τρεῖς, τρία

From the study of John 2:19

Range of meaning

'Within three days.' In Hebrew idiom 'three days' can mean a short, set interval before a decisive turn (Gen 22:4; Exod 19:11; Hos 6:2; Esth 4:16–5:1; Jonah 1:17).

Against the English

All the major English versions keep 'in three days'. NIV moves it to the end of the sentence.

Used elsewhere in the period

Hosea 6:2, 'after two days he will revive us; on the third day he will raise us up'. In the LXX this uses anistēmi, a different verb from the one here. Matt 12:40 links the 'sign of Jonah' to three days. The temple saying in its various forms always has 'three days' (Mark 14:58; 15:29; Matt 26:61; 27:40).

From the study of Matthew 12:40

Range of meaning

A Hebrew and Aramaic way of naming a period of three days. Because a 'day' in Jewish counting was a day and a night together, the phrase means 'three calendar days', and any part of a day counted as the whole.

Against the English

English versions all translate it literally, which is correct. A modern reader, though, tends to hear it as a measured 72 hours.

How it drifted

Modern clock time encourages arithmetic the ancient phrase was never meant for.

Used elsewhere in the period

Esther 4:16 calls for a fast of 'three days, night or day', yet Esther goes in 'on the third day' (5:1). In 1 Samuel 30:12–13 a man had eaten nothing 'three days and three nights' and then says he fell sick 'three days ago' (literally 'today the third'). Rabbinic tradition credited to Eleazar ben Azariah (about 100 AD) states the rule outright: 'A day and a night make an onah (a day-unit), and part of an onah counts as the whole' (Jerusalem Talmud, Shabbat 9:3; compare Babylonian Talmud, Pesachim 4a). Matthew himself says Jesus will rise 'on the third day' (16:21; 17:23; 20:19), and the leaders recall it as 'after three days' (27:63) and then guard the tomb only 'until the third day' (27:64).

From the study of 1 John 5:8

Range of meaning

"The three." Here it is masculine plural, picking up the masculine participle οἱ μαρτυροῦντες, "those who testify", in v. 7.

Against the English

English has no grammatical gender for nouns, so translations cannot show this. Spirit, water and blood are all neuter in Greek, yet the three are counted with masculine forms, the way human witnesses would be.

Used elsewhere in the period

Gregory of Nazianzus (Oration 31.19, AD 380) discussed this exact feature of 1 John 5:8. His Greek text had no heavenly witnesses, and he defended the masculine as acceptable Greek usage. Later defenders of the Comma argued that the masculine needs the masculine "Father" and "Word" before it to make sense. Gregory's discussion shows the masculine was already in the text without them, and treating the three as speaking persons explains it well enough.