Exodus 5:3

5:3 And they said, “The God of the Hebrews has met with us. Let us go a three-day journey ¹  into the desert so that we may sacrifice ²  to the Lord our God, so that he does not strike us with plague or the sword.” ³ 

Exodus 15:22

The Bitter Water

15:22 ⁴ Then Moses led Israel to journey ⁵  away from the Red Sea. They went out to the Desert of Shur, walked for three days ⁶  into the desert, and found no water.

Exodus 19:11

19:11 and be ready for the third day, for on the third day the Lord will come down on Mount Sinai in the sight of all the people.

Exodus 19:15

19:15 He said to the people, “Be ready for the third day. Do not go near your wives.” ⁷ 

Leviticus 7:17

7:17 but the leftovers from the meat of the sacrifice must be burned up in the fire ⁸  on the third day.

Numbers 10:33

10:33 So they traveled from the mountain of the Lord three days’ journey; ⁹  and the ark of the covenant of the Lord was traveling before them during the three days’ journey, to find a resting place for them.

Numbers 19:12

19:12 He must purify himself ¹⁰  with water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so will be clean. But if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, then he will not be clean.

Numbers 19:19

19:19 And the clean person must sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he must purify him, ¹¹  and then he must wash his clothes, and bathe in water, and he will be clean in the evening.

Numbers 31:19

Purification After Battle

31:19 “Any of you who has killed anyone or touched any of the dead, remain outside the camp for seven days; purify yourselves and your captives on the third day, and on the seventh day.

Joshua 1:11

1:11 “Go through the camp and command the people, ‘Prepare your supplies, for within three days you will cross the Jordan River and begin the conquest of the land the Lord your God is ready to hand over to you.’” ¹² 

Joshua 1:2

1:2 “Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! ¹³  Cross the Jordan River! ¹⁴  Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. ¹⁵ 

Joshua 20:5

20:5 When the avenger of blood comes after him, they must not hand over to him the one who committed manslaughter, for he accidentally killed his fellow man without premeditation. ¹⁶ 

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, ¹⁷  opposite the king’s quarters. ¹⁸  The king was sitting on his royal throne in the palace, opposite the entrance. ¹⁹ 

Hosea 6:2

6:2 He will restore ²⁰  us in a very short time; ²¹ 

he will heal us in a little while, ²² 

so that we may live in his presence.

Matthew 17:23

17:23 They will kill him, and on the third day he will be raised.” And they became greatly distressed.

Luke 13:32

13:32 But ²³  he said to them, “Go ²⁴  and tell that fox, ²⁵  ‘Look, I am casting out demons and performing healings today and tomorrow, and on the third day ²⁶  I will complete my work. ²⁷ 

Luke 13:1

A Call to Repent

13:1 Now ²⁸  there were some present on that occasion who told him about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. ²⁹ 

Colossians 1:4

1:4 since ³⁰  we heard about your faith in Christ Jesus and the love that you have for all the saints.

[5:3]  ¹ tn The word “journey” is an adverbial accusative telling the distance that Moses wanted the people to go. It is qualified by “three days.” It is not saying that they will be gone three days, but that they will go a distance that will take three days to cover (see Gen 31:22-23; Num 10:33; 33:8).

[5:3]  ² tn The purpose clause here is formed with a second cohortative joined with a vav (ו): “let us go…and let us sacrifice.” The purpose of the going was to sacrifice.

[5:3]  ³ sn The last clause of this verse is rather unexpected here: “lest he meet [afflict] us with pestilence or sword.” To fail to comply with the summons of one’s God was to invite such calamities. The Law would later incorporate many such things as the curses for disobedience. Moses is indicating to Pharaoh that there is more reason to fear Yahweh than Pharaoh.

[15:22]  ⁴ sn The first event of the Israelites’ desert experience is a failure, for they murmur against Yahweh and are given a stern warning – and the provision of sweet water. The event teaches that God is able to turn bitter water into sweet water for his people, and he promises to do such things if they obey. He can provide for them in the desert – he did not bring them into the desert to let them die. But there is a deeper level to this story – the healing of the water is incidental to the healing of the people, their lack of trust. The passage is arranged in a neat chiasm, starting with a journey (A), ending with the culmination of the journey (A'); developing to bitter water (B), resolving to sweet water (B'); complaints by the people (C), leading to to the instructions for the people (C'); and the central turning point is the wonder miracle (D).

[15:22]  ⁵ tn The verb form is unusual; the normal expression is with the Qal, which expresses that they journeyed. But here the Hiphil is used to underscore that Moses caused them to journey – and he is following God. So the point is that God was leading Israel to the bitter water.

[15:22]  ⁶ sn The mention that they travelled for three days into the desert is deliberately intended to recall Moses’ demand that they go three days into the wilderness to worship. Here, three days in, they find bitter water and complain – not worship.

[19:15]  ⁷ tn Heb “do not go near a woman”; NIV “Abstain from sexual relations.”

[7:17]  ⁸ tn Heb “burned with fire,” an expression which is sometimes redundant in English, but here means “burned up,” “burned up entirely” (likewise in v. 19).

[10:33]  ⁹ tn The phrase “a journey of three days” is made up of the adverbial accusative qualified with the genitives.

[19:12]  ¹⁰ tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָא (khata’), a verb that normally means “to sin.” But the Piel idea in many places is “to cleanse; to purify.” This may be explained as a privative use (“to un-sin” someone, meaning cleanse) or denominative (“make a sin offering for someone”). It is surely connected to the purification offering, and so a sense of purify is what is wanted here.

[19:19]  ¹¹ tn The construction uses a simple Piel of חָטָא (khata’, “to purify”) with a pronominal suffix – “he shall purify him.” Some commentators take this to mean that after he sprinkles the unclean then he must purify himself. But that would not be the most natural way to read this form.

[1:11]  ¹² tn Heb “to enter to possess the land which the Lord your God is giving to you to possess it.”

[1:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “Get up!”

[1:2]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “this Jordan”; the word “River” has been supplied in the translation for clarity (likewise in v. 11).

[1:2]  ¹⁵ tc Heb “Cross over this Jordan, you and all these people, to the land that I am giving to them, to the children of Israel.” The final phrase, “to the children of Israel,” is probably a later scribal addition specifying the identity of “these people/them.”

[20:5]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “for without knowledge he killed his neighbor, and he was not hating him prior to that.”

[5:1]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “of the house of the king”; NASB, NRSV “of the king’s palace.”

[5:1]  ¹⁸ 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.

[5:1]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “the entrance of the house” (so ASV).

[6:2]  ²⁰ 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).

[6:2]  ²¹ 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).

[6:2]  ²² 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.

[13:32]  ²³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “but” to indicate the contrast present in this context.

[13:32]  ²⁴ tn The participle πορευθέντες (poreuqente") has been taken as indicating attendant circumstance.

[13:32]  ²⁵ sn That fox. This is not fundamentally a figure for cleverness as in modern western culture, but could indicate (1) an insignificant person (Neh 4:3; 2 Esd 13:35 LXX); (2) a deceiver (Song Rabbah 2.15.1 on 2:15); or someone destructive, a destroyer (Ezek 13:4; Lam 5:18; 1 En. 89:10, 42-49, 55). Luke’s emphasis seems to be on destructiveness, since Herod killed John the Baptist, whom Luke calls “the greatest born of women” (Luke 7:28) and later stands opposed to Jesus (Acts 4:26-28). In addition, “a person who is designated a fox is an insignificant or base person. He lacks real power and dignity, using cunning deceit to achieve his aims” (H. W. Hoehner, Herod Antipas [SNTSMS], 347).

[13:32]  ²⁶ sn The third day is a figurative reference to being further on in time, not a reference to three days from now. Jesus is not even in Jerusalem yet, and the events of the last days in Jerusalem take a good week.

[13:32]  ²⁷ tn Or “I reach my goal.” The verb τελειόω (teleiow) is a key NT term for the completion of God’s plan: See Luke 12:50; 22:37; John 19:30; and (where it has the additional component of meaning “to perfect”) Heb 2:10; 5:8-9; 7:28.

[13:1]  ²⁸ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “now” to indicate the transition to a new topic.

[13:1]  ²⁹ sn This is an event that otherwise is unattested, though several events similar to it are noted in Josephus (J. W. 2.9.2-4 [2.169-177]; Ant. 13.13.5 [13.372-73], 18.3.1-2 [18.55-62]; 18.4.1 [18.85-87]). It would have caused a major furor.

[1:4]  ³⁰ tn The adverbial participle ἀκούσαντες (akousante") is understood to be temporal and translated with “since.” A causal idea may also be in the apostle’s mind, but the context emphasizes temporal ideas, e.g., “from the day” (v. 6).