'Three' in the Bible

for just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

He told them another parable, “The kingdom of heaven is like leaven, which a woman took and worked into three measures of flour until all of it was leavened.”

Then Jesus called His disciples to Him, and said, “I feel compassion for the crowd, because they have been with Me now three days and have nothing [left] to eat; and I do not want to send them away hungry, because they might faint [from exhaustion] on the way [home].”

Then Peter began to speak and said to Jesus, “Lord, it is good and delightful and auspicious that we are here; if You wish, I will put up three [sacred] tents here—one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

But if he does not listen, take along with you one or two others, so that every word may be confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

For where two or three are gathered in My name [meeting together as My followers], I am there among them.”

He went out about the sixth hour (noon) and the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.), and did the same thing.

Jesus said to him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this night, before a rooster crows, you will [completely] deny Me three times.”

and testified, “This man said, ‘I am able to tear down the temple of God and rebuild it in three days.’”

And Peter remembered the [prophetic] words of Jesus, when He had said, “Before a rooster crows, you will deny Me three times.” And he went outside and wept bitterly [in repentance].

and they said [tauntingly], “You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days, save Yourself [from death]! If You are the Son of God, come down from the cross.”

Now from the sixth hour (noon) there was darkness over all the land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).

About the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud [agonized] voice, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?”

and said, “Sir, we have remembered that when He was still alive that deceiver said, ‘After three days I will rise [from the dead].’

“I feel compassion for the crowd; they have been with Me now for three days and have nothing [left] to eat.

And He began to teach them that the Son of Man must [of necessity] suffer many things and be rejected [as the Messiah] by the elders and the chief priests and the scribes, and must be put to death, and after three days rise [from death to life].

Peter responded and said to Jesus, “Rabbi (Master), it is good for us to be here; let us make three [sacred] tents—one for You, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah.”

because He was teaching His disciples [and preparing them for the future]. He told them, “The Son of Man is to be betrayed and handed over to men [who are His enemies], and they will kill Him; and when He has been killed, He will rise [from the dead] three days later.”

They will mock and ridicule Him and spit on Him, and whip (scourge) Him and kill Him, and three days later He will rise [from the dead].”

Jesus said to him, “I assure you and most solemnly say to you, this very night, before a rooster crows twice, you will deny [that you even know] Me three times.”

“We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple (sanctuary) that was made with hands, and in three days I will build another made without hands.’”

Immediately a rooster crowed the second time. And Peter remembered what Jesus said to him: “Before a rooster crows twice, you will deny Me three times.” And thinking of this, he began weeping [in anguish].

Those who were passing by were insulting Him with abusive and insolent language, wagging their heads [as a sign of contempt], and saying, “Ha! You who would destroy the temple and rebuild it in [only] three days,

When the sixth hour (noon) came, darkness covered the whole land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.).

And Mary stayed with Elizabeth for about three months, and then returned to her home.

Three days later they found Him in the [court of the] temple, sitting among the teachers, both listening to them and asking them questions.

But in truth I say to you, there were many widows in Israel in the days of Elijah, when the sky was closed up for three years and six months, when a great famine came over all the land;

And as these [men, Moses and Elijah] were leaving Him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it is delightful and good for us to be here; we should make three [sacred] tents; one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not realizing what he was saying.

Which of these three do you think proved himself a neighbor to the man who encountered the robbers?”

Then He said to them, “Suppose one of you has a friend, and goes to him at midnight and says, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves [of bread];

for from now on five in one household will be divided [over Me], three against two and two against three.

so he said to the vineyard-keeper, ‘For three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree and have found none. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground [depleting the soil and blocking the sunlight]?’

It is like leaven, which a woman took and hid in three peck measures of flour until it was all leavened.”

Jesus said, “I say to you, Peter, before the rooster crows today, you will [utterly] deny three times that you know Me.”

It was now about the sixth hour (noon), and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.),

Jesus answered them, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Then the Jews replied, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and You will raise it up in three days?”

Then, when they had rowed three or four miles [and were near the center of the sea], they saw Jesus walking on the sea and approaching the boat; and they were [terribly] frightened.

Jesus answered, “Will you [really] lay down your life for Me? I assure you and most solemnly say to you, before a rooster crows you will deny and completely disown Me three times.

Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour (3:00 p.m.),

Now after an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

It was at this [critical] time that Moses was born; and he was lovely in the sight of God, and for three months he was nourished in his father’s house.

And he was unable to see for three days, and he neither ate nor drank.

This happened three times, and then immediately the object was taken up into heaven.

While Peter was thoughtfully considering the vision, the Spirit said to him, “Now listen, three men are looking for you.

Cornelius said, “Four days ago to this hour, I was praying in my house during the ninth hour (3:00-4:00 p.m.); and a man [dressed] in bright, dazzling clothing suddenly stood before me,

This happened three times, and everything was drawn up again into heaven.

And right then the three men who had been sent to me from Caesarea arrived at the house where we were staying.

And Paul entered the synagogue, as was his custom, and for three Sabbaths he engaged in discussion and friendly debate with them from the Scriptures,

And he went into the synagogue and for three months spoke boldly, reasoning and arguing and persuading them about the kingdom of God.

But when some were becoming hardened and disobedient [to the word of God], discrediting and speaking evil of the Way (Jesus, Christianity) before the congregation, Paul left them, taking the disciples with him, and went on holding daily discussions in the lecture hall of Tyrannus [instead of in the synagogue].

And he stayed three months, and when a plot was formed against him by the Jews as he was about to set sail for Syria, he decided to return through Macedonia (northern Greece).

Therefore be continually alert, remembering that for three years, night or day, I did not stop admonishing and advising each one [of you] with tears.

Now Festus arrived in the province, and three days later he went up to Jerusalem from Caesarea [Maritima].

In the vicinity of that place there were estates belonging to the leading man of the island, named Publius, who welcomed and entertained us hospitably for three days.

At the end of three months we set sail on a ship which had wintered at the island, an Alexandrian ship with the Twin Brothers [Castor and Pollux] as its figurehead.

We landed at Syracuse [on Sicily] and stayed there three days.

And the brothers and sisters, having heard news about us, came from as far away as the Forum of Appius and Three Inns to meet us. When Paul saw them, he thanked God and was encouraged.

Three days later he called together the leaders of the Jews; and when they had gathered, he said to them, “Kinsmen, though I have done nothing against our people or against the customs of our fathers, yet I was turned over as a prisoner from Jerusalem into the hands of the Romans.

And now there remain: faith [abiding trust in God and His promises], hope [confident expectation of eternal salvation], love [unselfish love for others growing out of God’s love for me], these three [the choicest graces]; but the greatest of these is love.

If anyone speaks in a tongue, it should be limited to two or at the most three, and each one speaking in turn, and one must interpret [what is said].

Let two or three prophets speak [as inspired by the Holy Spirit], while the rest pay attention and weigh carefully what is said.

Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was stoned. Three times I was shipwrecked, a night and a day I have spent adrift on the sea;

Concerning this I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might leave me;

This is the third time that I am visiting you. Every fact shall be sustained and confirmed by the testimony of two or three witnesses.

Then three years later I did go up to Jerusalem to get acquainted with Cephas (Peter), and I stayed with him fifteen days.

Do not accept an accusation against an elder unless it is based on [the testimony of at least] two or three witnesses.

Anyone who has ignored and set aside the Law of Moses is put to death without mercy on the testimony of two or three witnesses.

By faith Moses, after his birth, was hidden for three months by his parents, because they saw he was a beautiful and divinely favored child; and they were not afraid of the king’s (Pharaoh’s) decree.

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours [with the same physical, mental, and spiritual limitations and shortcomings], and he prayed intensely for it not to rain, and it did not rain on the earth for three years and six months.

For there are three witnesses:

the Spirit and the water and the blood; and these three are in agreement [their testimony is perfectly consistent].

And I heard something like a voice in the midst of the four living creatures saying, “A quart of wheat for a denarius (a day’s wages), and three quarts of barley for a denarius; and do not damage the oil and the wine.”

Then I looked, and I heard a solitary eagle flying in midheaven [for all to see], saying with a loud voice, “Woe, woe, woe [great wrath is coming] to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpets which the three angels are about to sound [announcing ever greater judgments]!”

A third of mankind was killed by these three plagues—by the fire and the smoke and the brimstone that came from the mouths of the horses.

But leave out the court [of the Gentiles] which is outside the temple and do not measure it, because it has been given to the Gentiles (the nations); and they will trample the holy city for forty-two months (three and one-half years).

And I will grant authority to My two witnesses, and they will prophesy for twelve hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one-half years), dressed in sackcloth.”

Those from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations look at their dead bodies for three and a half days, and will not allow their dead bodies to be laid in a tomb.

But after three and a half days, the breath of life from God came into them, and they stood on their feet; and great fear and panic fell on those who were watching them.

Then the woman fled into the wilderness where she had a place prepared by God, so that she would be nourished there for a thousand two hundred and sixty days (forty-two months; three and one-half years).

But the two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman, so that she could fly into the wilderness to her place, where she was nourished for a time and times and half a time (three and one-half years), away from the presence of the serpent (Satan).

And the beast was given a mouth (the power of speech), uttering great things and arrogant and blasphemous words, and he was given freedom and authority to act and to do as he pleased for forty-two months (three and a half years).

And I saw three loathsome spirits like frogs, leaping from the mouth of the dragon (Satan) and from the mouth of the beast (Antichrist, dictator) and from the mouth of the false prophet;

The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. And God kept in mind Babylon the great, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce and furious wrath.

On the east side [there were] three gates, on the north three gates, on the south three gates, and on the west three gates.