Witnesses
Witnesses [1]
Two at least were required to establish any charge ( Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; Deuteronomy 19:15; Hebrews 10:28). So in the Christian church ( 1 Timothy 5:19). Written evidence in the case of divorce, not as among the Bedouins and Mussulmen a mere spoken sentence ( Deuteronomy 24:1; Deuteronomy 24:3). Also in civil contracts ( Isaiah 8:16; Jeremiah 32:10-16). The witnesses were the first to execute sentence ( Deuteronomy 13:9; Acts 7:58). False witness was punished with the same penalty as the offence witnessed to. Withholding witness was penal ( Leviticus 5:1). The term martyr, "witness," came to mean in Christian times one who attests the truth by suffering ( Acts 22:20; Revelation 2:13; compare Revelation 1:9; Revelation 6:9; Revelation 11:3; Revelation 20:4; Hebrew 11; Hebrews 12:1).
