Word study
Testimony
4 Hebrew and 5 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: testimony, testimonies. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “Testimony” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- עֵדוּת êdûthtestimonytranslated this way 53 times of its 61 uses · Strong’s H5715Noun · Translated: Testimony 42, testimonies 9, decrees 4, presented him with the testimony 2Full study and all 59 verses →
Exodus 16:34 And Aaron placed it in front of the Testimony, to be preserved just as the LORD had commanded Moses.
Leviticus 16:13 He is to put the incense on the fire before the LORD, and the cloud of incense will cover the mercy seat above the Testimony, so that he will not die.
- עֵדָה êdâhtestimony, witnesstranslated this way 18 times of its 26 uses · Strong’s H5713Noun · Translated: testimonies 17, witness 4, decrees 3, meaning of the decrees 1Full study and all 25 verses →
Deuteronomy 4:45 These are the testimonies, statutes, and ordinances that Moses proclaimed to them after they had come out of Egypt,
Psalm 93:5 Your testimonies are fully confirmed; holiness adorns Your house, O LORD, for all the days to come.
- פֶּה pehmouthtranslated this way 4 times of its 423 uses · Strong’s H6310Noun · Translated: mouth 207, mouths 43, command 38, lips 10Full study and all 396 verses →
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.
- תְּעוּדָה teûdâhtestimony, attestationtranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s H8584Noun · Translated: testimony 2, confirmation 1Full study and all 3 verses →
Isaiah 8:16 Bind up the testimony and seal the law among my disciples.
Isaiah 8:20 To the law and to the testimony! If they do not speak according to this word, they have no light of dawn.
Greek words (New Testament)
- μαρτυρία martyríawitness, evidence, testimonytranslated this way 35 times of its 37 uses · Strong’s G3141Noun · Translated: testimony 35, witness 1, reputation 1Full study and all 33 verses →
Mark 14:55 Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking testimony against Jesus to put Him to death, but they did not find any.
Luke 22:71 “Why do we need any more testimony?” they declared. “We have heard it for ourselves from His own lips.”
- μαρτύριον martýrionwitness, evidence, testimonytranslated this way 14 times of its 20 uses · Strong’s G3142Noun · Translated: testimony 13, witnesses 2Full study and all 20 verses →
Matthew 8:4 Then Jesus instructed him, “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift prescribed by Moses, as a testimony to them.”
Mark 1:44 “See that you don’t tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and present the offering Moses prescribed for your cleansing, as a testimony to them.”
- μαρτυρέω martyréōI witness, testifytranslated this way 5 times of its 75 uses · Strong’s G3140Verb · Translated: testify 26, testified 15, testifies 9, commended 4Full study and all 72 verses →
John 2:25 He did not need any testimony about man, for He knew what was in a man.
1 Timothy 6:13 I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who made the good confession in His testimony before Pontius Pilate:
- ψευδομαρτυρία pseudomartyríafalse testimonytranslated this way 2 times of its 2 uses · Strong’s G5577Noun · Translated: false testimony 2Full study and all 2 verses →
Matthew 15:19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, and slander.
Matthew 26:59 Now the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were seeking false testimony against Jesus in order to put Him to death.
- στόμα stómathe mouth, speechtranslated this way 2 times of its 59 uses · Strong’s G4750Noun · Translated: mouth 35, mouths 12, lips 4, testimony 2Full study and all 58 verses →
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.’
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.”
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
What the Bible says about Testimony: passages by topic →
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.