'Three' in the Bible

His father-in-law, the young woman's father, urged him to stay with him three days; and they ate and drank, and they spent the night there.

Then she brought him up with her when she had weaned him, [along] with three bulls, one ephah of flour, and a skin of wine. She brought him to the house of Yahweh at Shiloh while the boy [was still] young.

Yahweh took note of Hannah, and she conceived and gave birth to three sons and two daughters, while the young man Samuel grew up with Yahweh.

And as for your female donkeys that were lost {three days ago}, {do not be concerned about them}, because they have been found. For whom [is] all the desire of Israel? Is it not for you and for all the house of your father?"

Then you will go on from there and further you will come to the oak of Tabor. There three men will meet you, who [are] going up to God at Bethel. One will be carrying three male kid goats, one will be carrying three loaves of bread, and one will be carrying a skin of wine.

He mustered them at Bezek; the {Israelites} [were] three hundred thousand, and the men of Judah [were] thirty thousand.

{And the} next day Saul placed the people [in] three divisions. Then they came into the middle of the camp {at the early morning watch} and struck down {the Ammonites} until the heat of the day. It happened that the remainder were scattered {so that no two among them remained together}.

He chose for himself three thousand from Israel. Two thousand [of these] were with Saul at Micmash in the hill country of Bethel, and a thousand were with Jonathan at Gibeah in Benjamin. He sent away the rest of the people, each to his tent.

The {raiders} went out from the camp of [the] Philistines [in] three divisions. One division turned on the road to Ophrah toward the land of Shual.

The three oldest sons of Jesse had gone and {followed} Saul to the battle. The names of his three sons who went to the battle were Eliab the firstborn, his second [oldest] was Abinadab, and the third was Shammah.

Now David was the youngest. The three oldest {followed} Saul,

I will shoot three arrows [to the] side as [if] I were shooting at a target.

The boy left, and then David got up from the south side, and he fell on his face to the ground and bowed three times. And they kissed {each other} and wept {together}, but David [wept] the most.

So Saul took three thousand chosen men from all Israel, and he and his men went to search [for] David {in the direction of} the Rocks of the Mountain Goats.

Now there was a man in Maon, whose business [was] in Carmel. The man was very rich and {owned} three thousand sheep and a thousand goats. {Now} the shearing of his sheep [was taking place] in Carmel.

Then Saul got up and went down to the wilderness of Ziph, and three thousand chosen men of Israel with him, to seek David in the wilderness of Ziph.

They gave him a slice of fig cake and two raisin cakes; he ate and {this revived him}, because he had not eaten food or drunk water [for] three days and three nights.

Then David said to him, "{To whom do you belong}, and from where [are] you? The young man said, "I am an Egyptian young man, a servant of an Amalekite man, but my master abandoned me because I became ill three days ago.

So Saul died, and his three sons, {his armor bearer}, [and] all his men together that [same] day.

{And then} the next day, [the] Philistines came to strip the dead and they found Saul and his three sons lying [dead] on Mount Gilboa.

The three sons of Zeruiah were there, Joab and Abishai and Asahel. Now Asahel [was] swift with his feet as one of the gazelles which [is] in the open field.

The servants of David had killed some of the Benjaminites among the men of Abner; three hundred and sixty men had died.

So the ark of Yahweh remained [in] the house of Obed-Edom the Gittite [for] three months, and Yahweh blessed Obed-Edom and all his household.

But Absalom had fled and went [to] Geshur, and he [was] there three years.

Three sons [were] born to Absalom and one daughter, whose name [was] Tamar. She [was] a woman beautiful of appearance.

Joab said, "No longer will I wait in your presence." Then he took three spears in his hand and thrust them into the heart of Absalom while he [was] still alive in the oak tree.

Then the king said to Amasa, "Summon for me the men of Judah [within] three days, {and be here yourself}."

There [was] a famine in the days of David [for] three years, year after year. And David {inquired of Yahweh}, and Yahweh said, "The bloodguilt [is] on Saul and on his household, because he killed the Gibeonites."

Now Yishbi in Nob, who [was] among the descendents of Raphah (now the weight of his spearhead [was] three hundredweight of bronze, and he [was] newly armed), said that he would kill David.

These [are] the names of the mighty warriors who [were] David's: Josheb-Basshebeth a Tahkemonite [was] chief of three officers; first Adino, whose spear [was] against eight hundred slain on one occurrence.

Next to him Eleazar, the son of Dodo the son of an Ahohite, [was] among the three mighty warriors with David when they defied the Philistines and they gathered there for the battle and the men of Israel withdrew.

Then three of the thirty leaders went down and came to David {at the time of the harvest} to the cave of Adullam, while a group of [the] Philistines [were] camping in the valley of [the] Rephaim.

So three of the mighty warriors broke into the camp of [the] Philistines, and they drew water from the well of Bethlehem that [was] at the gate, and they carried [it] and brought [it] to David. But he [was] not willing to drink it, but poured it out to Yahweh.

He said, "Far be it from me before Yahweh that I should do this. [Is this not] the blood of the men who went at the risk of their lives?" So he [was] not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty warriors did.

Now Abishai the brother of Joab the son of Zeruiah [was] himself the leader of the thirty. He [was] wielding his spear against three hundred slain and {gained a name} among the thirty.

Among the thirty, is it not that he [was] honored and became a commander for them? But he did not come up to the three

These things Benaiah the son of Jehoiada did and gained a name for himself among the three mighty warriors.

He [was] honored more than the thirty, but he did not come up to the three. David appointed him in charge of his bodyguard.

"Go and speak to David, 'Thus says Yahweh, three things I [am] laying on you; choose for yourself one of them and I will do it to you.'"

Then Gad came to David, and he told him and said to him, "Shall seven years of famine in the land come to you? Or three months of your fleeing from your enemies while he [is] pursuing you? Or should there be three days of pestilence in your land? Now consider and decide what I must return to the one who sent me a word."

It happened that at the end of three years, two of Shimei's slaves fled to Achish, son of Maacah, the king of Gath. They told Shimei, saying, "Your slaves [are] here in Gath."

He spoke three thousand proverbs, and his songs were one thousand and five.

Besides the chiefs of the officers Solomon had, there were three thousand three hundred having charge over the people who were doing the work.

Then he built the inner courtyard [with] three rows of dressed stone and a row of cedar beams.

[There were] three rows of specially designed windows; [with] window to window three times.

All of the doorways and the doorframes [had] four-sided casings, with opening to opposite opening three times.

The great courtyard all around had three rows of dressed stones and a row of cedar beams; for [both] the courtyard of the inner house of Yahweh and for the porch of the house.

[The sea] was standing on twelve oxen, with three facing to the north, three facing to the west, three facing to the south, and three facing to the east. The sea [was] on top of them, with all of their hindquarters [turned] to the inside.

He made the ten stands of bronze; each stand [was] four cubits long, four cubits wide, and three cubits in height.

Solomon sacrificed three times a year: burnt offerings and fellowship offerings on the altar that he had built to Yahweh, and he offered incense with it before Yahweh; and so he completed the house.

Also [he made] three hundred small shields of hammered gold; three minas of gold went up over each of the small shields; and the king put them [into] the House of the Forest of Lebanon.

For the fleet of Tarshish belonged to the king [and was] on the sea with the fleet of Hiram; once every three years the fleet of Tarshish used to come carrying gold and silver, ivory, apes, and baboons.

He had seven hundred princesses and three hundred concubines, and his wives turned his heart.

He said, "Go up for three days and then return to me"; so the people went away.

Three years he reigned in Jerusalem. The name of his mother [was] Maacah the daughter of Abishalom.

He stretched himself out on the child three times and called to Yahweh and said, "O Yahweh my God, please let the life of this child return within him."

They lived three years, and there was no war between Aram and Israel.

But they urged him until embarrassing [him], so he said, "Send them." So they sent fifty men, and they looked for three days, but they could not find him.

Then the king of Israel said, "Aha, Yahweh has called for these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."

Then Elisha said to the king of Israel, "{What do we have in common}? Go to the prophets of your father and to the prophets of your mother." Then the king of Israel said to him, "No, for Yahweh has called for these three kings to give them into the hand of Moab."

When he lifted up his face to the window, he asked, "Who [is] with me?" Two or three eunuchs looked down to him.

Then he said, "Take the arrows," so he took [them]. He said to the king of Israel, "Strike the ground," so he struck three times and stopped.

[Yet] the man of God became angry against him and said, "For striking five or six times, then you would have defeated Aram until finishing [them], but now you will defeat Aram [only] three times."

Jehoash the son of Jehoahaz returned and took the cities from the hand of Ben-Hadad the son of Hazael which he had taken from the hand of Jehoahaz his father in the war. Three times Jehoash defeated him and recovered the towns of Israel.

So the king of Assyria went up in all the land, then he went up [to] Samaria and besieged it [for] three years.

At the end of three years, he captured it in the sixth year of Hezekiah, that [is,] the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel; Samaria was captured.

So Hezekiah king of Judah sent [word] to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, "I have done wrong. Withdraw from me. What you impose on me I will bear." So the king of Assyria imposed on Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.

Jehoahaz was twenty-three years old when he became king, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother [was] Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah from Libnah.

In his days, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up [because] Jehoiakim had become his servant [for] three years; then he turned and rebelled against him.

Jehoiachin was eighteen years old when he began to reign, and he reigned three months in Jerusalem. The name of his mother [was] Nehushta daughter of Elnathan from Jerusalem.

The height of the one pillar [was] eighteen cubits; a bronze capital was on it, with the height of the capital [being] three cubits. The latticework and pomegranates on the capital all around were bronze, and likewise on the latticework for the second pillar.

Then the commander of the imperial guard took Seraiah the chief priest, Zephaniah the second priest, and three of the threshold keepers.

The sons of Judah: Er, Onan and Shelah; [these] three were born to him from Bathshua the Canaanite. Now Er, Judah's firstborn, [was] evil in the sight of Yahweh, and he put him to death.

And their sisters [were] Zeruiah and Abigail. The sons of Zeruiah: Abishai, Joab, and Asahel, three.

And the sons of Neariah: Elioenai, Hezekiah, and Azrikam, three.

[The sons of] Benjamin: Bela, Beker, and Jediael, three.

So Saul died. And his three sons and all his house died together.

And this [is] the numbering of the mighty warriors who [were] for David: Jashobeam son of Hachmoni [was] chief of the three. He himself raised his spear against three hundred [whom he] killed on one occasion.

And after him [was] Eleazar son of Dodo the Ahohite. He [was] among the three mighty warriors.

And three of the thirty chiefs went down toward the rock to David at the cave of Adullam when the army of the Philistines was encamped in the valley of Rephaim.

Then the three broke through into the camp of the Philistines and drew water from the well of Bethlehem that [was] by the gate and brought [it] and came to David. But David would not drink it and poured it out before Yahweh.

And he said, "Far be it from me [that] I would do this before my God. Shall I drink the lifeblood of these men? For {at the risk of their lives} they brought it." And he was not willing to drink it. These things the three mighty men did.

Now Abishai the brother of Joab was himself the head of the three. And he roused himself with his spear against three hundred [whom he] killed and [made] a name for himself among the three.

{He was twice as renowned} among the three and was their commander. But he did not attain to the three.

These things Benaiah son of Jehoiada did and had a name among the three mighty warriors.

He himself was certainly distinguished among the thirty, but he did not attain to the three. And David appointed him over his bodyguard.

Jehoiada the chief officer of [the house of] Aaron, and with him, three thousand seven hundred.

From the men of Benjamin, kinsmen of Saul, three thousand, and {even still} the majority of them {remained loyal} to the house of Saul.

And they were there with David three days, eating and drinking, for their kinsmen were prepared for them.

And the ark of God remained with the household of Obed-Edom in his house three months. And Yahweh blessed the household of Obed-Edom and all that he had.

"Go, you must speak to David, saying, 'Thus says Yahweh: "Three [choices] I offer to you. Choose one of them for yourself that I will do to you." '"

whether three years of famine or three months of devastation by your enemies while the sword of your enemies overtakes you, or three days of the sword of Yahweh, with disease in the land and the angel of Yahweh destroying throughout all the territory in Israel.' So now, see what word I should return to my sender."

The sons of Ladan: Jehiel the chief and Zetham and Joel, three.

The sons of Shimei: Shelomoth, Haziel, and Haran, three. These [were] the heads of the {families} of Ladan.

The sons of Mushi: Mahli, Eder, and Jeremoth, three.

All these [were] sons to Heman, the seer of the king, according to the words of God to raise a horn. And God had given to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters.

three thousand talents of gold from the gold of Ophir and seven thousand talents of refined silver to overlay the walls of the houses,

And Solomon assigned seventy thousand men {to bear burdens} and eighty thousand {quarriers} in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred [men] to supervise them.

And he appointed from them seventy thousand {to bear burdens}, eighty thousand {to quarry} in the hill country, and three thousand six hundred overseers to make the people work.

[It was] standing upon twelve oxen, three facing north, and three facing west, and three facing south, and three facing east. The sea [was set] upon them from above, and all their hindquarters [faced] {inward}.