Three days and nights

[TonyChanYT]

1 Samuel 30:

11 They found an Egyptian in the open country and brought him to David. And they gave him bread and he ate. They gave him water to drink, 12 and they gave him a piece of a cake of figs and two clusters of raisins. And when he had eaten, his spirit revived, for he had not eaten bread or drunk water for three days and three nights.

Was this literal?

13 And David said to him, “To whom do you belong? And where are you from?” He said, “I am a young man of Egypt, servant to an Amalekite, and my master left me behind because I fell sick three days ago.

Not 4 days ago.

Benson explained:

Three days and nights — One whole day, and part of two others, as appears from the next verse, where he says, Three days ago I fell sick; but in the Hebrew it is, This is the third day since I fell sick. A young man of Egypt

Gill agreed:

for he had eaten no bread, nor drank any water, three days and three nights; that is, one whole day, and part of two days, as appears from 1 Samuel 30:13.

Some scholars believe that 3 days and 3 nights is a figure of speech for 3 days and 2 nights.