The Significance of Three
Brevity.
Three kings are remembered: David, Hezekiah, and Josiah.
There are three classes of beings: the heavenly, the earthly, and the underworld.
There are three virtues: faith, hope, and love.
There are three gifts from God: kingdom, priesthood, and prophecy.
There are three times: the present, the past, and the future.
The possessions of the righteous are three: paradise, the bosom of Abraham, and the kingdom of heaven.
The punishments of the sinners are three: darkness, the worm, and Gehenna.
There are three renewals of the world: the one in the time of Noah, the one in the time of the Lord, and the one at the consummation.
As for the third Elijah, the members of the bellowing and the wood poured out from heaven according to streams of fire.
Daniel prayed on the third day.
The Virgin has made three months' stay in the house of Zechariah.
The three gifts presented to the Lord by the magi were gold, frankincense, and myrrh.
There are three baptisms: the legal one, that of John, and that of the Lord.
The three invocations of baptism are into the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.
There are three submersions and three emergences of the baptism.
The Lord has three victories against the devil: not to eat after fasting, not to worship the defiled, and not to throw oneself down.
Three days after the baptism, the water becomes wine of excellence.
There are three reproaches against the Virgin of the Only-begotten: 'Why do you seek me? Did you not know that I must be in my Father's house? What is that to me and to you, woman? My hour has not yet come; who is my mother, and who are my brothers?'
Three disciples weep more than the others: Peter, James, and John.
The time of the Lordly signs is three years.
The Lord came seeking fruit for the fig tree for three years, but he found none.
Three times the Lord issued a curse: to the fig tree, saying, 'No more shall fruit be born from you for ever'; to the Synagogue, 'Not one stone shall remain upon another'; and to Judah, 'Woe to that man through whom the Son of Man is delivered to be crucified.'
Jonah spent three days and three nights in the belly of the whale. The destruction of Nineveh was also three days. The death of the Savior lasted three days, and the Lord's resurrection from the dead by His authority was also three days.
Paul ascended after being caught up through three days; three times he was exhorted concerning the stumbling block so that he might turn away from it; three times he was caught up in a cloud, and he ascended into a third heaven.
A woman, resembling the kingdom of the heavens, took three measures of flour and, having hidden it in a little leaven, leavened the whole batch, according to what is written. For the number, as a double triple, is preserved in the Divine Scripture regarding great matters.
In six days God created the world. On the sixth day He formed Adam. On the sixth hour, having been stripped by sin, he sought God. Sixth, He appeared to Abraham: once in Harran, thirdly through dreams; fourthly upon the covenant of the letter of the name; and fifthly upon the noon of Mamre.
Greek
Λεία. Τρεῖς οἱ μνημονευόμενοι βασιλεῖς· ∆αυῒδ, Ἐζεκίας, Ἰωσίας. Τρεῖς τάξεις τῶν ὄντων·ἐπουρανίων, ἐπιγείων, καταχθονίων. Τρεῖς ἀρεταὶ, πίστις, ἐλπὶς, ἀγάπη. Τρία δῶρα παρὰ Θεοῦ, βασιλεία, ἱερωσύνη, προφητεία. Τρεῖς χρόνοι, ἐνεστώτων, παρεληλυθότων, μελλόντων. Τρία τῶν δικαίων τὰ κτήματα, παράδεισος, Ἀβραὰμ κόλπος, οὐρανῶν βασιλεία. Τρεῖς τῶν ἁμαρτωλῶν αἱ τιμωρίαι, σκότος, σκώληξ, Γέεννα. Τρεῖς ἀνανεώσεις τοῦ κόσμου· ἡ ἐπὶ τοῦ Νῶε, ἡ ἐπὶ τοῦ Κυρίου, ἡ ἐπὶ τῆς συντελείας. Τρίτον Ἠλίας τὰ μέλη τοῦ βοὸς καὶ τὰ ξύλα καταῤῥάνας τὸ ἐξ οὐρανῶν κατὰ στύγας πῦρ. Τρίτον τῆς ἡμέρας ηὔχετο ∆ανιήλ. Τρεῖς μῆνας εἰς τὸν οἶκον Ζαχαρίου πεποίηκεν ἡ Παρθένος. Τρία τὰ προσενεχθέντα δῶρα τῷ Κυρίῳ παρὰ τῶν μάγων· χρυσὸς, λίβανος, σμύρνα. Τρία βαπτίσματα, τὸ νομικὸν, τὸ Ἰωάννου, τὸ τοῦ Κυρίου. Τρεῖς αἱ τοῦ βαπτίσματος ἐπικλήσεις, εἰς Πατέρα καὶ Υἱὸν καὶ ἅγιον Πνεῦμα. Τρεῖς αἱ καταδύσεις, καὶ τρεῖς αἱ ἀναδύσεις τοῦ βαπτίσματος. Τρεῖς αἱ κατὰ τοῦ διαβόλου νῖκαι τοῦ Κυρίου· τὸ μὴ φαγεῖν μετὰ τὸ πεινάσαι, τὸ μὴ προσκυνῆσαι τὸν μιαρὸν, τὸ μὴ καταβάλλειν ἑαυτόν. Τρεῖς ἡμέραι μετὰ τὸ βάπτισμα, καὶ τότε τὸ ὕδωρ οἶνος ἐξαίρετος. Τρεῖς αἱ κατὰ τῆς Παρθένου τοῦ Μονογενοῦς ἐπιτιμήσεις· Τί ὅτι ἐζητεῖτέ με; οὐκ ᾔδεις ὅτι ἐν τοῖς τοῦ Πατρός μου δεῖ με εἶναι; Τί ἐμοὶ καὶ σοὶ, γύναι; οὔπω ἥκει ἡ ὥρα μου· τίς ἐστιν ἡ μήτηρ μου, καὶ τίνες οἱ ἀδελφοί μου; Τρεῖς οἱ πλέον τῶν ἄλλων θαῤῥούμενοι μαθηταί· Πέτρος, Ἰάκωβος, Ἰωάννης. Τρία ἔτη τῶν δεσποτικῶν σημείων ὁ χρόνος. Τρία ἔτη ζητῶν καρπὸν εἰς τὴν συκῆν ὁ Κύριος ἦλθε, καὶ οὐχ ηὗρεν. Τρισὶν ὁ Κύριος κατηράσατο· τῇ συκῇ· Μηκέτι ἐκ σοῦ καρπὸς γένηται εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα· τῇ Συναγωγῇ· Λίθος ἐπὶ λίθον οὐ μὴ μένει· τῷ Ἰούδᾳ· Οὐαὶ τῷ ἀνθρώπῳ ἐκείνῳ, δι' οὗ ὁ Υἱὸς τοῦ ἀνθρώπου παραδίδοται εἰς τὸ σταυρωθῆναι. Τρεῖς ἡμέρας, καὶ τρεῖς νύκτας Ἰωνᾶς εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν τοῦ κήτους πεποίηκε. Τριήμερον ἡ κατὰ Νινευϊτῶν ἀποφορά. Τριήμερος τοῦ Σωτῆρος ὁ θάνατος, τριήμερος καὶ ἡ ἀπὸ τῶν νεκρῶν κατ' ἐξουσίαν ἀνάστασις τοῦ Κυρίου. ∆ιὰ τριῶν ὁ Παῦλος ἡμερῶν ἀνέβλεψε πηρωθείς· τρὶς τὸν Κύριον περὶ τοῦ σκόλοπος παρεκέλευσεν, ἵνα ἀποστῇ ἀπ' αὐτοῦ· τρὶς ἐναυάγησεν· εἰς τρίτον οὐρανὸν ἀναβέβηκε. Τρία σάτα ἀλεύρου καὶ ἡ τῇ βασιλείᾳ τῶν οὐρανῶν ὁμοιωθεῖσα γυνὴ λαβοῦσα, καὶ εἰς μικρὰν ζύμην ἐγκρύψασα, 43.513 ὅλον τὸ φύραμα, κατὰ τὸ γεγραμμένον, ἐζύμωσεν. {Ὅτι καὶ ὁ ἀριθμὸς ὡς διπλῆ τριὰς ἐπὶ μεγάλων πραγμάτων, ἐν τῇ θείᾳ Γραφῇ παρατετήρηται.} ∆ʹ. Ἐν ἓξ ἡμέραις ὁ Θεὸς τὸν κόσμον κατεσκεύασεν. Ἕκτην ἡμέραν ἔπλασε τὸν Ἀδάμ. Ἕκτην ὥρανγυμνωθέντα παρὰ τῆς ἁμαρτίας δήλης ἐζήτησεν. Ἕκτον ὤφθη τῷ Ἀβραάμ· ἅπαξ εἰς Χαῤῥὰν *** τρίτον καθ' ὕπνους· τέταρτον ἐπὶ τῆς προσθήκης τοῦ γράμματος τοῦ ὀνόματος· πέμπτον ἐπὶ τῆς Μαμβρῆ μεσημβρίας,
About this text
Epiphanius of Salamis, Tractatus de numerorum mysteriis (Greek).
Catalogue & scope
Khazarzar scan
Witnesses
- Copy-text PG 41–43 (Khazarzar) (Greek)
This is an AI-assisted study translation. Source fidelity and completeness have not been independently certified. Open Greek on each section for the source text. This is not a complete critical edition.