John’s Gospel and Revelation. The writings of John use the verb form of “witness” to indicate personal testimony or confession of Christ as the Son of God. Jesus Himself bore witness through His life and death, stating, “For this reason I was born, and for this reason I have come into the world: in order that I can testify [witness] to the truth” (John 18:37). Jesus laid down His life of His own accord (John 10:18) and is called a “faithful witness” (Rev 1:5; compare Rev 3:14). The book of Revelation also refers to “the blood of the witnesses to Jesus” (Rev 17:6).

In Revelation, μάρτυς (martys) is used to refer to someone who dies for the sake of witness or testimony (Rev 1:5; 2:13; 3:14; 6:9–11; 11:1–13; 17:6; 20:4; 22:20; Trites, “Martys and Martyrdom”). Revelation 2:13 describes a certain Antipas, a “faithful witness” who was put to death. John further declares, “I saw the souls of those who had been beheaded because of the testimony (μαρτυρία, martyria) about Jesus and because of the word of God, and who had not worshiped the beast or his image, and did not receive the mark on their forehead and on their hand, and they came to life and reigned with Christ for a thousand years” (Rev 20:4).