I was recently stumbled across a jewel of a journal article, from Dr. Jim Hamilton on the ways David is a type of Christ. It is chuck full of useful information on typology and David in particular, but tucked away in there is a fascinating discussion of the typology of the expression “on the third day.”

I’ve recently wondered about Paul’s contention that Jesus rose from the dead “on the third day in accordance with the scriptures” (1 Cor. 15:4). What Hamilton writes below provides more insight into a possible background for Paul’s understanding of the OT Scriptures with regard to the third day.

ON THE THIRD DAY

The narrator of Samuel is clear about the sequence of events surrounding Saul’s death. While David was living in Ziklag under the authority of Achish the Philistine king of Gath (1 Sam 27:6), the Philistines mustered their forces for battle against Israel (28:1). Saul panicked (28:5) and sought out a medium (28:7). When he went to the witch of Endor, he had an encounter with Samuel, whom the witch brought up for him (28:11-14). Among other things, Samuel told Saul, “Tomorrow you and your sons shall be with me” (28:19), that is, dead.

The next day, on which Saul would join Samuel, appears to be the day that David was sent home by the Philistine lords who feared that he would turn on them in battle (29:1-11). Curiously, the narrator of Samuel then relates that David and his men found their home city of Ziklag raided when they arrived “on the third day” (1 Sam 30:1). This seems to be the third day after the Philistines mustered for battle against Israel (cf. 30:13). In this way, the narrator shows that David was not with the Philistines in battle when Saul met his end. The narrator then relates what happened on the day the Philistines dismissed David: they defeated Saul’s army and Saul took his own life (31:1-7). This means that a death brought the reign of the king who opposed the Lord’s anointed to an end. Three days later, David overcame the thought his men had of stoning him, “strengthened himself in the Lord his God” (30:6), and, rising from the near stoning, pursued his enemies, and recaptured his people—all of them. But this is not the only significant third day in this account. 2 Samuel 1 opens by relating that after David had struck the Amelakites who had raided Ziklag, he remained in Ziklag for two days, and then “on the third day” the messenger came with the news that Saul was dead (2 Sam 1:1-2). This means that “on the third day” David conquered his enemies, took captivity captive, and gave gifts to men when he sent spoil to the elders of Judah (1 Sam 30:26-31). And then “on the third day” he received news that the death of Saul meant that as the Lord’s anointed he, David, was now to be king.

Nor are these the only two significant “third days” in the Old Testament: Abraham went to sacrifice Isaac “on the third day” (Gen 22:4). Yahweh came down on Mount Sinai to meet Israel “on the third day” (Exod 19:11, 16). The Lord raised up Hezekiah “on the third day” (2 Kgs 20:5). The second temple was completed “on the third day” (Ezra 6:15). Esther interceded on behalf of the Jewish people “on the third day” (Esth 5:1). And perhaps most significantly, Jonah was in the belly of the whale “three days and three nights” (Jon 2:1 [ET 1:17]), while Hosea prophesied that the people, having been torn by Yahweh as by a lion (Hos 5:14-6:1), would be raised up “on the third day” (6:2).

These significant events in the Old Testament took place “on the third day,” and this pattern found its fulfillment when Jesus “was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures” (1 Cor 15:4). Perhaps the references in the Old Testament to the remarkable things that took place “on the third day” were themselves read typologically by Hosea, leading him to the conclusion that the restoration of the people after Yahweh’s judgment of the nation would take place “on the third day” (Hos 6:2, cf. 5:14-6:1). Perhaps the same typological reading of these instances led Jesus to the conclusion that he would be the suffering servant who would be torn by Yahweh’s judgment and then raised up “on the third day” (cf. Matt 16:21; Mark 8:31; Luke 9:22).

Just as David defeated the Amelakites on the third day (1 Sam 30:1), Jesus defeated death on the third day. As David took captivity captive and gave gifts to men, Jesus did the same (cf. Eph 4:8-11). Just as David received word that Saul was no more on the third day (2 Sam 2:1), Acts 13:33 links the announcement of enthronement from Psalm 2:7, “You are my Son; today I have begotten you” to the resurrection: “this he has fulfilled to us their children by raising Jesus, as also it is written in the second Psalm, ‘You are my Son, today I have begotten you’” (Acts 13:33). The death of the reigning king brought the end of hostility, and the news of that death announced the beginning of the reign of the Lord’s anointed.

…D. A. Carson’s conclusion regarding Jesus being raised from the dead on the third day “according to the Scriptures” is similar: “It is difficult to make sense of such claims unless some form of typology is recognized…. The cross and the resurrection of the Messiah were, in Paul’s view, anticipated by the patterns of Old Testament revelation.”

— excerpted from pg. 16-17, Southern Baptist Theological Journal, (volume 16, number 2 -Summer 2012), “The Typology of David’s Rise to Power: Messianic Patterns in the Book of Samuel” – (accessible online here).