The word “witness” probably makes you think of someone testifying in a courtroom. Or if you’re in a religious context, perhaps you think of someone sharing their testimony or persuading others about their faith. These ideas are similar to what we find in the biblical text, but the word and theme of witness tell a much bigger story. That’s what our Witness Word Study video is all about. These Video Notes will point you in the right direction as you explore for yourself how this important word functions in Scripture.

When you hear the word “witness,” you might think of someone who sees something shocking or important and then shares their testimony with others. The word witness is used like this in the Bible too—but here’s what’s really fascinating. This word actually helps us understand the entire storyline of Scripture. In the Bible, a witness is basically someone who sees something important or amazing. In Hebrew, this person is an דֵע) eid), and in Greek, a μάρτυς (mártus). And if this person begins to share what they’ve seen, we call this “bearing witness”—in Hebrew ודּע) uwd) and in Greek μαρτυρέω (marturéo). So in the story of Ruth, when Boaz buys land from Naomi’s family, he calls together witnesses to see the transaction, so that if there’s a later dispute about the land, they can bear witness about what they saw.1 So that’s the basic meaning of the word witness. Now, if we follow this idea throughout the Bible, we learn that God wants a group of witnesses—people who see and experience him—to ודּע) uwd), or represent him to the world.

Witness Bible Word Study Notes: Witness_Script Reference Guide.pdf (d1bsmz3sdihplr.cloudfront.net)

Video Link: Witness - YouTube

Study Notes: WS_WIT_VN_1.pdf (d1bsmz3sdihplr.cloudfront.net)