וַיֹּ֣אמֶר אֵלָ֗יו קְחָ֥ה לִי֙ עֶגְלָ֣ה מְשֻׁלֶּ֔שֶׁת וְעֵ֥ז מְשֻׁלֶּ֖שֶׁת וְאַ֣יִל מְשֻׁלָּ֑שׁ וְתֹ֖ר וְגוֹזָֽל׃
האָט ער צו אים געזאָגט: נעם מיר אַ דרײַיאָריקע קו, און אַ דרײַיאָריקע ציג, און אַ דרײַיאָריקן װידער, און אַ טורטלטױב, און אַ יונגע טױב.
Rashi
עגלה משלשת means THREE HEIFERS: symbolical of three sacrifices of bullocks, viz., the bullock offered on the Day of Atonement, the bullock offered when the correct interpretation of a precept was unknown (העלם) to leaders of the nation (see Leviticus 4:13), and the heifer whose neck had to be broken (see Deuteronomy 21:4) (Genesis Rabbah 44:14).
Ramban
A HEIFER ‘MESHULESHETH’ AND A SHE-GOAT ‘MESHULESHETH.’ Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra explained the word meshulesheth as meaning three years old. But Onkelos said “three.”259“Three heifers and three she-goats.” (Onkelos.) This is indeed correct since a three-year old cow is no longer called eglah (heifer), just as we have learned in a Mishnah:260Parah 1:1. And here when the verse says eglah (heifer) it cannot therefore refer to a three-year old, as Ibn Ezra says. “But the Sages say that an eglah (heifer) is two years old; a parah (cow) is three years old.”
The allusion here is to the three sacrifices261The heifer, the she-goat and the ram. which his seed will bring from them before Him: the Whole-offering, the Sin-offering and the Peace-offering. And as for the Guilt-offering, that is like the Sin-offering,262Leviticus 7:7. the difference between them being merely in the name.
It is possible that the meaning of the word meshulesheth is that he bring the three of them consecutively, each kind remaining separate. A similar use of this word is found in the verse, For they were in ‘meshulashoth’ (three) stories,263Ezekiel 42:6. meaning that there were upper, middle and lower chambers.
The allusion here is to the three sacrifices261The heifer, the she-goat and the ram. which his seed will bring from them before Him: the Whole-offering, the Sin-offering and the Peace-offering. And as for the Guilt-offering, that is like the Sin-offering,262Leviticus 7:7. the difference between them being merely in the name.
It is possible that the meaning of the word meshulesheth is that he bring the three of them consecutively, each kind remaining separate. A similar use of this word is found in the verse, For they were in ‘meshulashoth’ (three) stories,263Ezekiel 42:6. meaning that there were upper, middle and lower chambers.
Radak
'ויאמר אליו קחה לי וגו, the purpose of Avram taking these animals was to offer them to Gd as a sacrifice. G’d would use this sacrifice to illustrate to Avram the future of his descendants, their settlement in the land of Canaan, as well as their exile from that land. By means of these animal sacrifices G’d would conclude a covenant with Avram that was not subject to permanent dissolution, ever. Concluding a covenant is a procedure such as follows in the next verse, ויבתר אותם בתוך. In Jeremiah 34,18 the prophet spells this out more clearly, עגלה אשר כרתו לשנים ויעבר בין בתריו, “(like) the calf which they cut in two so as to pass between the halves”