Genesis 22:4

22:4 On the third day Abraham caught sight of ¹  the place in the distance.

Esther 4:16

4:16 “Go, assemble all the Jews who are found in Susa and fast in my behalf. Don’t eat and don’t drink for three days, night or day. My female attendants and I ²  will also fast in the same way. Afterward I will go to the king, even though it violates the law. ³  If I perish, I perish!”

Esther 5:1

Esther Appeals to the King for Help

5:1 It so happened that on the third day Esther put on her royal attire and stood in the inner court of the palace, ⁴  opposite the king’s quarters. ⁵  The king was sitting on his royal throne in the palace, opposite the entrance. ⁶ 

Hosea 6:2

6:2 He will restore ⁷  us in a very short time; ⁸ 

he will heal us in a little while, ⁹ 

so that we may live in his presence.

Matthew 12:40

12:40 For just as Jonah was in the belly of the huge fish ¹⁰  for three days and three nights, ¹¹  so the Son of Man will be in the heart of the earth for three days and three nights.

Matthew 16:21

First Prediction of Jesus’ Death and Resurrection

16:21 From that time on ¹²  Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem ¹³  and suffer ¹⁴  many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and experts in the law, ¹⁵  and be killed, and on the third day be raised.

¹ tn Heb “lifted up his eyes and saw.”

² tn Heb “I and my female attendants.” The translation reverses the order for stylistic reasons.

³ tn Heb “which is not according to the law” (so KJV, NASB); NAB “contrary to the law.”

⁴ tn Heb “of the house of the king”; NASB, NRSV “of the king’s palace.”

⁵ tn Heb “the house of the king”; NASB “the king’s rooms”; NIV, NLT “the king’s hall.” This expression is used twice in this verse. In the first instance, it is apparently the larger palace complex that is in view, whereas in the second instance the expression seems to refer specifically to the quarters from which the king governed.

⁶ tn Heb “the entrance of the house” (so ASV).

⁷ tn The Piel of חָיָה (khayah) may mean: (1) to keep/preserve persons alive from the threat of premature death (1 Kgs 20:31; Ezek 13:18; 18:27); (2) to restore the dead to physical life (Deut 32:39; 1 Sam 2:6; cf. NCV “will put new life in us”); or (3) to restore the dying back to life from the threat of death (Ps 71:20; BDB 311 s.v. חָיָה).

⁸ tn Heb “after two days” (so KJV, NIV, NRSV). The expression “after two days” is an idiom meaning “after a short time” (see, e.g., Judg 11:4; BDB 399 s.v. יוֹם 5.a).

⁹ tn Heb “on the third day” (so NASB, NIV, NRSV), which parallels “after two days” and means “in a little while.” The “2-3” sequence is an example of graded numerical parallelism (Prov 30:15-16, 18-19, 21-23, 24-28, 29-31). This expresses the unrepentant overconfidence of Israel that the Lord’s discipline of Israel would be relatively short and that he would restore them quickly.

¹⁰ tn Grk “large sea creature.”

¹¹ sn A quotation from Jonah 1:17.

¹² tn Grk “From then.”

¹³ map For location see Map5-B1; Map6-F3; Map7-E2; Map8-F2; Map10-B3; JP1-F4; JP2-F4; JP3-F4; JP4-F4.

¹⁴ sn The necessity that the Son of Man suffer is the particular point that needed emphasis since for many 1st century Jews the Messiah was a glorious and powerful figure, not a suffering one.

¹⁵ tn Or “and scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 2:4.