees some act or occurrence and can bear testimony thereto; one who on request or in behalf of a party subscribes his name to an instrument to attest the genuineness of its execution; one who gives testimony on the trial of a cause, appearing before a court, judge, or other official to be examined under oath. The espousals of Catholics (“Ne temere”) to be binding must be in writing, signed by the contracting parties and ordinarily by two witnesses, or by a pastor or ordinary, each within his own territory, as sole witnesses. In case either or both parties are unable for any cause to write, an additional witness is necessary. Catholics are incapable of entering into lawful wedlock (“Ne temere”) except in the presence of a parish priest, or ordinary, or other priest duly delegated, and two witnesses. Though not necessary for validity of the act, the Church desires in both cases that these witnesses be Catholics (S.O., 19 Aug., 1891). Witnesses of a marriage sign no ecclesiastical document, though they may be called upon by the state to attest by their own hand certain civil records. Sponsors at baptism and confirmation are not properly witnesses; they assist for other purposes (see RELATIONSHIP). A canonical precept, when employed, must be delivered in the presence of the vicar general or two others as witnesses (Cum magnopere, VII). Ecclesiastical documents are attested or witnessed as circumstances require, e.g., by the chancellor, clerk of the court, prothonotary apostolic. Expert witnesses to some extent have a place in canon law. In ecclesiastical trials witnesses are adduced to prove a fact directly, or indirectly, i.e., by establishing the falsity of the contrary.
The essential qualifications of a witness are knowledge of the fact at issue and truthfulness: he must be an eye-witness and trustworthy. Hearsay witnesses, however, are admitted, if necessary, in matters not of a criminal nature, e.g., in proof of consanguinity or other relationship, baptism, etc. Anyone not expressly prohibited may testify. Some, as the insane, infants, the blind or deaf, where sight or hearing is necessary for a knowledge of the facts in question, are excluded by the natural law; others by canon law, as those who are bribed or suborned, those who are infamous in law or in fact, convicted perjurors, excommunicated persons, all in a word whose veracity may be justly suspected. The law likewise rejects those who on account of affection or enmity may be biased, as well as those who may be specially interested in the case. Parents as a rule are not admitted for their children, particularly when the rights of a third party are at stake, or against them and vice-versa; relatives for one another; lawyers for their clients; accomplices or enemies for or against one another; Jews or heretics against Christians; lay persons against clerics, except their own interests are at stake, or there are no clerics to testify; minors or women in criminal cases tried criminally, unless their testimony is necessary, or they testify in favor of the accused. Clerics, unless compelled by civil authorities, are not allowed to testify against the accused when sentence of death is to be imposed (see IRREGULARITY). There are many exceptions to these general statements. A witness is more easily admitted in favour of a person than against him, and in civil than in criminal trials. No one is tolerated as a witness in his own case. Hence, those who are engaged in a similar cause, a judge who has adjudicated a like case, etc. are excluded. False witnesses are those who under oath prevaricate or conceal the truth that they are bound to tell: they are guilty of perjury, and if convicted are infamous in law. Notaries or others by altering or falsifying documents substantially become guilty of forgery (q.v.). (See ESPOUSALS; PROOF; EXAMINATION.)
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Decret. L., II, tit. 20, De testibus et Attestationibus; SANTI, Praelect. Juris Can.; TAUNTON, The Law of the Church, s.v.
ANDREW B. MEEHAN Transcribed by Michael T. Barrett Dedicated to Jerry F. Kobelin
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume XVCopyright © 1912 by Robert Appleton CompanyOnline Edition Copyright © 2003 by K. KnightNihil Obstat, October 1, 1912. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., CensorImprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York
Fuente: Catholic Encyclopedia
Witness
(, fern. ; Sept. and New Test ; Vulg. testis) is used in the English Bible botb of persons and things.
I. Leading Significations. This frequent term occurs,
1. In the sense of a person who deposes to the occurrence of any fact, a witness of any event. The Hebrew word is from , to repeat. The Greek word is usually derived from ), to “divide,” “decide,” etc., because a witness decides controversies (Heb 6:16); but Damm (Lex. Bom. col. 1495) deduces it from the old word , “the hand,” because witnesses anciently held up their hands in giving evidence. This custom, among the ancient Hebrews, is referred to in Gen 14:22; among the heathens, by Homer (Iliad, 10:321), and by Virgil (AEneid, 12:196). God himself is represented as swearing in this manner (Deu 32:40; Eze 20:5-6; Eze 20:15; comp. Num 14:30). So also the heathen gods (Pindar, Olymp. 7:119, 120). These Hebrew and Greek words, with their various derivations, pervade the entire subject. They are applied to a judicial witness in Exo 23:1; Lev 5:1; Num 5:13; Num 35:30 (comp. Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15; Mat 18:16; 2Co 13:1); Pro 14:5; Pro 24:28; Mat 26:65; Act 6:13; 1Ti 5:19; Heb 10:28. They are applied, generally, to a person who certifies, or is able to certify, to any fact which has come under his cognizance (Jos 24:22; Isa 8:2; Luk 24:48; Act 1:8; Act 1:22; 1Th 2:10; 1Ti 6:12; 2Ti 2:2; 1Pe 1:5). So in allusion to those who witness the public games (Heb 12:1). They are also applied to any one who testifies to the world what God reveals through him (Rev 11:3). In the latter sense the Greek word is applied to our Lord (Rev 1:5; Rev 3:14). Both the Hebrew and Greek words are also applied to God (Gen 31:50; 1Sa 12:5; Jer 42:5;. Rom 1:9; Php 1:8; 1Th 2:5); to inanimate things (Gen 31:52; Psa 89:37). The supernatural means whereby the deficiency of witnesses was compensated under the theocracy, have been already considered under the articles SEE ADULTERY, TRIAL OF; SEE URIM AND THUMMIM.
For the punishment of false witness and the suppression of evidence, SEE PUNISHMENT. For the forms of adjuration (2Ch 18:15), SEE ADJURATION. Opinions differ as to what is meant by “the faithful witness in heaven” (Psa 89:37). Some suppose it to mean the moon (comp. Psa 72:5; Psa 72:7; Jer 31:35-36; Jer 33:20-21; Sir 43:6); others, the rainbow (Gen 9:12-17).
2. The witness or testimony itself borne to any fact is expressed by ; (testimonium) . . . They are used of judicial testimony (Pro 25:18; Mar 14:56; Mar 14:59). In Mar 14:55, Schleusner takes the word for , the abstract for the concrete (Luk 22:71; Joh 8:17; Josephus, Ant. 4:8, 15). It denotes the testimony to the truth of anything generally (Joh 1:7; Joh 1:19; Joh 19:35); that of a poet (Tit 1:13). It occurs in Josephus (Cont. Apion, 1:21). In Joh 3:11; Joh 3:32, Schleusner understands the doctrine, the thing professed; in 5:32, 36, the proofs given by God of our Saviour’s mission; comp. 5:9. In 8:13, 14, both he and Bretschneider assign to the word the sense of praise In Act 22:18, the former translates it teaching or instruction. In Rev 1:9, it denotes the constant profession of Christianity, or testimony to the truth of the gospel (comp. 1:2; 6:9). In 1Ti 3:7, means a good character (comp. 3Jn 1:12; Ecclus. 31:34; Josephus, Ant. 6:10, 1). In Psa 19:7, “The testimony of the Lord is sure” probably signifies the ordinances, institutions, etc. (comp. Psa 119:22; Psa 119:24, etc.). Those ambiguous words, “He that believeth in the Son of God hath the witness in himself” (1Jn 5:10), which have given rise to a variety of fanatical meanings, are easily understood, by explaining the word , “receives,” “retains,” etc., i.e. the foregoing testimony which God hath given of his Son, whereas the unbeliever rejects it.
The whole passage is obscured in the English translation by neglecting the uniformity of the Greek, and introducing the word “record,” contrary to the profession of our translators in their Preface to the Reader (ad finem). The Hebrew word, with , occurs in the sense of monument, evidence, etc. (Gen 21:30; Gen 31:44; Deu 4:45; Deu 31:26; Jos 22:27; Rth 4:7; Mat 8:4; Mar 6:11; Luk 21:13; Jam 5:3). In 2Co 1:12, Schleusner explains , commendation. In Provo 29:14, and Amo 1:11, is pointed to mean perpetually, forever, but the Septuagint gives ; Aquila, ; Symmachus, ; Vulg. in ceternum. In Act 7:44, and Rev 15:5, we find , and this is the Sept. rendering for (which really means “the tabernacle of the congregation”) in Exo 29:42; Exo 29:44; Exo 40:22; Exo 40:24 deriving from , “‘to testify,” instead of from , “to assemble.” On 1Ti 2:6, see Bowyer, Conjectures. In Heb 3:5, Schleusner interprets , “the promulgation of those things about to be delivered to the Jews.”
3. To be or become a witness, by testifying the truth of what one knows. Thus the Sept. translates (Gen 43:3), , to bear witness, and Amo 3:13 : see also 1Ki 21:10; 1Ki 21:13. In Joh 1:7; Joh 15:26; Joh 18:23, Schleusner gives as its meaning, to teach or explain; in Joh 4:44; Joh 7:7; 1Ti 6:13, to declare; in Act 10:43; Rom 3:21, to declare prophetically. With a dative case following, the word sometimes means to approve (Luk 4:22). So Schleusner understands Luk 11:48, “Ye approve the deeds of your fathers,” and he gives this sense also to Rom 10:2. In like manner the passive , , “to be approved,” “beloved,” “have a good character,” etc. (Act 6:3; 1Ti 5:10; comp. 3Jn 1:6; 3Jn 1:12). “The witness of the Spirit,” alluded to by St. Paul (Rom 8:16), is explained by Macknight and all the best commentators, as the extraordinary operation of the Holy Spirit concurring with the filial disposition of converted Gentiles, to prove that they are “the children of God,” as well as the Jews. (See below.)
4. “To call or take to witness,” “to invoke as witness,” t (Act 20:26; Gal 5:3; Josephus, War, 3:8, 3). A still stronger word is , which corresponds to (Deu 4:26). It means “to admonish solemnly,” “to charge earnestly,” “to urge upon” (Psa 81:8; Neh 9:26; Luk 16:28; Act 2:40). In other passages the same words mean to “teach earnestly.” In Job 29:11, a beautiful phrase occurs, “When the eye saw me it gave witness to me.” The admiring expression of the eye upon beholding a man of eminent virtue and benevolence, is here admirably illustrated. The description of the mischief occasioned by a false-witness, in Pro 25:18, deserves notice: “A man that beareth false witness against his neighbor, is a maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow.” Few words afford more exercise to discrimination, in consequence of the various shades of meaning in which the context requires they should be understood.
II. Hebrew Usages.
1. 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 (Gen 21:30; Gen 31:47; Gen 31:52). The tribes of Reuben and Gad raised an “altar,” designed expressly not for sacrifice, but 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; “for,” he said, “it hath heard all the words of the Lord” (Jos 22:10; Jos 22:26; Jos 22:34; Jos 24:26-27). So also a pillar is mentioned by Isaiah as “a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt” (Isa 19:19-20). Thus also the sacred ark and its contents are called “the testimony” (Exo 16:33-34; Exo 25:16; Exo 38:21; Num 1:50; Num 1:53; Num 9:15; Num 10:11; Num 17:7-8; Num 18:2; Heb 9:4).
Thus also symbolical usages, in ratification of contracts or completed arrangements, as the ceremony of shoe-loosing (Deu 25:9-10; Rth 4:7-8), the ordeal prescribed in the case of a suspected wife (Num 5:17-31), with which may be compared the ordeal of the Styx (Class. Mus. 6:386). The Bedawin Arabs practice a fiery ordeal in certain cases by way of compurgation. (Burckhardt, Notes, 1:121; Layard, Nin. and Bab. page 305). ‘The ceremony also appointed at the oblation of first-fruits (q.v.) may be mentioned as partaking of the same character (Deu 26:4)
But written evidence was by no means unknown to the Jews. Divorce was to be proved by a written document (Deu 24:1; Deu 24:3), whereas among Bedawin and. Mussulmans in general a spoken sentence is sufficient (Burckhardt, Notes, 1:110; Sale, Koran, c. 33, page 348;. Lane, Mod. Egypt, 1:136, 236). In civil contracts, at least in later times, documentary evidence was required and carefully preserved (Isa 8:16; Jer 32:10-16).
On the whole Moses was very careful to provide and enforce evidence for all infractions of law and all transactions bearing on it: e.g. the memorial stones of Jordan and of Ebal (Deu 27:2-4; Jos 4:9; Jos 8:30); the fringes on-garments (Num 15:39-40); the boundary- stones of property (Deu 19:14; Deu 27:17; Pro 22:28); the “broad plates” made from the censers of the Korahites (Num 16:38); above all, the ark of testimony itself-all these are instances of the care taken by the legislator to perpetuate evidence of the facts on which the legislation was founded, and by which it was supported (Deu 6:20-25). Appeal to the same principle is also repeatedly made in the case of prophecies as a test of their authenticity (Deu 18:22; Jer 28:9; Jer 28:16-17; Joh 3:11; Joh 5:36; Joh 10:38; Joh 14:11; Luk 24:48; Act 1:3; Act 2:32; Act 3:15, etc.)..
2. Among special provisions of the law with respect to evidence are the following:
(1) Two witnesses at least are required to establish, any charge (Num 35:30; Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15;. 1Ki 21:13; Joh 8:17; 2Co 13:1; Heb 10:28); and a like principle is laid down by Paul as a rule of procedure in certain cases in the Christian Church (1Ti 5:19).
(2) In the case of the suspected wife, evidence besides the husband’s was desired, though not demanded. (Num 5:13).
(3) The witness who withheld the truth was censured (Lev 5:1).
(4) False witness was punished with the punishment due to the offence which it sought to establish. SEE OATH.
(5) Slanderous reports and officious witness are discouraged (Exo 20:16; Exo 23:1; Lev 19:16; Lev 19:18;: Deu 19:16-21; Pro 24:28).
(6) The witnesses were the first executioners (Deu 13:9; Deu 16:7; Act 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 (Exo 22:13).
(8) According to Josephus, women and slaves were mot admitted to bear testimony (Ant. 4:8, 15). To these exceptions the Mishna adds idiots, deaf, blind, and dumb persons, persons of infamous character, and some others, ten in all (Selden, De Synedr. 2:13, 11; Otho, Lex. Rabb. page 653). The high-priest was not bound to give evidence in any case except one affecting the king (ibid.). Various refinements on the quality of evidence and the manner of taking it are given in the Mishna (Sanhedr. 4:5; 5:2, 3; Maccoth, 1:1, 9; Sheb. 3:10; 4:1; 5:1). In criminal cases evidence was required to be oral; in pecuniary, written evidence was allowed (Otho, Lex. Rabb. page 653).
3. In the New Test. the original notion of a witness is exhibited in the special form of one who attests his belief in the gospel by personal suffering. So Stephen is styled by Paul (Act 22:20), and the “faithful Antipas ” (Rev 2:13). John also speaks of himself and of others as witnesses in this sense (Rev 1:9; Rev 6:9; Rev 11:3; Rev 20:4). See also Hebrews 11 and Heb 12:1, in which passage a number of persons are mentioned, belonging both to Old Test. and New Test., who bore witness to the truth by personal endurance; and to this passage may be added, as bearing on the same view of the term “witness,” Dan 3:21; Dan 6:16; 1Ma 1:60; 1Ma 1:63; 2Ma 6:18-19. Hence it is that the use of the ecclesiastical term “martyr” has arisen, of which copious illustration may be seen in Suicer, Thes. 2:310, etc. SEE MARTYR.
Fuente: Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
Witness
More than one witness was required in criminal cases (Deut. 17:6; 19:15). They were the first to execute the sentence on the condemned (Deut. 13:9; 17:7; 1 Kings 21:13; Matt. 27:1; Acts 7:57, 58). False witnesses were liable to punishment (Deut. 19:16-21). It was also an offence to refuse to bear witness (Lev. 5:1).
Fuente: Easton’s Bible Dictionary
WITNESS
The word witness had many usages and meanings in the Bible. It was commonly used to refer to people who saw, knew or experienced something (Deu 17:6; Act 5:30-32), or to their open declaration of what they saw, knew or experienced. Their witness was their testimony (Exo 20:16; Joh 3:11).
Witness was also used to denote a person who guaranteed, or swore to, the truth of something (Rth 4:9; 1Sa 12:5; 2Co 1:23); or it may have denoted that persons oath or guarantee of the truth (Act 10:43; Rom 3:21). Even a lifeless object could be a witness, in the sense of being a guarantee or confirmation of something, such as a verbal agreement (Gen 31:44-50; Jos 24:27). Actions likewise could be a witness, in the sense of being evidence (Joh 5:36).
The law of Israel
When God established his covenant with Israel at Mt Sinai, he gave the Ten Commandments as the basis of the covenant requirements laid upon his people. The two tablets of stone containing the Ten Commandments were a witness, or testimony, to Gods demands and to Israels acceptance of them (Exo 24:3; Exo 24:12). They were therefore called the testimony (Exo 25:21), the ark of the covenant in which they were placed was called the ark of the testimony (Exo 25:16), and the tabernacle (or tent) in which the ark was kept was called the tabernacle of the testimony (Exo 38:21).
Other uses of witness in relation to Israels laws were concerned with evidence in lawsuits. The main requirement was that there be at least two witnesses if the judges were to accept or act upon any accusation (Deu 19:15; cf. Mat 18:15-16). To discourage people from making accusations secretly or lightly, the law required them, in certain cases, to participate publicly in the punishment if the accused was found guilty (Deu 17:6-7).
It was wrong, however, for a witness to remain silent when he had evidence to present (Lev 5:1). If the judges found that a witness had given false evidence, they inflicted upon him the punishment that he had tried to bring upon the accused (Deu 19:16-21; cf. Mar 14:55-56).
The witness of Jesus
Witness had a specific meaning in relation to the life of Jesus Christ. John the Baptist was a witness to Jesus in the sense that he pointed people to Jesus as the Saviour who had come from God. John was a witness to the truth (Joh 1:7; Joh 1:15; Joh 5:33). The works Jesus did were also a witness, for they showed clearly that he was the Messiah who had come from God. The Old Testament Scriptures were another witness (Joh 5:36-39).
With all these witnesses, the Pharisees had no basis for their objection that Jesus had no witnesses to support his claim to be the God-sent Saviour (Joh 8:12-13). Jesus came from God as the one who revealed God to the world, and therefore he was a witness to the truth of God (Joh 3:11; Joh 18:37). His witness was supported by the witness of the Father, and therefore the Pharisees should have accepted it (Joh 8:14-18).
Those who lived with Jesus were witnesses to the truth that he was God in human form, the Saviour of the world (1Jn 1:1-3; 1Jn 4:14). Other believers, whether in the first century or the present day, bear the same witness to him, because of the Spirit who bears witness within them (Joh 15:26; 1Jn 5:7; 1Jn 5:10-11).
Witness in the early church
After Jesus resurrection and ascension, the disciples boldly bore witness to him as Lord and Messiah. They emphasized the facts of his life, death, and particularly his resurrection, for they were personal eye-witnesses of those events (Act 2:22-24; Act 2:32-33; Act 5:30-32; Act 10:36-43; Act 13:27-31).
These personal eye-witnesses were the first to spread the gospel (Luk 24:46-49; Act 1:8), but other believers also bore witness to Jesus when they preached the gospel (Act 20:24; Act 23:11). The gospel was sometimes called the witness, or testimony, of Christ (1Co 1:6; 1Co 2:1; 2Th 1:10).
Often Christians, as well as the gospel they preached, came under attack. In these circumstances they had to bear the same testimony to the truth as Jesus had borne (Act 22:20; 1Ti 6:13-14; Rev 1:9). Some were killed because of their witness to Jesus (Rev 2:13; Rev 11:7; Rev 12:11). In fact, bearing witness to Jesus became so closely associated with being killed for Jesus sake that the word for witness (Greek: martyria) produced the word martyr (Rev 6:9; Rev 17:6; Rev 20:4).
Fuente: Bridgeway Bible Dictionary
Witness
WITNESS.The idea of witness as related to Christ and His gospel plays an essential and highly important part in the NT writings and in the Christian faith and life universally. Not only in the primitive preaching, but also in all effectual preaching throughout the history of the Church, the gospel is conceived not as a speculative system, but as a witness to Jesus the Christ as being Himself Gods Witness to the world.
Among the NT writers none appears to have so definitely and fondly reflected upon the idea of witness as St. John. It is one of his leading ideas. In his Gospel (cf. Westcott, Speakers Com. on St. John, Introd.) he mentions a sevenfold witness to Christ: the witness (1) of the Father (Joh 5:34; Joh 5:37), (2) of the Son (Joh 8:14, Joh 18:37), (3) of His works (Joh 10:25, Joh 5:36), (4) of the Scriptures (Joh 5:39-46), (5) of the forerunner (Joh 1:7, Joh 5:35), (6) of the disciples (Joh 15:27, Joh 19:35), (7) of the Spirit (Joh 15:26, Joh 16:14). In view, however, of the unique significance of the Person of Christ, and in harmony with the method of the NT preaching, it will be most appropriate to consider our subject under these two heads:I. The witness of Jesus Christ the Son, supported by the witness of the Father and of the Spirit. II. The witness of the disciples to Jesus Christ the Son of God, supported by the witness of the Holy Spirit.
I. The witness of Jesus, supported by the witness of the Father and of the Spirit
1. Jesus personal witness.His first disciples Jesus gathered about Himself through the power of the truth which He spoke and of His own Personality, so marvellously at one with His word. He did not begin with declarations about Himself. He came to make the Father known. He came fulfilling, in word and deed, the Law and the Prophets. He preached repentance and inward righteousness. With a wealth of light He set forth the nature of the Kingdom of God. But in all this Jesus spoke as witness. He was conscious of an immediate, intimate, and unique fellowship with the Father, and out of this consciousness He spoke (Mat 11:27, Joh 3:11; Joh 10:15; Joh 14:10; Joh 17:21; Joh 17:25; see also art. Consciousness). The tone and manner of spiritual authority permeated all that He said and did from His earliest teaching to His sublime declaration before Pilate, and even to His words upon the cross (cf. esp. Matthew 5-7, Joh 18:37; Joh 19:30, Luk 11:43; Luk 11:46). But this consciousness of speaking as witness finds also distinct and emphatic expression in His word (cf. esp. Joh 8:12 ff.).
While Jesus witness was primarily concerning the Father,He even denied in a certain sense that He bore witness of Himself (Joh 5:31),it is yet certain that He also bore witness of Himself (cf. esp. Joh 8:14; Joh 18:37; Joh 14:6). Jesus testifies of Himself as the Way. This testimony is unmistakable and unqualified. And yet the method of this witness was chiefly indirect or by way of necessary implication. He appealed to the Fathers testimony concerning Him, or else silently waited till it should be brought to light. And when the revelation from the Father produced in the disciples a believing confession of His Son, Jesus clearly accepted and sanctioned that confession (e.g. Mat 16:16-20).
2. The witness of the Father to Jesus includes both the personal, inward testimony to Jesus Himself, which resulted in His full consciousness as Messiah and Son (see art. Consciousness), and all the works of God preparatory to and accompanying the life of Jesus Christ on earth designed to lead men to the certainty of faith in Him as Redeemer and Lord. Under this head we note: (1) The witness of the Scriptures (cf. esp. Joh 5:39, Luk 24:27, Act 10:43). This must be taken in the most real sense and yet not narrowly. The OT is full of the Messianic hope, and that hope was inspired by God. Jesus was steeped in the Scriptures, and He understood the things in them concerning Himself. We have no longer reason to insist upon a scheme of minute prediction and fulfilment, and yet we still affirm that Jesus is not to be understood otherwise than as the Fulfiller of the Law and the Prophets. (For a fuller discussion of this point see art. Fulfilment. Cf. also Valeton, Christus und das AT [Note: T Altes Testament.] ; and Khler, Jesus und das AT [Note: T Altes Testament.] ).
(2) The witness of John as a prophet of God (cf. esp. Joh 1:7-8; Joh 1:15; Joh 1:19 ff., Joh 5:36) is manifestly closely related to that of the Scriptures; but John is, of course, more specific than the earlier prophets could be. Johns witness Jesus accepts as having a very real significance, for He regards it not as the witness of man merely, but as inspired of God.
(3) The witness of the works (cf. esp. Joh 5:30; Joh 5:36; Joh 10:37-38; Joh 14:10-11, Act 2:22-24). The works are a testimony from the Father; for Jesus declares: The Father abiding in me doeth his works. It would, doubtless, be a grave mistake to regard Christs word, The works which the Father hath given me to accomplish, the very works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me, as meaning only His miracles. The testimony of the works issues from His whole life and ministry. His whole lifework was a manifestation of God, and as such was, in the larger sense, truly a miracle. See, further, artt. Miracles, Resurrection of Christ, and Sign.
3. The witness of the Spirit to Jesus the Son.The witness of God concerning His Son calls for faith in the Son (1Jn 5:6 ff.). This witness is borne to us primarily in objective facts (1Jn 1:1 ff; 1Jn 5:8; 1Jn 5:10), but it is borne in upon our consciousness only by the Spirit of God. It is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is the truth (1Jn 5:7; cf. also Mat 16:17). It cannot be too strongly emphasized that the Person and work of Jesus Christ are the object of this testimony. The Paraclete, the Spirit of truth (Christ says), shall bear witness of me (Joh 15:26). The witness of the Spirit, according to the NT, is a much larger thing than the assurance of personal sonship through Christ (Rom 8:16; cf. art. Assurance). Personal assurance is an essential and unspeakably important partin a sense the climaxof the Spirits witness. But it is un-Biblical to speak of this unqualifiedly as the witness of the Spirit. The Spirits testimony is coextensive with the objective testimony. The manifestation of the truth of God in objective facts becomes to us an inward illumination only through the inward witness of the Spirit. Without the testimonium Spiritus sancti internum the objective witness is unable to produce full assurance. On the other hand, an inward persuasion that is not firmly grounded in objective reality is miserably insecure. The climax of the inward testimony is personal assurance; but the inward witness is inseparable from the outward. They are not two separate and independent testimonies. God would make us certain of His wonderful love and grace. To this end He reveals Christ for us, and He also reveals Him in us. The outward manifestation is the indispensable means to the inward revelation. The fact of the fellowship with God through the Spirit (e.g. Rom 8:14 ff.) is not a thing by itself, it is the demonstration of the truth of the promise by an initial and progressive realization of the same. The actual fellowship of the Spirit is the Spirits own witness. See, further, art. Holy Spirit.
II. The witness of the disciples, supported by the witness of the Holy Spirit.Nothing could be clearer than that the primitive Christian preaching was not only the most direct and specific witness to Jesus the crucified and risen Lord, but also a witness irrepressibly spontaneous and full of the unconquerable assurance of an over-powering certainty (Act 4:20, 1Co 9:16, 2Co 4:13).
What constitutes, according to the NT, the equipment and competence of a witness of Jesus Christ? Were His original disciples the only genuine witnesses? Are not those also who have not seen and yet have believed (Joh 20:29) competent witnesses? In the first place, then, let us inquire how the original witnesses were prepared for their office. Early in His public ministry Jesus chose from out the larger number of His disciples twelve that they might be with him, and that he might send them forth to preach (Mar 3:14). These He trained to be heralds of His gospel (see art. Apostles; and Bruce, The Training of the Twelve), and declared that, when the Paraclete should have come to them, they should bear witness of Him (Joh 15:26-27). After His Passion and Resurrection He expressly commissioned them to go forth as His witnesses (Luk 24:48, Act 1:8). They could, of course, have had no vital conception of Jesus and His mission without the illumination of the Holy Spirit. But was there something in their experience which constituted them the only real witnesses? Some have so held; but this is a view unwarranted by Scripture and out of harmony with the principles of evangelical Christianity. The original disciples, it is true, were the only eye-and ear-witnesses. Yet what they literally saw and heard was not the revelation itself, but only the means thereto. In Jesus the flesh was, so to speak, a transparency for the Word. Nevertheless multitudes saw and heard Jesus and understood not. None of the rulers of this world recognized in Him the Lord of glory (1Co 2:8). The original heralds of Christ did indeed lay a certain stress upon their being eye- and ear-witnesses. But they prized their experience of sensible intercourse with the Lord not for its own sake, but because it was to them the means of entering into an inward personal fellowship with Him. In the days of His flesh this personal fellowship with Him was necessarily mediated through the senses, though the fellowship itself was not sensuous but spiritual. Even for these original disciples the time must come when their fellowship with their Lord should be wholly independent of the senses. Through the Paraclete the Lord would renew and continue His fellowship with His disciples (cf. esp. John 14, 16 and Joh 17:26). But He would be no longer manifest through the senses (Joh 20:17; cf. the fine sermon of H. Hoffmann, Eins ist not, p. 153). It is clear from the NT that after Pentecost the original disciples were immovable in their persuasion that they possessed and had fellowship with their exalted Lord.
From all this it is clear that the visible manifestation of the Lord was designed to be superseded by a manifestation through the word of His witnesses. But can the word really take the place of the sensuous contact with the Lords Person? For answer let it be remembered in the first place that Christ foretold that it should be sufficient (e.g. Joh 17:20 ff., Mat 28:20). What the original witnesses enjoyed, others should enjoy toothe same immediate fellowship, the same certainty. As the men of Sychar believed at last not for the womans speaking, but because they had heard for themselves (Joh 4:42), so through the word of the Apostles others are brought into actual saving relation with the same Lord Christ. Alike for those who saw Him, and for those who saw Him not, the outward facts must be inwardly apprehended and inwardly tested. And as was the design, so also is the actual experience under the gospel: where the word is truly preached the Spirit does energize and seal it, and those who believe receive the same certainty as the original disciples possessed. The whole NT preaching manifestly rests upon the full persuasion that this is and must be so (e.g. 1Pe 1:8, Heb 13:8, 2Pe 1:1, esp. Act 11:15; Act 11:18). Faith does come by hearing (Rom 10:17)the fact of the vital union with Christ is proof of the adequacy of the word of testimony. Such is the argument of that wonderful passage, 1Jn 1:1-4. Those who through their association with Christ in the flesh had apprehended the life manifested, bear witness to others, that these also may enter into the same fellowship with themthe glorious fellowship with the Father and with His Son Jesus Christ. In the days of His flesh, Jesus was (according to an expression of Beyschlag in his Leben Jesu) His own prophet. After His resurrection this office is committed to faithful witnesses. And it is thus that they conceive their office. The ministry of reconciliation is committed to them. As ambassadors of Christ they stand in Christs stead (2Co 5:19-20). To bear witness to Christ is their one aim as heralds (1Jn 4:14). And their word is effectual. He who believes through their word is not then a Christian of a secondary order; his knowledge of Christ is indeed mediated and yet immediate (cf. the vigorous discussion of E. Haupt, Die Bedeutung der heiligen Schrift fr den evangelischen Christen). The same holds good throughout all time. The word stands firm; it never passes away (Heb 2:1-2, Mar 13:31). Wherever the word of Christ is preached with the certainty of faith, it can bring the hearer into the like precious faith (2Pe 1:1).
But the effectiveness of the word of testimony is absolutely conditioned upon the operation of the Holy Spirit. The essence of the word is the promise of fellowship, grace, eternal life through Jesus Christ. Unless the preacher has the inward consciousness of the reality of the life with Christ through the Spirit, his word is no witness. And unless the hearer is aided by the Spirit to apprehend and to prove the testimony, the word concerning peace, fellowship, freedom, and the power of an endless life would be but empty sound. When, however, the word is spoken in the Spirit, it is quick, powerful, convincing, saving (Heb 4:12, Joh 16:8, Jam 1:21).
Have, then, the original witnesses no peculiar privilege and authority? So far as personal certainty is concerned, they have no advantage over true believers of any age. Nevertheless, in the economy of the gospel dispensation, the word of the original witnesses is manifestly of cardinal importance. The mere fact that they were the first witnesse is of itself sufficient to give to their testimony a peculiar importance and to make it for evangelical Christians the last resort. Even those believing critics who go farthest in the sifting of Apostolic tradition, agree that the saving knowledge of God in Christ is mediated to us through the primitive Christian preaching. Either we must gain our knowledge of Christ by this means, or else we must give up the inquiry, for no other way is open to us (cf. art. Back to Christ). The primitive witnesses, however, were more than merely the first, as though there by chance. They had been chosen beforehand and specially trained for the work of bearing witness. Either our Lord succeeded in giving to His chosen Apostles such an understanding of His mission and work as to enable them to bear competent witness, or else He failed. If He failed, there could be no certainty for them and no gospel to us through them. The soundness and sufficiency of their witness are established by the demonstration of the Spirit and of power, and this accompanies the same witness in every succeeding age.
For the sake of their testimony many of Christs servants have been called upon to suffer death. Such were called in a special ethical sense (Act 22:20, Rev 2:13; Rev 17:6). This is not to be understood, as in ecclesiastical Greek, in the sense that death was the form of their testimony, but in reference to their testimony of Jesus as having occasioned their death (Cremer, Lex.; cf. also Rev 20:4). An approach to the analogous use of is probably to be found in 1Ti 6:13 Jesus Christ, who before Pontius Pilate witnessed the good confession.
Literature.Besides reff. in the art., see Dale, Living Christ and Four Gospels; Hare, Mission of the Comforter; Stearns, Evid. of Chr. Exper.; Smeaton, Doct. of Holy Spirit; Forrest, Christ of Hist. and of Exper.; Brace, Gesta Christi; R. J. Knowling, The Witness of the Epistles, and The Witness of St. Paul to Christ; Herrmann, Warum bedarf unser Glaube geschichtl. Thatsachen?; H. Scott Holland, Creed and Character, 1, 19; C. Wordsworth, Primary Witness to the Truth of the Gospel; Th. Zahn, Bread and Salt from the Word of God, 185; T. H. Green, The Witness of God; Bapt. Rev. and Expos. i [1904] 321; Khler, Zur Bibelfrage (1907).
J. R. van Pelt.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Witness
WITNESS.This is the rendering of Heb. d and dah and of the Gr. martys, martyria, and martyre, and compounds of this root. The primitive idea of the Heb. root is to repeat, re-assert, and we find the word used in the following connexions:(1) Witness meaning evidence, testimony, sign (of things): a heap of stones (Gen 31:44), the Song of Moses (Deu 31:26), Jobs disease (Job 16:8), the stone set up by Joshua at Shechem (Jos 24:27). So in the NT the dust on the feet of the disciples was to be a witness against the Jews (Mar 6:11). (2) Witness signifying the person who witnesses or can testify or vouch for the parties in debate; e.g. God is witness between Jacob and Laban (Gen 31:50); so Job says, My witness is in heaven (Job 16:19, cf. also 1Sa 12:5 ff., Jer 29:23; Jer 42:5). In the NT God is called on by St. Paul to witness to his truth and the purity of his motives (Rom 1:9, 2Co 1:23 etc.). Akin to this meaning we have (3) Witness in a legal sense. Thus we find witnesses to an act of conveyancing (Jer 32:10), to a betrothal (Rth 4:9), while in all civil and criminal cases there were witnesses to give evidence, and references to false witnesses are frequent (cf. Pro 12:17; Pro 19:5-9; Pro 21:28; Pro 25:18 etc.). See also Justice (II.), 2; Oaths. In the NT the Apostles frequently appear as witnesses (martyres) of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus (Luk 24:48, Act 1:8; Act 2:32; Act 3:15 etc.). The heroes of the faith are called the cloud of witnesses (Heb 12:1), and Jesus Himself is the faithful witness (martyr) in Rev 1:6; Rev 3:14 (cf. 1Ti 6:13). Cf. also artt. Ark, 1; Tabernacle, 7 (a).
W. F. Boyd.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Witness
The Holy Ghost is said by the Lord Jesus to be his witness, and to testify of him, Joh 15:26. And the apostle Paul saith, (Rom 8:26) that this Almighty person, in his office-character, witnesseth to the Lord’s family that they are the child of God. And it is most blessed to every child of God at one time or the other to receive this testimony of the Holy Ghost, witnessing to their adoption character. He it is that convinceth the heart of sin, and proves in the conscience the absolute necessity of Christ. He it is that causeth the glory, the beauty, the suitableness, and all-sufficiency of the Lord Jesus Christ, to appear to the soul what Jesus is, and at the same time persuades the soul into the love of him. And he it is that both gives a conviction to the heart of the firmness and security of all the promises of God in Christ Jesus, add witnesseth to the safety of every believer’s gracious estate in Christ Jesus, in testifying that all the promises of God in him are Yea, and in him Amen. Blessed Spirit of all truth, do thou witness to my personal safety in Christ Jesus, as being the earnest of the promised inheritance!
Fuente: The Poor Mans Concordance and Dictionary to the Sacred Scriptures
Witness
witnes (nouns , edh, and , edhah, and verb , anah; , martus, with all derivative words and their compounds): The word witness is used of inanimate things, e.g. the heap of stones testifying to the covenant between Jacob and Laban (Gen 31:44-54), and the Song of Moses. (Deu 31:19, Deu 31:21). The main use of the word is forensic, and from this use all other applications are naturally derived. Important legal agreements required the attestation of witnesses, as in the case of the purchase of property, or a betrothal (Rth 4:1-11, where we are told that the ancient form of attestation was by a man drawing off his shoe and giving it to his neighbor).
The Mosaic Law insisted on the absolute necessity of witnesses in all cases which came before a judge, especially in criminal cases. Not only in criminal cases, but in all cases, it was necessary to have at least two witnesses to make good an accusation against a person (Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15; compare Num 35:30; Mat 18:16; Joh 8:17; 2Co 13:1; 1Ti 5:19). According to the Talmud (Pesahm 113b), if in a case of immorality only one witness came forward to accuse anyone, it was regarded as sinful on the part of that witness.
On the other hand, anyone who, being present at the adjuration (Lev 5:1 the Revised Version (British and American)), refused to come forward as a witness when he had testimony to bear, was considered to have sinned (Pro 29:24). Among those not qualified to be witnesses were the near relations of the accuser or the accused, friends and enemies, gamesters, usurers, tax-gatherers, heathen, slaves, women and those not of age (Sanhedhrn 3 3, 4; Ro’sh Ha-shanah 1 7; Babha’ Kamma’ 88a; compare Ant., IV, viii, 15). No one could be a witness who had been paid to render this service (Bekhoroth 4 6). In cases of capital punishment there was an elaborate system of warning and cautioning witnesses. Each witness had to be heard separately (Sanhedhrn 5; compare 3 5). If they contradicted one another on important points their witness was invalidated (Sanhedhrn 5).
No oath was required from witnesses. The meaning of Lev 5:1 was not that witnesses had to take an oath, as some think; it describes the solemn adjuration of the judge to all those with knowledge of the case to come forward as witnesses (see OATH). When a criminal was to be put to death, the witnesses against him were to take the foremost share in bringing about his death (Deu 17:7; compare Act 7:58), in order to prove their own belief in their testimony. In the case of a person condemned to be stoned, all the witnesses had to lay their hands on the head of the condemned (Lev 24:14). False witnessing was prohibited in the Decalogue (Exo 20:16); against it the lex talionis was enforced, i.e. it was done to the witness as he meant to do to the accused (Deu 19:16-21). The Sadducees held that only when the falsely accused had been executed, the false witnesses should be put to death; the Pharisees, that false witnesses were liable to be executed the moment the death sentence had been passed on the falsely accused (Makkoth 17). In spite of prohibitions, false witnessing was a very common crime among the people (Psa 27:12; Psa 35:11; Pro 6:19; Pro 12:17; Pro 14:5; Pro 19:5; Pro 24:28; Mat 26:60; Act 6:13).
In Act 22:20; Rev 2:13; Rev 17:6 the word martus, witness, seems to be beginning to acquire the meaning of martyr, as in the King James Version, although the Revised Version (British and American) translates witness in the first two passages, retaining martyr only in the third with witness in the m. For Tabernacle of Witness see TABERNACLE.
Fuente: International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Witness
It occurs, first, in the sense of a person who deposes to the occurrence of any fact, a witness of any event. It means a judicial witness in Exo 23:1; Lev 5:1; Num 5:13; Num 35:30 (comp. Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15; Mat 18:16; 2Co 13:1); Pro 14:5; Pro 24:28; Mat 26:65; Act 6:13; 1Ti 5:19; Heb 10:28. It is applied, generally, to a person who certifies, or is able to certify, to any fact which has come under his cognizance (Jos 24:22; Isa 8:2; Luk 24:48; Act 1:8; Act 1:22; 1Th 2:10; 1Ti 6:12; 2Ti 2:2; 1Pe 5:1). So in allusion to those who witness the public games (Heb 12:1). It is also applied to anyone who testifies to the world what God reveals through him (Rev 11:3). In the latter sense the Greek word is applied to our Lord (Rev 1:5; Rev 3:14). It is further used in the ecclesiastical sense of martyr.
Fuente: Popular Cyclopedia Biblical Literature
Witness
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,’ Act 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.” Rom 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,” Rev 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. Mat 26:63-64; Mat 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. Act 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 – “the Spirit and the water and the blood: and these three agree in one” – they affirm that God has given to the believer “eternal life, and this life is in his Son.” “He that believeth on the Son of God hath the witness in himself.” 1Jn 5:8-11.
The Church, in the absence of the Lord Jesus, is the vessel of the testimony of Christ, hence Christians should be in their whole life and deportment true witnesses to the rejected Christ. The testimony of the church is characterised by – separation from the world; devotedness to the interests of the Lord Jesus on earth; faithfulness to the truth; unblamable moral conduct; and indeed, as the pillar and ground of the truth, by everything that becometh godliness.
Under the law of Moses it was enacted that in all charges of guilt two or three witnesses were necessary. Deu 17:6. In the church the same order is maintained, “in the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word [or matter] be established.” Mat 18:16; 2Co 13:1; 1Ti 5:19.
Fuente: Concise Bible Dictionary
Witness
General references
Lev 5:1; Pro 18:17
Qualified by oath
Exo 22:11; Num 5:19; Num 5:21; 1Ki 8:31-32
Qualified by laying hands on the accused
Lev 24:14
Two necessary to establish a fact
Num 35:30; Deu 17:6; Deu 19:15; Mat 18:16; Joh 8:17; 2Co 13:1; 1Ti 5:19; Heb 10:28
Required to cast the first stone in executing sentence
Deu 13:9; Deu 17:5-7; Act 7:58
To the transfer of land
Gen 21:25-30; Gen 23:11; Gen 23:16-18; Rth 4:1-9; Jer 32:9-12; Jer 32:25; Jer 32:44
To marriage
Rth 4:10-11; Isa 8:2-3
Incorruptible
Psa 15:4
Corrupted by money
Mat 28:11-15; Act 6:11; Act 6:13
Figurative of instruction in righteousness
Rev 11:3 Court; Evidence; Falsehood; False Witness; Holy Spirit; Testimony; Testimony, Religious
Fuente: Nave’s Topical Bible
Witness
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. Gen 21:30; Gen 31:47; Gen 31:52.
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. Jos 22:10; Jos 22:26; Jos 22:34; Jos 24:26-27. But written evidence was by no means unknown to the Jews. Divorce was to be proved by a written document. Deu 24:1; Deu 24:3.
In civil contracts, at least in later times, documentary evidence was required and carefully preserved. Isa 8:16; Jer 32:10-16. 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. Num 35:30; Deu 17:6; Joh 8:17; 2Co 13:1. Compare 1Ti 5:19.
2. In the case of the suspected wife, evidence besides the husband’s was desired. Num 5:13.
3. The witness who withheld the truth was censured. Lev 5:1.
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. Exo 20:16; Exo 23:1; Lev 18:16; Lev 18:18; etc.
6. The witnesses were the first executioners. Deu 15:9; Deu 17:7; Act 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. Exo 22:13.
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.