More than one witness was required in criminal cases (Deuteronomy 17:6; 19:15). They were the first to execute the sentence on the condemned (Deuteronomy 13:9; 17:7; 1 Kings 21:13; Matthew 27:1; Acts 7:57, 58). False witnesses were liable to punishment (Deuteronomy 19:16-21). It was also an offence to refuse to bear witness (Leviticus 5:1).

Witness of the Spirit

(Romans 8:16), the consciousness of the gracious operation of the Spirit on the mind, "a certitude of the Spirit's presence and work continually asserted within us", manifested "in his comforting us, his stirring us up to prayer, his reproof of our sins, his drawing us to works of love, to bear testimony before the world," etc.

Noah Webster's New International Dictionary of the English Language

1. (v. i.) Attestation of a fact or an event; testimony.

2. (v. i.) That which furnishes evidence or proof.

3. (n.) One who is cognizant; a person who beholds, or otherwise has personal knowledge of, anything; as, an eyewitness; an earwitness.

4. (n.) One who testifies in a cause, or gives evidence before a judicial tribunal; as, the witness in court agreed in all essential facts.

5. (n.) One who sees the execution of an instrument, and subscribes it for the purpose of confirming its authenticity by his testimony; one who witnesses a will, a deed, a marriage, or the like.

6. (v. t.) To see or know by personal presence; to have direct cognizance of.

7. (v. t.) To give testimony to; to testify to; to attest.

8. (v. t.) To see the execution of, as an instrument, and subscribe it for the purpose of establishing its authenticity; as, to witness a bond or a deed.

9. (v. i.) To bear testimony; to give evidence; to testify.