If someone were to go shopping τὸ τρίτον (either a or the) it wouldn't mean they bought the same things all over again.David Lee wrote:Perhaps something worth a second look would be what's in focus when the author writes, "λέγει αὐτῷ τὸ τρίτον". If it means "he said a third time", then it lends itself to the view that all three of Jesus' questions were the same, whereas if it means "he said the third time", then it might be highlighting the fact that the third question was different than the previous two.
Of course there is some repetition, but the structure of the phrase makes it clear that he is not saying the same thing, because it actually tells us / quotes what is being said, and they are not the same.
Perhaps it is a subtle difference, but I take τὸ τρίτον here in John 21 as a narrative device, not as a repetition of the same event exactly.
In Mark 14, ἔρχεται καὶ εὑρίσκει (vs.37) and asked why they were sleeping, ὑποστρέψας εὗρεν αὐτοὺς πάλιν (vs.40 Byz 2005 text) / (πάλιν ἐλθὼν εὗρεν αὐτοὺς NAUBS text) and just looked at them (they couldn't even respond to his coming), and ἔρχεται τὸ τρίτον , καὶ λέγει αὐτοῖς (vs.41) and told them to have their rest. The coming was presumably the same, but what happened each time was different. In Luke 23, there is a narrative in three steps constructed around adverbs none (vs.14), πάλιν (vs.20), τρίτον (vs.22).
We find another example of this in Xenophon, Hellenica 3.3.4,
Where sacrificing forms the basis of the narrative.Τὰ Ἑλληνικὰ τοῦ Ξενοφώντος 3.3.4 wrote:Οὔπω δ᾽ ἐνιαυτὸν ὄντος ἐν τῇ βασιλείᾳ Ἀγησιλάου, θύοντος αὐτοῦ τῶν τεταγμένων τινὰ θυσιῶν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως εἶπεν ὁ μάντις ὅτι ἐπιβουλήν τινα τῶν δεινοτάτων φαίνοιεν οἱ θεοί. ἐπεὶ δὲ πάλιν ἔθυεν, ἔτι δεινότερα ἔφη τὰ ἱερὰ φαίνεσθαι. τὸ τρίτον δὲ θύοντος, εἶπεν· Ὦ Ἀγησίλαε, ὥσπερ εἰ ἐν αὐτοῖς εἴημεν τοῖς πολεμίοις, οὕτω μοι σημαίνεται. ἐκ δὲ τούτου θύοντες καὶ τοῖς ἀποτροπαίοις καὶ τοῖς σωτῆρσι, καὶ μόλις καλλιερήσαντες, ἐπαύσαντο.
In contrast to that, I think that in 2 Corinthians 12:14 (and 13:1) the τρίτον is used in the sequence πρῶτον, δεύτερον, τρίτον - the first time he came, the second time he came and the (then forthcoming) third time he came, and he intends to say the same thing.