To testify
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G3143, martýromai, is a Greek verb that gives solemn testimonial force to an affirmation, warning, or appeal. It can be translated as testifying, insisting, or urging because the speaker does more than pass along information.
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Full entry for μαρτύρομαι (G3143) · Open the biblical lexicon
G3143, martýromai, is a Greek verb that gives solemn testimonial force to an affirmation, warning, or appeal. It can be translated as testifying, insisting, or urging because the speaker does more than pass along information.
The BSB source-word alignment has 5 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include I testify (2), insist [on it] (1), to testify (1), urging (1).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Acts 20:26. Its strongest book concentrations include Acts (2), 1 Thessalonians (1), Ephesians (1), Galatians (1).
G3143, martýromai, is a Greek verb that gives solemn testimonial force to an affirmation, warning, or appeal. It can be translated as testifying, insisting, or urging because the speaker does more than pass along information. The speaker places the statement before hearers with the seriousness of witness. Paul uses it for his accountability after declaring God's whole counsel, for his Scripture-bounded testimony about the suffering and risen Christ, for a warning against seeking justification through circumcision, for an appeal to abandon the former pagan way of life, and for fatherly encouragement to walk worthy of God's call.
The word's solemnity comes from the truth and moral weight of what is said, not from volume, intimidation, or a speaker's status. In Acts 26, Paul's testimony reaches small and great alike but claims nothing beyond Moses and the Prophets concerning the Christ. In Acts 20, his declaration of innocence follows his open ministry of repentance, faith, grace, and the whole will of God; it is not a formula making leaders immune from examination. In 1 Thessalonians, earnest urging is joined to encouragement and comfort. G3143 therefore supports accountable proclamation and loving exhortation, not coercive certainty.
Galatians and Ephesians require special care. Galatians 5 opposes circumcision when it is required as a basis of justification, not Jewish identity, Jewish people, or circumcision as a medical procedure. Ephesians 4 contrasts believers' former futile walk with the life learned in Christ; it must not become ethnic contempt for Gentiles. Pastoral use should keep every solemn appeal tethered to the passage, open to truthful scrutiny, and ordered toward faith in Christ and renewed life. A witness-like tone cannot make an unsupported claim true, and spiritual urgency never grants permission to manipulate fear, demand unquestioning loyalty, or bind consciences beyond Scripture.
G3143 marks five solemn affirmations and appeals: accountable ministry, Scripture-bounded gospel testimony, a justification warning, a call to renewed conduct, and encouraging exhortation toward a God-worthy walk.
Therefore I testify to you this day that I am innocent of the blood of all men.
Paul's solemn declaration follows his public ministry of repentance, faith, grace, and God's whole counsel. It expresses accountable completion of his commission, not personal immunity from evaluation.
But I have had God’s help to this day, and I stand here to testify to small and great alike. I am saying nothing beyond what the prophets and Moses said would happen:
Paul testifies under pressure that the Christ would suffer, rise, and proclaim light. His solemn witness is publicly stated and bounded by the prophetic Scriptures.
Again I testify to every man who gets himself circumcised that he is obligated to obey the whole law.
The warning addresses circumcision embraced as a requirement for justification. Paul's argument protects reliance on Christ and faith working through love, not contempt for Jews or a medical prohibition.
So I tell you this, and insist on it in the Lord, that you must no longer walk as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their thinking.
Paul solemnly calls believers away from their former pagan pattern toward the truth learned in Jesus, renewed minds, and the new self. The contrast is ethical and theological, not an ethnic insult.
Encouraging you, comforting you, and urging you to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls you into His own kingdom and glory.
Solemn urging is held together with encouragement, comfort, holy conduct, and fatherly care. Earnest exhortation serves God's call rather than a leader's control.
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.
Greek word. to testify
(μάρτυρ), [in LXX: Jdth.7:28, 1Ma.2:56 א)* ;] to summon as witness (M, Th., 25 f.; Hort., 1Pe., 53 f.; Lft., Notes, 29; Ga 203), hence,
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
3 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I call to witness, testify, solemnly charge
Read verseI call to witness, testify, solemnly charge
Read verseI call to witness, testify, solemnly charge
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 mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 4 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
μαρτύρομαι is built from this root:
G3143 shows that solemn Christian speech is neither casual opinion nor self-authenticating authority. Paul testifies because the message concerns God's saving work and the moral response it requires. In Acts 26, his witness stands before every social rank and stays within what Moses and the Prophets announced about the suffering and risen Christ. In Acts 20, his accountable declaration follows a transparent ministry of repentance, faith, grace, and God's whole counsel.
Galatians protects justification in Christ from a rival requirement. Ephesians presses believers toward a renewed life learned in Jesus, and Thessalonians places urgent appeal beside encouragement and comfort. The shared force is earnest, responsible attestation. Pastors may therefore speak clearly and press truth upon hearers, but they must show the biblical basis, distinguish God's word from their inference, welcome honest examination, reject ethnic contempt, and refuse manipulation.
The more solemn the appeal, the more important its accountability becomes.
Acts.26.22
G3143 is a middle-form verb related to the witness word family. Its five governed uses are present forms, three indicatives and two participles. English renderings vary among testify, insist, and urge because the contexts apply solemn attestation to declarations and appeals. The morphology does not by itself prove emotional intensity, divine inspiration, or permanent apostolic office.
G3140 is the broader verb for bearing witness, and G3144 names a witness-person; G3143 particularly foregrounds the earnest, witness-invoking force with which a statement or exhortation is pressed.
The Old Testament prophets and covenant leaders often call heaven, earth, or the people to witness as they place God's truth before hearers with solemn responsibility. G3143 carries that testimonial seriousness into apostolic ministry, but Acts 26 makes the continuity explicit: Paul says his testimony does not exceed what Moses and the Prophets said about the Christ who would suffer, rise, and bring light.