G3144 — μάρτυς (mártys)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3144
Original: μάρτυς
Transliteration: mártys
Pronunciation: mar'-toos
Part of Speech: Masculine noun
Root: of uncertain affinity
Occurrences: 34 unique verses in NT
Books: 13
First Occurrence: Mat 18:16 — "that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

Of uncertain affinity; a witness (literally judicially, or figuratively genially); by analogy, a martyr: — martyr, record, witness.

Semantic Domains¶

Louw-Nida: - Domain 33.263 — Witness, Testify (Communication) - Other words in domain: ἀμάρτυρος (G267), μαρτυρέω (G3140), μαρτυρία (G3141), μαρτύριον (G3142), συμμαρτυρέω (G4828), ψευδομαρτυρέω (G5576) - Domain 20.87 — Die, Kill (secondary — the "martyr" sense)

UBS Semantic Domains: - [033] Communication - [020] Violence, Harm, Destroy, Kill

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
witnesses	18	52.9%
witness	5	14.7%
a witness	2	5.9%
martyr / martyrs	3	8.8%
of witnesses	2	5.9%
record	2	5.9%
to be a witness	1	2.9%
unto witnesses	1	2.9%

KJV uses "witness/witnesses" for 85% of occurrences; "martyr/martyrs" appears only 3 times, all in Acts and Revelation.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
1 Thessalonians	2	2.2
1 Timothy	2	1.8
Acts	13	1.3
2 Timothy	1	1.2
Revelation	5	1.2
1 Peter	1	1.0
2 Corinthians	2	0.8
Hebrews	2	0.7
Matthew	2	0.2
Romans	1	0.2
Mark	1	0.1
Luke	1	0.1
Philippians	1	—

Acts dominates in raw count (13 of 34 verses = 38%), reflecting the book's theme of apostolic testimony. Revelation and the Pastorals show the highest density. The Synoptics use the word only in judicial contexts (trial scenes); Acts and the Epistles develop the full range.

Semantic Categories¶

1. Judicial / Legal Witness¶

Two or three witnesses required to establish a legal case — the OT evidentiary law (Deut 17:6; 19:15) applied in NT practice.

Mat 18:16 — "take with thee one or two more, that in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word may be established"
Mat 26:65 — "What further need have we of witnesses? behold, now ye have heard his blasphemy"
2 Cor 13:1 — "In the mouth of two or three witnesses shall every word be established"
Heb 10:28 — "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses"

2. Eyewitness of Christ's Ministry and Resurrection¶

Apostolic testimony based on direct historical experience — the qualifying criterion for the Twelve (Acts 1:22).

Acts 1:22 — "must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection"
Acts 2:32 — "This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses"
Acts 3:15 — "whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses"
Acts 10:39 — "we are witnesses of all things which he did both in the land of the Jews, and in Jerusalem"

3. Apostolic Commission to Bear Witness¶

Being appointed as μάρτυς is a divine commission, not merely a personal attestation.

Acts 1:8 — "ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth"
Acts 22:15 — "thou shalt be his witness unto all men of what thou hast seen and heard"
Acts 26:16 — "to make thee a minister and a witness both of these things which thou hast seen"
1 Pet 5:1 — "a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed"

4. God / Christ as Witness¶

Used for divine attestation — calling God or Christ as the ultimate truthful witness.

Rom 1:9 — "God is my witness, whom I serve with my spirit in the gospel of his Son"
1 Thess 2:5 — "God is witness: nor a cloke of covetousness"
Rev 1:5 — "from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead"
Rev 3:14 — "These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, the beginning of the creation of God"

5. Martyr — Witness Who Dies for Testimony¶

The semantic extension where bearing witness leads to death — the technical "martyr" sense.

Acts 22:20 — "when the blood of thy martyr Stephen was shed, I also was standing by"
Rev 2:13 — "thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith, even in those days wherein Antipas was my faithful martyr, who was slain"
Rev 17:6 — "the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus"

6. Cloud of Witnesses — Exemplars from History¶

Heb 12:1 applies the word to OT saints whose faithful lives stand as an encouraging gallery of testimony.

Heb 12:1 — "Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theós)	G2316	10x (29%)	"God is my witness" / divine commissioning
ἅγιος (hágios)	G40	4x (12%)	holy Spirit + witnesses / saints and martyrs
Ἰησοῦς (Iēsoûs)	G2424	4x (12%)	"witness of Jesus" / "martyrs of Jesus"
πιστός (pistós)	G4103	4x (12%)	"faithful witness" (Rev 1:5; 3:14; 2:13)
αἷμα (haîma)	G129	3x (9%)	"blood of the martyrs" (Rev 17:6; Acts 22:20)
ῥῆμα (rhēma)	G4487	4x (12%)	"every word / saying" in legal witness contexts
τρεῖς / δύο (treîs / dýo)	G5140 / G1417	4x / 5x	"two or three witnesses" (legal formula)

Word Family / Cognates¶

G3140 μαρτυρέω (martyréō) — the verb: to testify, bear witness (75 verses)
G3141 μαρτυρία (martyría) — the act/process: testimony, witness (33 verses)
G3142 μαρτύριον (martýrion) — the object/evidence: the testimony, that which is witnessed (20 verses)
G4828 συμμαρτυρέω (symmartyréō) — to co-witness, testify jointly with another
G5576 ψευδομαρτυρέω (pseudomartyréō) — to bear false witness (6 verses)
G267 ἀμάρτυρος (amártyros) — without witness (Acts 14:17, hapax)

Synonyms¶

No direct synonyms were returned by search_relationships.py for G3144.

Antonyms¶

G267 ἀμάρτυρος (amártyros) — without witness; alpha-privative opposite

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
עֵד (ʻêd)	H5707	both "witness/witnesses"	Hebrew OT legal witness (60× in OT); the direct semantic source of G3144 through LXX
μαρτυρία (martyría)	G3141	both translated "witness"	G3141 = the act or record of witnessing; G3144 = the person who witnesses
μαρτύριον (martýrion)	G3142	both translated "witness" / "testimony"	G3142 = the thing testified, the evidence; G3144 = the human witness-bearer

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occ	PMI Score	Notes
עֵד (ʻêd)	H5707	38	30.47	Primary; the standard OT legal witness word
שֶׁקֶר (sheqer)	H8267	10	13.39	Contexts of "false witness" in LXX
כָּזָב (kâzâb)	H3577	6	13.14	Falsehood / lying witness contexts
פּוּחַ (pûwach)	H6315	6	8.10	"Puff out" as false/violent witness
אֱמֶת (ʼemeth)	H571	4	6.53	"True witness" contexts

The overwhelmingly dominant Hebrew source is H5707 עֵד (co-occ 38, PMI 30.47). The secondary entries reflect contexts where Hebrew "false witness" or "truthful testimony" language was rendered with μάρτυς or related forms.