What is The Testimony?

The Hebrew word edut (‏עֵדוּת) occurs 38 times in the Pentateuch (the five books of Moses).  Of those occurrences, 36 occur with the definite article— ha-edut (‏הָעֵדוּת)— which is translated 32 times in the NKJV capitalized as "the Testimony." It is translated once in the KJV capitalized as "the Testimony."

What does this word mean? Why is it capitalized in these translations? Here is the first instance in the Bible.

Ex. 16:33 KJV – And Moses said unto Aaron, Take a pot, and put an omer full of manna therein, and lay it up before the LORD, to be kept for your generations. 34 As the LORD commanded Moses, so Aaron laid it up before the Testimony, to be kept. 

This text doesn't really help us much to understand what edut means. The next one is a little more helpful.

Ex. 25:16 KJV – And thou shalt put into the ark the testimony which I shall give thee.  

Ex. 25:21 KJV – And thou shalt put the mercy seat above upon the ark; and in the ark thou shalt put the testimony that I shall give thee.  

Ex. 25:22 KJV – And there I will meet with thee, and I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubims which are upon the ark of the testimony, of all things which I will give thee in commandment unto the children of Israel. 

The phrase is used several more times in the following verses, but it isn't until chapter 31 that the meaning of ha-edut— the Testimony— becomes clear.

Ex. 31:18 NKJV – And when He had made an end of speaking with him on Mount Sinai, He gave Moses two tablets of the Testimony (‏הָעֵדֻת – ha-edut), tablets of stone, written with the finger of God. 

Ex. 32:15 NKJV – And Moses turned and went down from the mountain, and the two tablets of the Testimony were in his hand. The tablets were written on both sides; on the one side and on the other they were written. 16 Now the tablets were the work of God, and the writing was the writing of God engraved on the tablets. 

Ex. 34:28 NKJV – So he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he neither ate bread nor drank water. And He wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.  29 Now it was so, when Moses came down from Mount Sinai (and the two tablets of the Testimony were in Moses’ hand when he came down from the mountain), that Moses did not know that the skin of his face shone while he talked with Him. 

 There is more in Deuteronomy that is helpful.

Deut. 4:13 NKJV – So He declared to you His covenant which He commanded you to perform, the Ten Commandments; and He wrote them on two tablets of stone. 

Deut. 10:1 NKJV – “At that time the LORD said to me, ‘Hew for yourself two tablets of stone like the first, and come up to Me on the mountain and make yourself an ark of wood. 2 And I will write on the tablets the words that were on the first tablets, which you broke; and you shall put them in the ark.’ 3 “So I made an ark of acacia wood, hewed two tablets of stone like the first, and went up the mountain, having the two tablets in my hand. 4 And He wrote on the tablets according to the first writing, the Ten Commandments, which the LORD had spoken to you in the mountain from the midst of the fire in the day of the assembly; and the LORD gave them to me. 5 Then I turned and came down from the mountain, and put the tablets in the ark which I had made; and there they are, just as the LORD commanded me.” 

Going back to Exodus, we can complete the picture.  The Testimony— the Ten Commandments on two tablets of stone— were placed into the ark.

Ex. 40:20 NKJV – He took the Testimony and put it into the ark, inserted the poles through the rings of the ark, and put the mercy seat on top of the ark. 21 And he brought the ark into the tabernacle, hung up the veil of the covering, and partitioned off the ark of the Testimony, as the LORD had commanded Moses. 

The Testimony— the tablets— were apparently so central to the purpose of the ark that the ark is often called "the ark of the Testimony."

Ex. 25:10  NKJV –  “And they shall make an ark of acacia wood; two and a half cubits shall be its length, a cubit and a half its width, and a cubit and a half its height. 11 And you shall overlay it with pure gold, inside and out you shall overlay it, and shall make on it a molding of gold all around. 12 You shall cast four rings of gold for it, and put them in its four corners; two rings shall be on one side, and two rings on the other side. 13 And you shall make poles of acacia wood, and overlay them with gold. 14 You shall put the poles into the rings on the sides of the ark, that the ark may be carried by them. 15 The poles shall be in the rings of the ark; they shall not be taken from it. 16 And you shall put into the ark the Testimony which I will give you. 17 “You shall make a mercy seat of pure gold; two and a half cubits shall be its length and a cubit and a half its width. 18 And you shall make two cherubim of gold; of hammered work you shall make them at the two ends of the mercy seat. 19 Make one cherub at one end, and the other cherub at the other end; you shall make the cherubim at the two ends of it of one piece with the mercy seat. 20 And the cherubim shall stretch out their wings above, covering the mercy seat with their wings, and they shall face one another; the faces of the cherubim shall be toward the mercy seat. 21 You shall put the mercy seat on top of the ark, and in the ark you shall put the Testimony that I will give you. 22 And there I will meet with you, and I will speak with you from above the mercy seat, from between the two cherubim which are on the ark of the Testimony (‏אֲרֹן הָעֵדֻת – aron ha-edut), about everything which I will give you in commandment to the children of Israel. 

Following are the references for other places in the Pentateuch that use the phrase "the ark of the Testimony."

Ex 26:33–34; 30:6, 26; 39:35; 40:3, 5, 21; Num 4:5; 7:89

Not only is the ark called "the ark of the Testimony," the tabernacle itself is also sometimes referred to as "the tabernacle of the Testimony."

Ex. 38:21 This is the inventory of the tabernacle, the tabernacle of the Testimony (‏מִשְׁכַּן הָעֵדֻת – mishkhan ha-edut), which was counted according to the commandment of Moses, for the service of the Levites, by the hand of Ithamar, son of Aaron the priest. 

The Schocken Bible (SB)  translates this phrase in a way that makes it clear that the purpose of the "tabernacle" is to house the Testimony.

Ex. 38:21 SB – These are the accountings of the Dwelling, the Dwelling of Testimony, that were accounted by Moshe for the service of the Levites, under Itamar, son of Aharon the priest:  

See the following references for additional places that use the phrase "tabernacle of the Testimony": Num 1:50, 53; 10:11.

There is one place where the veil is referred to as "the veil of the Testimony."

Lev. 24:3 NKJV – Outside the veil of the Testimony (‏לְפָרֹכֶת הָעֵדֻת – le-parokhet ha-edut), in the tabernacle of meeting, Aaron shall be in charge of it from evening until morning before the LORD continually; it shall be a statute forever in your generations.  

The tabernacle is also called "the tent of the testimony."

Num. 9:15 NET – On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle (‏הַמִּשְׁכָּן – ha-mishkhan) –the tent of the testimony (‏אֹהֶל הָעֵדֻת – ohel ha-edut)–and from evening until morning there was a fiery appearance over the tabernacle.  

Num. 17:7 NET – Then Moses placed the staffs before the LORD in the tent of the testimony. 

Num. 17:8 NET – On the next day Moses went into the tent of the testimony (‏אֹהֶל הָעֵדוּת – ohel ha-edut / τὴν σκηνὴν τοῦ μαρτυρίου – ten skenen tou martyriou)–and the staff of Aaron for the house of Levi had sprouted, and brought forth buds, and produced blossoms, and yielded almonds! 

Num. 18:2 NET – “Bring with you your brothers, the tribe of Levi, the tribe of your father, so that they may join with you and minister to you while you and your sons with you are before the tent of the testimony (‏אֹהֶל הָעֵדֻת – ohel ha-edut / τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου – tes skenes tou martyriou).  

In Numbers 17:8 and 18:2, the Hebrew phrase "ohel ha-edut"(the tent of the testimony) is translated into Greek by the Septuagint (the Greek version of the Old Testament translated from Hebrew around two to three centuries before the time of Jesus) as "tes skenes tou martyriou" which is a direct translation— the tent of testimony.  The Hebrew phrase is only used five times in the Bible, but this exact Greek translation is used 90 times in the Septuagint; adding similar phrases (minor gramatical variations) it is used more than 150 times.  In many of these places it translates "ohel mo'ed" (‏אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד)— tent of meeting.

Although the Greek phrase "tou martyriou" is used frequently to translate "ohel mo'ed"— tent of meeting— "martyriou" is the neuter singular genitive of "martyrion" (μαρτύριον) which means testimony, so is best understood as "the Testimony."  (Strong's Greek Dictionary – μαρτύριον marturion,...  something evidential, i.e. (genitive case) evidence given or (specially), the Decalogue (in the sacred Tabernacle): — to be testified, testimony, witness.) Apparently the Septuagint translators preferred the emphasis on the central item in the tent rather than its use as a place of meeting.

The phrase "the tent of the Testimony" occurs twice in the New Testament.

Acts 7:44 NKJV – “Our fathers had the tabernacle of witness (ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ μαρτυρίου – he skene tou martyriou) in the wilderness, as He appointed, instructing Moses to make it according to the pattern that he had seen,  

Rev. 15:5 NKJV – After these things I looked, and behold, the temple of the tabernacle of the testimony (τῆς σκηνῆς τοῦ μαρτυρίου – tes skenes tou martyriou) in heaven was opened. 

The phrase "tes skenes tou martyriou" in Revelation 15:5 exactly matches Numbers 18:2.  The Greek word martyrion (μαρτύριον) is the one generally used to translate edut in the Pentateuch.

The "tables of stone" (the Testimony) were inside the chest— "the ark of the Testimony"— which was in the Most Holy Place of "the tent of the Testimony."  Those tables of stone seem to be a central element in the purpose of the tent.  Revelation is a very hebraic book with lots of "tabernacle" symbolism. When we find "the tent of the Testimony" in Revelation opened in heaven— given that "the Testimony" was central to "the tent", it should suggest to us that the "tables of stone" are an important element in the Revelation narrative.