Bible Dictionaries
Testimony

Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words

"a testimony, witness," is almost entirely translated "testimony" in both AV and RV. The only place where both have "witness" is Acts 4:33 . In Acts 7:44; James 5:3 , the RV has "testimony" (AV, "witness").

In 2 Thessalonians 1:10 , "our testimony unto you," RV, refers to the fact that the missionaries, besides proclaiming the truths of the gospel, had borne witness to the power of these thruths. Kerugma, "the thing preached, the message," is objective, having especially to do with the effect on the hearers; marturion is mainly subjective, having to do especially with the preacher's personal experience. In 1 Timothy 2:6 the RV is important, "the testimony (i.e., of the gospel) to be borne in its own times," i.e., in the times Divinely appointed for it, namely, the present age, from Pentecost till the church is complete. In Revelation 15:5 , in the phrase, "the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony in Heaven," the "testimony" is the witness to the rights of God, denied and refused on earth, but about to be vindicated by the exercise of the judgments under the pouring forth of the seven bowls or vials of Divine retribution. See WITNESS.

"witness, evidence, testimony," is almost always rendered "witness" in the RV (for AV, "testimony" in John 3:32,33; 5:34; 8:17; 21:24 , and always for AV, "record," e.g., 1 John 5:10,11 ), except in Acts 22:18 and in the Apocalypse, where both, with one exception, have "testimony," Acts 1:2 , is objective, the "testimony" or witness given to Him (cp. Acts 1:2,9; as to those who will bear it, see Revelation 12:17 , RV). The statement "the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy," is to be understood in the light, e.g., of the "testimony" concerning Christ and Israel in the Psalms, which will be used by the godly Jewish remnant in the coming time of "Jacob's Trouble." All such "testimony" centers in and points to Christ. See WITNESS.