The cardinal number treis ('three,' neuter tria) appears 70 times in the New Testament. From the earliest times three held special significance in Greek and Semitic cultures alike, and the New Testament intensifies this: three days in the heart of the earth (Matt 12:40), three measures of flour (Matt 13:33), Peter's three denials and three affirmations, the three witnesses of 1 John 5:8. The word declines across all three genders (treis masculine/feminine, tria neuter) and occurs in genitive (trion) and dative (trisin) forms, but none of these inflections creates a distinct sense. Spanish tres, French trois, and German drei map to it with perfect uniformity.