The Meaning of the Number Three in Scripture—Part 2—Dependability, Strength, and Truth

Introduction and Review

This is the second part of a series that examines the number three and how it categorizes themes in Scripture. Part 1 studied the geometrical aspects of the number three that illustrate the stability and eternal qualities of triangles. (Links to all articles in this series are listed at the end of this installment.)

This lesson will explore the aspects of stability and truth associated with this number.

A young man demonstrates rope-making using three strands of twine at a reenactment of pioneer days.

The Dependability of Three

The Preacher in Ecclesiastes understood the strength and dependability of three.

... a threefold cord is not quickly broken.

— Ecclesiastes 4:12

Silk will demonstrate this in the next section.

The Strength of Silk

Silk is produced and used by worms and spiders to make webs and cocoons. This substance is said to be stronger than steel, pound for pound. Silk's strength is due to the prism-like triangular structure of its fibers. In the Bible, the dependability of a believable witness was primarily supported by three.

“By the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall be established.”
— 2 Corinthians 13:1

With God using His own standard

... there are three that bear witness in heaven: the Father, the Word, and the Holy Spirit; and these three are one
And there are three that bear witness on earth: the Spirit, the water, and the blood; and these three agree as one.
— I John 5:7-8

The truth is expressed as being stable and dependable, and used three times in the following verse in a description of the Lord Himself—notice also the reference to eternity.

... we know that the Son of God has come and has given us an understanding, that we may know Him who is (1) true; and we are in Him who is (2) true, in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the (3) true God and eternal life.
— I John 5:20

Jewish society's three pillars or foundations consist of the Torah, divine service to God, and acts of service to man. Sound familiar?

Jesus said to him, “‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like it: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments hang all the Law and the Prophets.”
— Matthew 22:37-40

Three Points of Contact

Many safety training tutorials include the "three points of contact" rule for climbing up or down objects or equipment to prevent falls and injuries. This rule is also a helpful tool when hiking or rock climbing. This means that ultimate stability and support in these activities are best achieved when three out of four limbs are in contact with stable objects and the ground. The above video details this further. Three is about stability and support.

A tripod stabilizes the camera for crisp, clear shots.

A Tripod of Truth

Tripods are also noted for their stability, and photographers and surveyors commonly use them to keep their equipment level and steady. They are much more stable than something supported by four legs.

The Old Testament Hebrew word for truth is "emet" (אמת) and consists of three Hebrew letters. "Aleph"(א) is the first letter of "emet"(אמת) and the first letter of the Hebrew aleph-bet. (Hebrew words are read from right to left) "Mem"(מ) is the middle letter and the very middle letter of the entire aleph-bet when considering the sofit letters. Sofit letters are different forms of specific letters when used at the end of a word, of which there are five. "Tav"(ת) is the last letter of "emet" (אמת) and the last letter of the aleph-bet. These first, middle, and last letters are like a tripod upon which all others stand.

The gematria (Hebrew numerical value associated with the letters) for "emet" (אמת) also adds up to 441, 3x7x7. The number of Hebrew aleph-bet letters, including the sofit letters, is 27, which equals 3x3x3.

The Hebrew Tanakh (Old Testament in Christian Bibles) consists of three sections: the Torah (the first five books of Moses), the Prophets, and the Writings. The Old Testament itself consists of 39 (3x13) books. The New consists of 27 (3x3x3) with a total of 66 (3x22). His Word and Truth are reliable, trustworthy, dependable, and even eternal.

In the Christian Bible, the Old Testament consists of 39 (3x13) books, and the New Testament consists of 27 (3x3x3) books, totaling 66 (3x22). His Word and Truth are reliable, trustworthy, dependable, and even eternal.

Forever, O Lord,
Your word is settled in heaven.

— Psalm 119:89

The entirety of Your word is truth,
And every one of Your righteous judgments endures forever.

— Psalm 119:160

The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.

— Isaiah 40:8

I will end this section with a word of wisdom from the book of Proverbs, linking the number three with truth.

1. Incline thine ear, and
2. hear words of the wise, and
3. thy heart set to my knowledge,

For they are pleasant when thou dost keep them in thy heart, They are prepared together for thy lips.

A) That thy trust may be in Jehovah, I caused thee to know to-day, even thou.
B) Have I not written to thee three times With counsels and knowledge?
A) To cause thee to know the certainty of sayings of truth, To return sayings of truth to those sending thee.

— Proverbs 22:19-21 (Young's Literal Translation)

The mention of three, as shown in the "B" verse, is framed by "trust" in the first "A" verse and "truth" in the second "A" verse above.

The number three represents the stable truth of God's Word.

The Alpha and Omega Greek letters

The Word of God—Alpha and Omega—Stable From Beginning to End

This section will observe how the number three categorizes the themes of stability and truth in God's Word. Let's begin with the fact that there are 66 (3x22) or (3x2x11) books in the Word of God. 66 is also the 11th triangular number. Sixty-six dots can be arranged into a triangle with none left over or missing. In arranging 66 dots into a triangle, there will be 11 on every side.

The 66th (3x22) chapter of the Word of God concerns the giving of Manna in the wilderness. Manna symbolizes the Word of God. The 66th word of the Bible in Hebrew, the original language of the Old Testament, is "et (את)," which is also the third word in the very first sentence of the Bible. "Et"(את) is a yet-to-be-defined, untranslated word that consists of an "aleph"(א) and a "tav" (ת), which are the first and last letters of the Hebrew aleph-bet. Think Alpha and Omega, the first and last letters of the Greek alphabet, and a well-known title of the Word of God Himself.

I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the first and the last.

Blessed are they that do his commandments, that they may have right to the tree of life, and may enter in through the gates into the city

— Revelation 22:13,14

The Book of Isaiah is a miniature Bible consisting of 66 chapters. The first 39 (3x13) chapters of the Old Testament comprise 39 books. Therefore, the fortieth chapter would mark the beginning of the New Testament, which contains 27 books (3x3x3). Let's look at chapter forty and see what it says.

“Comfort, yes, comfort My people!”
Says your God.
“Speak comfort to Jerusalem, and cry out to her,
That her warfare is ended,
That her iniquity is pardoned;
For she has received from the Lord’s hand
Double for all her sins.

”The voice of one crying in the wilderness:
“Prepare the way(literally turn your face to the way) of the Lord;
Make straight in the desert A highway for our God

— Isaiah 40:1-3

It begins just as the New Testament does, with a pardoner of sin that comes on the scene and a voice of repentance (John the Baptist) crying in the wilderness. The concepts of Alpha and Omega, Aleph and Tav, and First and Last are used three times in the book of Isaiah.

‘I, the Lord, am the first;
And with the last I am He.’”

— Isaiah 41:4 “Thus says the Lord, the King of Israel,

And his Redeemer, the Lord of hosts:
‘I am the First, and I am the Last;
Besides Me there is no God.

— Isaiah 44:6

I am He, I am the First,
I am also the Last.

— Isaiah 48:12

The words "Alpha and Omega" combined with "Beginning and End" are used three times in the Book of Revelation.

1. To Him who loved us and washed us from our sins in His own blood, and has made us kings and priests to His God and Father, to Him be glory and dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Behold, He is coming with clouds, and every eye will see Him, even they who pierced Him. And all the tribes of the earth will mourn because of Him. Even so, Amen.

“I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End, who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty.”

— Revelation 1:5-8

2. Then He who sat on the throne said, “Behold, I make all things new.” And He said to me, “Write, for these words are true and faithful.” And He said to me, “It is done! I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be My son.
— Revelation 21:5-7

3.“And behold, I am coming quickly, and My reward is with Me, to give to every one according to his work.

1. I am the Alpha and the Omega,
2. the Beginning and the End, the three.
3.First and Last.

Blessed are those who do His commandments, that they may have the right to the tree of life, and may enter through the gates into the city.
— Revelation 22:12-14

Notice that in the third account, all three phrases are used.

The Bible, in its original languages, consists of Hebrew in the Old Testament and Greek in the New Testament, as represented by the revelation of "et" (את) and the Alpha and Omega.

An interesting bonus note is that Biblical Hebrew is actually three languages in one.

1. It is a language expressed in pictographs.

2. It is a language expressed with numbers.

3. It is also the oldest phonetic language.

The Bible Wheel—Three Divisions

If we lined up all the books of the Bible (God's dependable, unchanging truth) and then rolled them up three times, each roll would contain 22 books. If we thought of this as a wheel with spokes, as diagrammed in the first of the two images in this section, each spoke would include three books.

Considering there are 22 letters in the Hebrew aleph-bet, we could title all the spokes with each letter. Fascinatingly, when viewing the three books of each spoke, and their headed-letter pictograph interpretations, all of them are consistent in theme and language.

Looking at the wheel example above, you can see how the first and last letters meet at the top of the wheel and form the word "et" (את) as discussed earlier in connection with Alpha and Omega.

A 22-degree halo around the Moon.

The 22 Degree Halo

22's relationship to three is exhibited in a phenomenon known as the 22-degree halo. A halo forms around the sun or moon when the light gets refracted through "hexagonal" (6 - 3x2-sided figure) ice crystals. This phenomenon visualizes God's light refracting through the wheel of His Word, illuminating the darkness. The writer of Proverbs made this connection between words and wheels when viewed in a literal translation.

A word fitly (ophan - wheel or to revolve like a wheel) spoken is like apples of gold
In settings of silver.

— Proverbs 25:11

The word "fitly" in the above verse is translated from a Hebrew word meaning "wheel" or "to revolve like a wheel."

A word-for-word literal rendering of this passage of Scripture would be "apples of gold (Godliness) in setting silver (Redemption) words spoken upon the wheel."

There are technically 3 colors in a rainbow.

As It Pertains to Rainbows

"The pure white light of the sun appears to be absolutely uniform; however, when passed through a prism, it is manifest to be composed of three colors of equal length in the spectrum of light: red, yellow, and blue. The rest of the colors of the rainbow result from the overlapping of these three primary colors ... Equal amounts of red, yellow, and blue blend together into one to make a pure white light."

— John D. Garr, Ph.D. "God's Lamp Man's Light"

Sources used for all parts of this series can be found in Part 20, the final installment.