What does τρίτος (trítos) mean in the Bible?
Tritos is the Greek word for third. It can count a third person, third hour, third time, third day, third part, or third item in a sequence.
Greek · G5154
τρίτος
Third
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τρίτος G5154
Pronunciation trítos
What does τρίτος (trítos) mean in the Bible?
Tritos is the Greek word for third. It can count a third person, third hour, third time, third day, third part, or third item in a sequence.
Reader summary
Full entry for τρίτος (G5154) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render G5154?
The BSB source-word alignment has 56 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include third (33), [the] third (3), - (2), a third (2), a third time (2).
Where does τρίτος (trítos) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 16:21. Its strongest book concentrations include Revelation (23), Luke (10), Matthew (7), Acts (4).
What This Word Actually Means
Tritos is the Greek word for third. It can count a third person, third hour, third time, third day, third part, or third item in a sequence. The word is ordinary, but several New Testament passages make the third day central to the resurrection announcement. Jesus repeatedly teaches that He will suffer, be killed, and be raised on the third day. Luke says the risen Christ opened the Scriptures around that pattern.
Paul summarizes the gospel by saying Christ was buried and raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Tritos does not make the resurrection true by numerology. It marks the appointed time in the apostolic proclamation. The same word can also count John's Cana scene or the third post-resurrection appearance by the sea, so teachers must let each passage decide whether the count is narrative sequence, prophetic fulfillment, or apocalyptic structure.
How the Bible Uses It
Tritos counts what is third in a sequence. Its strongest gospel use is the third-day resurrection pattern, but it also appears in ordinary narrative and apocalyptic sequences where the local context governs the claim.
- Matt.16.21
From that time on Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests, and scribes, and that He must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.
Jesus begins openly teaching that He must suffer, be killed, and be raised on the third day, so the number belongs to His passion prediction.
- Matt.20.19
And will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. And on the third day He will be raised to life.”
The third day appears again in Jesus' road-to-Jerusalem instruction, tying mockery, crucifixion, and resurrection together.
- Luke.24.46
And He told them, “This is what is written: The Christ will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day,
The risen Christ says the Scriptures witness that the Christ would suffer and rise on the third day.
- 1Cor.15.4
That He was buried, that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures,
Paul includes the third day in the gospel summary, not as a decorative time marker but as part of apostolic proclamation according to the Scriptures.
- John.2.1
On the third day a wedding took place at Cana in Galilee. Jesus’ mother was there,
John's third day at Cana is narrative sequencing near the first sign and should not be collapsed into resurrection language without textual care.
- John.21.14
This was now the third time that Jesus appeared to the disciples after He was raised from the dead.
John counts the third post-resurrection appearance to the disciples, using the number to mark witness sequence after the resurrection.
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It third 33× Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:23, Matthew 20:19, Matthew 27:64
[the] third 3× Mark 15:25, Luke 24:21, 2 Corinthians 12:2
- 2× Revelation 8:12
a third 2× Luke 20:12, Revelation 14:9
a third time 2× John 21:17, 2 Corinthians 12:14
the third 2× Matthew 20:3, Acts 23:23
third [day] 2× Luke 13:32, Acts 27:19
third time 2× Mark 14:41, John 21:17
[a] third time 1× Matthew 26:44
[only the] third 1× Acts 2:15
[the] third [time] 1× 2 Corinthians 13:1
A third [time] 1× Luke 23:22
the third time [that] 1× John 21:14
third [angel] 1× Revelation 16:4
third [brothers] 1× Matthew 22:26
third [did] 1× Mark 12:21
Show sample aligned rows
Matthew 16:21 τρίτῃ to third Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular Matthew 17:23 τρίτῃ to third Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular Matthew 20:3 τρίτην to the third Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular Matthew 20:19 τρίτῃ to third Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular Matthew 22:26 τρίτος to third [brothers] Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular Matthew 26:44 τρίτου to [a] third time Adjective - Genitive Neuter Singular Matthew 27:64 τρίτης to third Adjective - Genitive Feminine Singular Mark 12:21 τρίτος to third [did] Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular Mark 14:41 τρίτον to third time Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular Mark 15:25 τρίτη to [the] third Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Matthew 16:21
Aligned rows 56
Books represented 8
Matthew 7 Mark 3 Luke 10 John 4 Acts 4 1 Corinthians 2 2 Corinthians 3 Revelation 23
Source forms
τρίτον 24x triton Mark 14:41, Luke 20:12, Luke 23:22, John 21:14
τρίτῃ 13x tritē Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:23, Matthew 20:19, Luke 9:22
τρίτος 7x tritos Matthew 22:26, Mark 12:21, Luke 20:31, Revelation 8:10
τρίτη 3x tritē Mark 15:25, Acts 2:15, Revelation 11:14
τρίτην 3x tritēn Matthew 20:3, Luke 24:21, Revelation 6:5
τρίτου 3x tritou Matthew 26:44, 2 Corinthians 12:2, Revelation 6:5
τρίτης 2x tritēs Matthew 27:64, Acts 23:23
Τρίτον 1x Triton 2 Corinthians 13:1
Parsing patterns
Adjective - Dative Feminine Singular 13x Matthew 16:21, Matthew 17:23, Matthew 20:19, Luke 9:22
Adjective - Nominative Neuter Singular 13x Revelation 4:7, Revelation 8:7, Revelation 8:8, Revelation 8:9
Adjective - Accusative Neuter Singular 11x Mark 14:41, Luke 23:22, John 21:14, John 21:17
Adjective - Nominative Masculine Singular 7x Matthew 22:26, Mark 12:21, Luke 20:31, Revelation 8:10
Adjective - Accusative Feminine Singular 3x Matthew 20:3, Luke 24:21, Revelation 6:5
Adjective - Nominative Feminine Singular 3x Mark 15:25, Acts 2:15, Revelation 11:14
Adjective - Genitive Feminine Singular 2x Matthew 27:64, Acts 23:23
Adjective - Genitive Neuter Singular 2x Matthew 26:44, Revelation 6:5
Using This Word Well
Be careful not to...
- Use third-day language to strengthen confidence in the resurrection as promised, scriptural, and publicly proclaimed.
- Let ordinary sequencing remain ordinary where the passage is simply counting a day, time, or item.
Avoid claiming...
- Do not claim that every use of tritos points to the resurrection. The noun and context must show that connection.
- Do not claim that the resurrection depends on symbolic meaning in the number. The gospel claim rests on Christ being raised according to the Scriptures.
Evidence Summary
Greek word. Marks chronological sequence or division; in Revelation, often quantifies catastrophic judgment affecting one-third of creation.
Strong's G5154
Lexical occurrences 55 verses Greek text appearances 57 times 16 shown below Word forms 9 forms 55 references Verse guides 0 guides
Study link Luke 12:35-48 Source Gloss
third
Greek Text Appearances
Textus Receptus witness, full corpus Greek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 57 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
Matthew 16:21 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
τρίτῃ trith
third
Read verse Matthew 17:23 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
τρίτῃ trith
third
Read verse Matthew 20:3 Adjective Accusative Singular Feminine
τρίτην trithn
third
Read verse Matthew 20:19 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
τρίτῃ trith
third
Read verse Matthew 22:26 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
τρίτος, tritov
third
Read verse Matthew 26:44 Adjective Genitive Singular Neuter
τρίτου, tritou
third
Read verse Matthew 27:64 Adjective Genitive Singular Feminine
τρίτης trithv
third
Read verse Mark 9:31 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
τρίτῃ trith
third
Read verse Mark 10:34 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
τρίτῃ trith
third
Read verse Mark 12:21 Adjective Nominative Singular Masculine
τρίτος tritov
third
Read verse Mark 14:41 Adjective Accusative Singular Neuter
τρίτον, triton
third
Read verse Mark 15:25 Adjective Nominative Singular Feminine
τρίτη, trith
third
Read verse Luke 9:22 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
τρίτῃ trith
third
Read verse Luke 12:38 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
τρίτῃ trith
third
Read verse Luke 13:32 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
τρίτῃ trith
third
Read verse Luke 18:33 Adjective Dative Singular Feminine
τρίτῃ trith
third
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
This word appears as a noun across 9 case and number patterns. The form changes show how the word functions in a sentence; they do not change the basic lexical meaning by themselves.
Form patterns 9 Aligned forms 55 Case pattern Nominative (23) Number pattern Singular (55)
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
Nominative · Singular · Neuter Rev 4:7 · Rev 8:7 · Rev 8:8 · Rev 8:9 · Rev 8:11 · Rev 8:12 · Rev 9:18 13×
Nominative · Singular · Masculine Matt 22:26 · Mark 12:21 · Luke 20:31 · Rev 8:10 · Rev 14:9 · Rev 16:4 · Rev 21:19 7×
Nominative · Singular · Feminine Mark 15:25 · Acts 2:15 · Rev 11:14 3×
Genitive · Singular · Neuter Matt 26:44 · Rev 6:5 2×
Genitive · Singular · Feminine Matt 27:64 · Acts 23:23 2×
Genitive · Singular · Masculine 2 Cor 12:2 1×
Dative · Singular · Feminine Matt 16:21 · Matt 17:23 · Matt 20:19 · Luke 9:22 · Luke 12:38 · Luke 13:32 · Luke 18:33 · Luke 24:7 · Luke 24:46 · John 2:1 · Acts 10:40 · Acts 27:19 · 1 Cor 15:4 13×
Accusative · Singular · Neuter Mark 14:41 · Luke 23:22 · John 21:14 · John 21:17 · 1 Cor 12:28 · 2 Cor 12:14 · 2 Cor 13:1 · Rev 8:10 · Rev 9:15 · Rev 12:4 11×
Accusative · Singular · Feminine Matt 20:3 · Luke 24:21 · Rev 6:5 3×
Selected Scripture Witnesses
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Biblical Witnesses
Ordinal numeral indicating sequence in time, the third watch of night
Ordinal numeral marking temporal sequence, the third day in resurrection prediction
Ordinal numeral indicating temporal sequence, the third day of resurrection prophecy
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 55 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
τρίτος is built from this root:
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
For the Preacher and Teacher
The pastoral center of tritos is the third-day resurrection witness. Jesus does not drift toward the cross as a tragedy that God later repairs. He teaches His disciples beforehand that He must suffer and be raised on the third day. Luke 24 presents that pattern as Scripture's witness, and 1 Corinthians 15 makes it part of the apostolic gospel summary. The number therefore serves proclamation: Christ died, was buried, and was raised according to the Scriptures.
At the same time, the word remains a normal ordinal. John 2:1 counts a day in the Cana narrative, and John 21:14 counts a post-resurrection appearance. Teachers should neither ignore the third-day gospel pattern nor force resurrection symbolism into every third occurrence. The passage supplies the weight.
Anchor passage
1Cor.15.4
Doctrinal connections
- G1453 Egeiro - third-day language often attaches to the raising of Jesus from the dead.
- G599 Apothnesko - passion predictions hold death and resurrection together in one necessary mission.
- G1124 Graphe - Luke 24 and 1 Corinthians 15 connect the third day to Scripture's witness.
- G3144 Martys - John 21:14 counts appearances that strengthen resurrection testimony.
- G4592 Semeion - John 2's third day belongs to the first sign setting, but its local function is narrative sequence.
- Matthew 16 and 20 - repeated third-day predictions prepare disciples to understand the cross under divine necessity.
Tritos is an ordinal adjective meaning third. Its noun determines the sense: third day, third time, third hour, third part, or third item. The theological force comes from the phrase and passage, not from the ordinal alone.
From Old to New Testament
The third-day pattern draws together Jesus' own predictions, the risen Lord's scriptural explanation in Luke 24, and Paul's received gospel summary in 1 Corinthians 15. It is not numerology, but apostolic testimony that the resurrection happened according to God's revealed purpose.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain