Evidence given (judicially or genitive case)
Reading a lexicon entry
What this page is: Each lexicon entry shows the original Hebrew or Greek word behind the English translation: its meaning, its range of use, and where it appears in Scripture.
Strong's number: The Strong's code (H- or G-) is the standard reference number for this word. It connects this entry to chapter and passage language tabs.
Where it appears: The witness passages show where this word is used in context. Click any to open the study page for that passage.
This lexicon entry is part of our ongoing editorial review. If you notice missing content, unclear wording, or a possible correction, please send us a note through the Connect page. Screenshots are helpful.
G3141 is a noun for testimony, a witness-report, evidence, or an attested reputation. Its thirty-seven governed forms can name false and inconsistent trial testimony, testimony concerning Jesus, an eyewitness report, God's testimony about His Son, a person's reputation with outsiders, and testimony held under persecution.
Reader summary
Full entry for μαρτυρία (G3141) · Open the biblical lexicon
G3141 is a noun for testimony, a witness-report, evidence, or an attested reputation. Its thirty-seven governed forms can name false and inconsistent trial testimony, testimony concerning Jesus, an eyewitness report, God's testimony about His Son, a person's reputation with outsiders, and testimony held under persecution.
The BSB source-word alignment has 37 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include testimony (35), a witness (1), reputation (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Mark 14:55. Its strongest book concentrations include John (14), Revelation (9), 1 John (6), Mark (3).
This entry includes 2 verse guides that explain exact original-language forms in context.
G3141 is a noun for testimony, a witness-report, evidence, or an attested reputation. Its thirty-seven governed forms can name false and inconsistent trial testimony, testimony concerning Jesus, an eyewitness report, God's testimony about His Son, a person's reputation with outsiders, and testimony held under persecution. The noun identifies testimony as content or evidence; it does not by itself guarantee that the report is true, that the speaker is an eyewitness, or that the setting is formal court procedure.
Mark explicitly speaks of false and inconsistent testimony. John and First John repeatedly evaluate testimony through its source, object, agreement, and truth. Revelation connects testimony about Jesus with faithful endurance but does not make every use a command to seek danger or reduce victory to human speech. Acts 4:33 uses the related noun G3142, not G3141, and must not be listed as an occurrence of this word.
The governed G3141 witness spans thirty-seven forms and thirty-three verses in nine books. Mark begins with false trial testimony, John develops testimony concerning Jesus, the letters include reputation and God's testimony, and Revelation places testimony within faithful endurance.
For many bore false witness against Jesus, but their testimony was inconsistent.
The noun can name testimony that the narrative rejects as false and mutually inconsistent.
If I testify about Myself, My testimony is not valid.
The sentence begins a larger discussion of testimony and validating witnesses and must remain within that argument.
The one who saw it has testified to this, and his testimony is true. He knows that he is telling the truth, so that you also may believe.
The verse distinguishes the witnessing action from the testimony and explicitly evaluates truth.
Furthermore, he must have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the snare of the devil.
G3141 can describe public attestation or reputation rather than the content of a sermon.
Even if we accept human testimony, the testimony of God is greater. For this is the testimony that God has given about His Son.
Three forms contrast received human testimony with God's greater testimony concerning the Son.
And this is that testimony: God has given us eternal life, and this life is in His Son.
The letter states the content of the divine testimony rather than leaving it as an undefined inner impression.
They have conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony. And they did not love their lives so as to shy away from death.
The Lamb's blood remains prior in the verse, and testimony appears within costly faithfulness.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Verse-level guides showing how this original-language form works in its specific context, including grammar, verse function, and guarded interpretation.
Greek word. Testimony or evidence given formally, especially witness to Christ and divine truth in NT contexts.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 37 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
witness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read versewitness, evidence, testimony
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 4 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 6 selected witnesses from 37 lexical occurrence verses.
μαρτυρία is built from this root:
Central Johannine theme grounding faith in eyewitness proclamation. 1 John 5:6-12
Assurance of Gospel reliability. John 5:30–47
Legal validation of divine identity.
Frames the legal witness supporting Jesus’ claims.
Centers assurance on God’s declared truth regarding Jesus rather than subjective experience.
Assurance rests on God’s declared witness, not subjective speculation.
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
G3141 keeps testimony accountable to truth. Mark shows testimony that is false and inconsistent, so religious settings and multiple speakers do not make a report reliable. John repeatedly identifies the source and content of testimony about Jesus, while First John grounds assurance in God's testimony about His Son rather than an undefined inner experience. First Timothy also uses the noun for reputation with outsiders, reminding leaders that observable conduct matters.
Revelation honors testimony held under danger, but the Lamb's blood, not the speaker's boldness, grounds victory. Churches should therefore welcome truthful reports, test claims fairly, protect witnesses from retaliation, correct false testimony, and refuse to turn testimony into branding, pressure, or a substitute for evidence.
1John.5.9-11
Morphology is compact: four written forms realize four case-and-number patterns across all thirty-seven tokens. The word can denote testimony-content, evidence, or reputation, and some verses contain multiple G3141 forms.
Jesus' trial and the Johannine testimony arguments rely on Scripture's concern for established and truthful evidence. Direct New Testament use of that legal background should guide application more than an abstract claim that every occurrence is courtroom speech.
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain