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Summary
- The three that matters most in the Bible is the third day: Paul hands on the creed that Christ “rose again the third day according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:4).
- Jesus compared his burial to Jonah’s “three days and three nights” in the fish (Matthew 12:40); in Hebrew Bibles Jonah 1:17 is numbered 2:1.
- “Holy, holy, holy” (Isaiah 6:3; Revelation 4:8) is the Hebrew way of saying “most”: you repeat the word.
- The word “Trinity” is not in the Bible; its Greek form is first found in Theophilus of Antioch about AD 180, who tied it to the three days before the sun and moon were made.
- The words in 1 John 5:7 (King James Version) about three that bear record “in heaven” are absent from every known Greek manuscript except eight, by Bruce Metzger’s count, and no Greek Father quotes them.
- Jesus’ “three-year ministry” is an inference: John names three Passovers, which span about two years, and no Gospel states the ministry’s length.
- The idea that three means divine perfection comes from later schemes such as E. W. Bullinger’s Number in Scripture, not from the Bible, which gives three no dream meaning.
Bibliography (Click to show)
- King James Version: Genesis 6:10; 18:1–3, 6; 22:4; 40:8–18; Exodus 19:11, 16; 23:14–17; Numbers 6:24–26; 22:28; Deuteronomy 19:15; 2 Samuel 21:1; Esther 4:16; 5:1; Ecclesiastes 4:12; Isaiah 6:3; Jeremiah 22:29; Daniel 6:10; Hosea 6:2; Amos 1:3; Jonah 1:17; Matthew 2:11; 4:1–11; 12:40; 16:21; 17:1; 26:34, 44; 27:45; 28:19; Mark 14:72; 15:33; Luke 24:46; John 2:13, 19–21; 6:4; 11:55; 19:20; 21:15–17; Acts 10:16; 1 Corinthians 13:13; 15:3–4; 2 Corinthians 12:8; 13:14; 1 Thessalonians 5:23; 1 John 5:7; Revelation 4:8, BibleGateway.
- Jonah 2:1 in the Hebrew numbering, Hebrew text with the Jewish Publication Society translation (1917), Mechon Mamre.
- Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 233–234, Vatican.
- Westminster Confession of Faith (1646), chapter 2, section 3, Orthodox Presbyterian Church.
- Orthodox Church in America, Trisagion prayers, oca.org, and the Symbol of Faith (Nicene Creed), oca.org.
- Saint John the Evangelist Orthodox Church, Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, “How to Make the Sign of the Cross”, parish website.
- Theophilus of Antioch, To Autolycus, book 2, chapter 15, tr. Marcus Dods, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 2, New Advent.
- Tertullian, Against Praxeas, chapter 2, tr. Peter Holmes, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 3, New Advent.
- Justin Martyr, Dialogue with Trypho, chapter 56, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1, New Advent.
- Irenaeus, Against Heresies, book 5, chapter 6, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 1, New Advent.
- Origen, On First Principles (De Principiis), book 4 (4.2.4; numbered 4.1.11 in the Ante-Nicene Fathers), tr. Frederick Crombie, Ante-Nicene Fathers vol. 4, New Advent.
- Cyril of Jerusalem, Mystagogic Lecture 2, section 4, tr. Edwin Hamilton Gifford, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, second series, vol. 7, New Advent.
- Augustine, On the Trinity, book 2, Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, first series, vol. 3, New Advent.
- George Joyce, “The Blessed Trinity”, Catholic Encyclopedia, vol. 15 (1912), New Advent.
- Bruce M. Metzger, A Textual Commentary on the Greek New Testament, 2nd ed., note on 1 John 5:7–8, as reproduced by Michael D. Marlowe, “The Johannine Comma”, Bible Research.
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible and Benson Commentary on Isaiah 6:3, Bible Hub.
- E. W. Bullinger, Number in Scripture: Its Supernatural Design and Spiritual Significance, 4th ed. (London: Eyre and Spottiswoode, 1921), “Three”, levendwater.org.
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