Chapter Thomas the Rhymer to Three of T by Brewer's Readers Handbook

(3) Miscellaneous Threes. Joshua sent three men from each tribe to survey the land of Canaan (Josh. xviii. 4). Job had three friends (Job ii. 11). Abraham was accosted by three men (angels), with whom he pleaded to spare the cities of the plain (Gen. xviii. 2). Nebuchadnezzar cast three men into the fiery furnace (Dan. iii. 24). David had three mighty men of valour, and one of them slew 300 of the Philistines with his spear (2 Sam. xxiii. 9, 18). Nebuchadnezzar’s image was three score cubits high (Dan. iii. 1). Moses was hidden three months from the Egyptian police (Exod. ii. 2). The ark of the covenant was three months in the house of Obed-edom (2 Sam. vi. 11). Balaam smote his ass three times before the beast upbraided him (Numb. xxii. 28). Samson mocked Delilah three times (Judg. xvi. 15). Elijah stretched himself three times on the child which he restored to life (1 Kings xvii. 21). The little horn plucked up three horns by the roots (Dan. vii. 8). The bear seen by Daniel in his vision had three ribs in its mouth (ver. 5). Joab slew Absalom with three darts (2 Sam. xviii. 14). God gave David the choice of three chastisements (2 Sam. xxiv. 12). The great famine in David’s reign lasted three years (2 Sam. xxi. 1); so did the great drought in Ahab’s reign (Luke iv. 25). There were three men transfigured on the mount, and three spectators (Matt. xvii. 1–4). The sheet was let down to Peter three times (Acts x. 16). There are three Christian graces: Faith, hope, and charity (1 Cor. xiii. 13). There are three that bear record in heaven, and three that bear witness on earth (1 John v. 7, 8). There were three unclean spirits that came out of the mouth of the dragon (Rev. xvi. 13). So again. Every ninth wave is said to be the largest.

[They] watched the great sea fall,
Wave after wave, each mightier than the last;
Till last, a ninth one, gathering half the deep
And full of voices, slowly rose and plunged,
Roaring, and all the wave was in a flame.
   —Tennyson: The Holy Grail (1858–59).

A wonder is said to last three times three days. The scourge used for criminals is (or used to be) a “cat o’ nine tails.” Possession is nine points of the law, being equal to (1) money to make good a claim, (2) patience to carry a suit through, (3) a good cause, (4) a good lawyer, (5) a good counsel, (6) good witnesses, (7) a good jury, (8) a good judge, (9) good luck. Leases used to be granted for 999 years. Ordeals by fire consisted of three times three red-hot ploughshares.

There are three times three crowns recognized in heraldry, and three times three marks of cadency.

We show honour by a three times three in drinking a health.

The worthies are three Jews, three pagans, and three Christians: viz. Joshua, David, and Judas Maccabæus; Hector, Alexander, and Julius Cæsar; Arthur, Charlemagne, and Godfrey of Bouillon. The worthies of London are three times three also: (1) sir William Walworth, (2) sir Henry Pritchard, (3) sir William Sevenoke, (4) sir Thomas White, (5) sir John Bonham, (6) Christopher Croker, (7) sir John Hawkwood, (8) sir Hugh Caverley, (9) sir Henry Maleverer (Richard Johnson: The Nine Worthies of London).

Those who take any interest in this subject can easily multiply the examples here set down to a much greater number. (See below, the Welsh Triads.)