Witness

Passages on this topic

From Nave’s Topical Bible (1896), a historical reference index. The groupings are Nave’s; the verses are shown in the text used across this site.

General scriptures concerning

• Leviticus 5:1 “If someone sins by failing to testify when he hears a public charge about something he has witnessed, whether he has seen it or learned of it, he shall bear the iniquity.
• Proverbs 18:17 The first to state his case seems right until another comes and cross-examines him.

Qualified by oath

• Exodus 22:11 an oath before the LORD shall be made between the parties to determine whether or not the man has taken his neighbor’s property. The owner must accept the oath and require no restitution.
• Numbers 5:19 And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse.
• Numbers 5:21 and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse— ‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.
• 1 Kings 8:31–32 When a man sins against his neighbor and is required to take an oath, and he comes to take an oath before Your altar in this temple, then may You hear from heaven and act. May You judge Your servants, condemning the wicked man by bringing down on his own head what he has done, and justifying the ri…

By laying hands on the accused

• Leviticus 24:14 “Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and have all who heard him lay their hands on his head; then have the whole assembly stone him.

Two necessary to establish a fact

• Numbers 35:30 If anyone kills a person, the murderer is to be put to death on the testimony of the witnesses. But no one is to be put to death based on the testimony of a lone witness.
• Deuteronomy 17:6 On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness.
• Deuteronomy 19:15 A lone witness is not sufficient to establish any wrongdoing or sin against a man, regardless of what offense he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.
• Matthew 18:16 But if he will not listen, take one or two others along, so that ‘every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.’
• John 8:17 Even in your own Law it is written that the testimony of two men is valid.
• 2 Corinthians 13:1 This is the third time I am coming to you. “Every matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.”
• 1 Timothy 5:19 Do not entertain an accusation against an elder, except on the testimony of two or three witnesses.
• Hebrews 10:28 Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Required to throw the first stone in executing the sentence

• Deuteronomy 13:9 Instead, you must surely kill him. Your hand must be the first against him to put him to death, and then the hands of all the people.
• Deuteronomy 17:5–7 you must bring out to your gates the man or woman who has done this evil thing, and you must stone that person to death. On the testimony of two or three witnesses a man shall be put to death, but he shall not be executed on the testimony of a lone witness. The hands of the witnesses shall be the f…
• Acts 7:58 They dragged him out of the city and began to stone him. Meanwhile the witnesses laid their garments at the feet of a young man named Saul.

To the transfer of land

• Genesis 21:25–30 But when Abraham complained to Abimelech about a well that Abimelech’s servants had seized, Abimelech replied, “I do not know who has done this. You did not tell me, so I have not heard about it until today.” So Abraham brought sheep and cattle and gave them to Abimelech, and the two men made a cov…
• Genesis 23:11 “No, my lord. Listen to me. I give you the field, and I give you the cave that is in it. I give it to you in the presence of my people. Bury your dead.”
• Genesis 23:16–18 Abraham agreed to Ephron’s terms and weighed out for him the price he had named in the hearing of the Hittites: four hundred shekels of silver, according to the standard of the merchants. So Ephron’s field at Machpelah near Mamre, the cave that was in it, and all the trees within the boundaries of…
• Ruth 4:1–9 Meanwhile, Boaz went to the gate and sat down there. Soon the kinsman-redeemer of whom he had spoken came along, and Boaz said, “Come over here, my friend, and sit down.” So he went over and sat down. Then Boaz took ten of the elders of the city and said, “Sit here,” and they did so. And he said to…
• Jeremiah 32:9–12 So I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel, and I weighed out seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. Then I took the deed of purchase— the sealed copy with its terms and conditions, as well as the open…
• Jeremiah 32:25 Yet You, O Lord GOD, have said to me, ‘Buy for yourself the field with silver and call in witnesses, even though the city has been delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans!’”
• Jeremiah 32:44 Fields will be purchased with silver, and deeds will be signed, sealed, and witnessed in the land of Benjamin, in the areas surrounding Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah— the cities of the hill country, the foothills, and the Negev— because I will restore them from captivity, declares the LORD.”

To marriage

• Ruth 4:10–11 Moreover, I have acquired Ruth the Moabitess, Mahlon’s widow, as my wife, to raise up the name of the deceased through his inheritance, so that his name will not disappear from among his brothers or from the gate of his home. You are witnesses today.” “We are witnesses,” said the elders and all the…
• Isaiah 8:2–3 And I will appoint for Myself trustworthy witnesses— Uriah the priest and Zechariah son of Jeberekiah.” And I had relations with the prophetess, and she conceived and gave birth to a son. The LORD said to me, “Name him Maher-shalal-hash-baz.

Incorruptible

• Psalm 15:4 who despises the vile but honors those who fear the LORD, who does not revise a costly oath,

Corrupted by money

• Matthew 28:11–15 While the women were on their way, some of the guards went into the city and reported to the chief priests all that had happened. And after the chief priests had met with the elders and formed a plan, they gave the soldiers a large sum of money and instructed them: “You are to say, ‘His disciples c…
• Acts 6:11 Then they prompted some men to say, “We heard Stephen speak words of blasphemy against Moses and against God.”
• Acts 6:13 where they presented false witnesses who said, “This man never stops speaking against this holy place and against the law.

Figurative

Of instruction in righteousness

• Revelation 11:3 And I will empower my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth.”

See Courts

See Evidence

See Falsehood

See FALSE WITNESS

See Holy Spirit

See Testimony

See TESTIMONY, RELIGIOUS