Exploring the Meaning of Tris in Greek

τρίς expresses a precise, counted repetition: “three times.” In the New Testament it marks a foretold series of denials, a repeated visionary action, and repeated experiences and petitions described by Paul.

Occurrences

Matthew 26:34 — “Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you that tonight, before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.””

Here τρίς fixes the number of denials in advance. The word does not simply predict failure; it sets a definite limit and pattern to what will happen “tonight,” framed by the time marker “before the rooster crows.”

Matthew 26:75 — “Peter remembered the word which Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows, you will deny me three times.” Then he went out and wept bitterly.”

In Peter’s recollection, τρίς becomes the remembered measure of what he has done. The counted repetition sharpens the force of the memory: Peter recalls not only that he denied Jesus, but that he did so to the full number Jesus had named, and the narrative links that remembered “three times” to his bitter weeping.

Mark 14:30 — “Jesus said to him, “Most certainly I tell you, that you today, even this night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.””

Mark places τρίς alongside another numerical marker (“before the rooster crows twice”), giving the scene a double counting: the rooster’s crowing is numbered, and Peter’s denials are numbered. τρίς defines the scope of Peter’s coming denial as a repeated action that will be completed within a tightly bounded timeframe.

Mark 14:72 — “The rooster crowed the second time. Peter remembered the word, how that Jesus said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” When he thought about that, he wept.”

After “the second time” of the rooster’s crow, τρίς stands in the remembered saying as the corresponding count on Peter’s side of the prediction. The wording “you will deny me three times” functions as the remembered tally that makes the moment unmistakable; the narrative then records his weeping as his response to that realization.

Luke 22:34 — “He said, “I tell you, Peter, the rooster will by no means crow today until you deny that you know me three times.””

Luke presents τρίς as the decisive threshold that must be reached “until” the rooster crows. The denial is also specified in content (“deny that you know me”), and τρίς quantifies how many times that specific denial will be voiced before the time marker arrives.

Luke 22:61 — “The Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then Peter remembered the Lord’s word, how he said to him, “Before the rooster crows you will deny me three times.””

In this recollection, τρίς is the remembered count embedded in “the Lord’s word.” The narrative places the remembered “three times” immediately after “The Lord turned and looked at Peter,” so the word functions as part of the inner reckoning that follows that look: the prediction’s precise number returns to Peter’s mind.

John 13:38 — “Jesus answered him, “Will you lay down your life for me? Most certainly I tell you, the rooster won’t crow until you have denied me three times.”

John uses τρίς within a direct contrast between Peter’s stated readiness (“lay down your life”) and what will actually happen before the rooster crows. The adverb marks the repeated nature of the denial, and the “until” clause treats that threefold denial as the event that will be completed first.

Acts 10:16 — “This was done three times, and immediately the vessel was received up into heaven.”

Here τρίς counts a repeated action (“This was done”) in a visionary setting involving “the vessel” and its immediate removal “up into heaven.” The threefold repetition underscores that what occurred was not a single, fleeting event; it happened in a counted series before the scene concludes with the vessel’s withdrawal.

Acts 11:10 — “This was done three times, and all were drawn up again into heaven.”

This verse repeats the same threefold counting, now adding that “all were drawn up again into heaven.” τρίς again serves to quantify the repetition of the event, giving it the character of a thrice-repeated action before the upward drawing up that ends the sequence.

2 Corinthians 11:25 — “Three times I was beaten with rods. Once I was stoned. Three times I suffered shipwreck. I have been a night and a day in the deep.”

Paul uses τρίς twice in a compact catalog of hardships. The word functions as a concrete tally: his beatings “with rods” are not described generally but numbered, and his shipwrecks are likewise numbered, set beside other counted experiences (“Once I was stoned”) and a measured duration (“a night and a day”).

2 Corinthians 12:8 — “Concerning this thing, I begged the Lord three times that it might depart from me.”

In this personal report, τρίς counts Paul’s repeated pleading (“I begged the Lord”), tied to a specific request (“that it might depart from me”). The adverb portrays persistence expressed in a defined number of appeals, not an indefinite or continuous state.

Sense and Usage

Across these passages, τρίς functions as a counting word that turns an action into a measured sequence. It does not describe intensity by itself; it describes recurrence with a fixed total. That fixed total can be predictive (spoken beforehand) or retrospective (remembered afterward), and it can mark repetition in speech, action, experience, or prayer.

In the Gospel sayings about Peter, τρίς is embedded in time-bound clauses that create a clear narrative threshold. The repeated denial is anchored to the rooster’s crowing, often introduced with “before” or “until,” so the threefold count helps structure the event as something that will be completed within the night. Because the statements are framed as direct speech (“Most certainly I tell you…”), τρίς contributes to the sayings’ concreteness: the prediction is not left open-ended but given a specific number that can later be remembered as fulfilled.

The remembrance scenes show another side of the word’s usage: τρίς becomes the remembered detail that crystallizes recognition. When Peter “remembered the word,” the recalled “three times” serves as a mental tally that connects what has happened with what was spoken. In these narratives, the number is not incidental; it is the memorable shape of the failure described.

In Acts, τρίς counts a repeated visionary event and is paired with concluding motion upward (“received up into heaven,” “drawn up again into heaven”). The threefold repetition functions as a deliberate sequence that precedes the scene’s closure. Counting the action three times gives the report a sense of structured repetition: what was seen or done was repeated in a defined series before it ended.

In 2 Corinthians, τρίς serves the rhetoric of enumeration. Paul is not giving vague generalities about hardship or devotion; he is reporting items with numbers attached. The adverb enables that inventory-like style: “Three times I was beaten with rods… Three times I suffered shipwreck…” and “I begged the Lord three times…” In each case, τρίς marks events as countable and thus recallable, whether those events are external sufferings or repeated appeals to the Lord.

Taken together, these uses show τρίς as a precise marker of repetition that can shape narrative timing (before/until), intensify recollection (a remembered tally), and support sober reporting (a numbered list of experiences and petitions). The word’s contribution is consistently the same kind of clarity: it states exactly how many times the action occurred.

Imagery

The passages cluster around scenes where counting matters: a night framed by the rooster’s crow, a vessel lifted into heaven after a thrice-repeated action, and a life recounted in numbered hardships and prayers. In each setting, τρίς gives repetition a visible edge—an action repeated to a definite total, after which the story moves forward: Peter remembers and weeps, the vessel is drawn up, and Paul’s account proceeds from numbered events to their larger significance.

Sources: Lexical data from Strong’s Exhaustive Concordance and the Translators Brief Lexicon of Extended Strongs for Greek (STEPBible, CC BY). Occurrence data from the Translators Amalgamated Greek New Testament (STEPBible, CC BY). Scripture quotations from the World English Bible (public domain).