הֶ֭אֱכַלְתָּם לֶ֣חֶם דִּמְעָ֑ה וַ֝תַּשְׁקֵ֗מוֹ בִּדְמָע֥וֹת שָׁלִֽישׁ׃
האָסט זײ געשפּײַזט מיט ברױט פֿון טרערן, און זײ געמאַכט טרינקען עמערסװײַז טרערן.
Radak
the Torah mentions three species of animals (mammals) which are basically fit to be offered as sacrificial animals, hinting thereby that as long as these kinds of animals would be offered on the altar to G’d in the prescribed manner, the Jewish people, Avram’s descendants, would not be exiled from their land. The reason why 3 of each species were to be offered by Avram at this time was to apprise him of the fact there would indeed occur three exiles when his descendants would be forcefully uprooted from their land. Their first such exile would be to the land of Egypt, also known as עגלה, calf (Jeremiah 46,20) עגלה יפה פיה מצרים, “Egypt is a handsome heifer.” In Psalms 80,6 the psalmist writes: ותשקמו בדמעות שליש, “You have fed them tears three times,” a prophetic prediction by the author that the exile of the Jewish people in Egypt would not be their only one, but that two more were to follow.
Rashi
and measured by thirds Heb. בַּשָּׁלִשׁ, and measured by thirds, one third wilderness, one third civilization, and one third seas and rivers. Another interpretation: בַּשָּׁלִשׁ, from the thumb to the middle finger, the third of the fingers. Menahem explains it as the name of a vessel. Comp. (Ps. 80:6) “And You gave them to drink tears with a vessel (שָׁלִישׁ) .”