Reference: Cistern
Easton
the rendering of a Hebrew word bor, which means a receptacle for water conveyed to it; distinguished from beer, which denotes a place where water rises on the spot (Jer 2:13; Pr 5:15; Isa 36:16), a fountain. Cisterns are frequently mentioned in Scripture. The scarcity of springs in Palestine made it necessary to collect rain-water in reservoirs and cisterns (Nu 21:22). (See Well.)
Empty cisterns were sometimes used as prisons (Jer 38:6; La 3:53; Ps 40:2; 69:15). The "pit" into which Joseph was cast (Ge 37:24) was a beer or dry well. There are numerous remains of ancient cisterns in all parts of Palestine.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it.
Let me go through your land: we will not go into field or vine-garden, or take the water of the springs; we will go by the highway till we have gone past the limits of your land.
He took me up out of a deep waste place, out of the soft and sticky earth; he put my feet on a rock, and made my steps certain.
Let me not be covered by the flowing waters; let not the deep waters go over my head, and let me not be shut up in the underworld.
Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.
Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says, Make peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring;
For my people have done two evils; they have given up me, the fountain of living waters, and have made for themselves water-holes, cut out from the rock, broken water-holes, of no use for storing water.
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the water-hole of Malchiah, the king's son, in the place of the armed watchmen: and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And in the hole there was no water, but wet earth: and Jeremiah went down into the wet earth.
They have put an end to my life in the prison, stoning me with stones.
Fausets
Bor, a dug pit for receiving water conducted from a spring or the rainfall. (See CONDUIT.) The dryness between May and September in Palestine makes reservoirs necessary; of which the larger are called "pools," the smaller "cisterns." The rocky soil facilitates their construction. The top, with stonework and a round opening, has often a wheel for the bucket; an image of the aorta or great artery circulating the blood from the ventricle of the heart, or the wheel expresses life in its rapid motion (Jas 3:6; Ec 12:6). The rain is conducted to them from the roofs of the houses, most of which are furnished with them; from whence is derived the metaphor, Pr 5:15, "drink waters out of thine own cistern," i.e. draw thy enjoyments only from the sources that are legitimately thine.
Hezekiah stopped the water supply outside Jerusalem at the invasion of Sennacherib, while within there was abundant water (2Ch 32:3-4). So it has been in all the great sieges of Jerusalem, scarcity of water outside, abundance within. Empty cisterns were used as prisons. So Joseph was cast into a "pit" (Ge 37:22); Jeremiah into one miry at the bottom, and so deep that he was let down by cords (Jer 38:6), said to be near "Herod's gate." Cisterns yield only a limited supply of water, not an everflowing spring; representing creature comforts soon exhausted, and therefore never worth forsaking the never failing, ever fresh supplies of God. for (Jer 2:13). The stonework of tanks often becomes broken, and the water leaks into the earth; and, at best, the water is not fresh long. Compare Isa 55:1-2; Lu 12:33.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
He took up with his rulers and men of war the question of stopping up the water-springs outside the town; and they gave him their support.
He took up with his rulers and men of war the question of stopping up the water-springs outside the town; and they gave him their support. So they got together a great number of people, and had all the water-springs and the stream flowing through the land stopped up, saying, Why let the kings of Assyria come and have much water?
So they got together a great number of people, and had all the water-springs and the stream flowing through the land stopped up, saying, Why let the kings of Assyria come and have much water?
Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.
Let water from your store and not that of others be your drink, and running water from your fountain.
Before ever the silver cord is cut, or the vessel of gold is broken, or the pot is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the water-hole;
Before ever the silver cord is cut, or the vessel of gold is broken, or the pot is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the water-hole;
Ho! everyone in need, come to the waters, and he who has no strength, let him get food: come, get bread without money; wine and milk without price.
Ho! everyone in need, come to the waters, and he who has no strength, let him get food: come, get bread without money; wine and milk without price. Why do you give your money for what is not bread, and the fruit of your work for what will not give you pleasure? Give ear to me, so that your food may be good, and you may have the best in full measure.
Why do you give your money for what is not bread, and the fruit of your work for what will not give you pleasure? Give ear to me, so that your food may be good, and you may have the best in full measure.
For my people have done two evils; they have given up me, the fountain of living waters, and have made for themselves water-holes, cut out from the rock, broken water-holes, of no use for storing water.
For my people have done two evils; they have given up me, the fountain of living waters, and have made for themselves water-holes, cut out from the rock, broken water-holes, of no use for storing water.
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the water-hole of Malchiah, the king's son, in the place of the armed watchmen: and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And in the hole there was no water, but wet earth: and Jeremiah went down into the wet earth.
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the water-hole of Malchiah, the king's son, in the place of the armed watchmen: and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And in the hole there was no water, but wet earth: and Jeremiah went down into the wet earth.
Give what property you have in exchange for money, and give the money to the poor; make for yourselves money-bags which will not get old, wealth stored up in heaven which will be yours for ever, where thieves will not come nor worms put it to destruction.
Give what property you have in exchange for money, and give the money to the poor; make for yourselves money-bags which will not get old, wealth stored up in heaven which will be yours for ever, where thieves will not come nor worms put it to destruction.
And the tongue is a fire; it is the power of evil placed in our bodies, making all the body unclean, putting the wheel of life on fire, and getting its fire from hell.
And the tongue is a fire; it is the power of evil placed in our bodies, making all the body unclean, putting the wheel of life on fire, and getting its fire from hell.
Hastings
In Palestine, the climate and geological formation of the country render the storage of water a prime necessity of existence. Hence cisterns, mostly hewn in the solid rock, were universal in Bible times, and even before the Hebrew conquest (De 6:11; Ne 9:25, both RV). Thus at Gezer it has been found that 'the rock was honeycombed with cisterns, one appropriated to each house [cf. 2Ki 18:31] or group of houses
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Let us now put him to death and put his body into one of these holes, and we will say, An evil beast has put him to death: then we will see what becomes of his dreams.
If a man makes a hole in the earth without covering it up, and an ox or an ass dropping into it comes to its death;
And houses full of good things not stored up by you, and places for storing water which you did not make, and vine-gardens and olive-trees not of your planting; and you have taken food and are full;
Do not give ear to Hezekiah, for this is what the king of Assyria says: Make peace with me and come out to me; and everyone will be free to take the fruit of his vine and of his fig-tree, and the water of his spring;
And they took walled towns and a fat land, and became the owners of houses full of all good things, water-holes cut in the rock, vine-gardens and olive-gardens and a wealth of fruit-trees: so they had food enough and became fat, and had joy in the good you gave them.
Before ever the silver cord is cut, or the vessel of gold is broken, or the pot is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the water-hole;
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the water-hole of Malchiah, the king's son, in the place of the armed watchmen: and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And in the hole there was no water, but wet earth: and Jeremiah went down into the wet earth.
Smith
Cistern,
a receptacle for water, either conducted from an external spring or proceeding from rain-fall. The dryness of the summer months and the scarcity of springs in Judea made cisterns a necessity, and they are frequent throughout the whole of Syria and Palestine. On the long-forgotten way from Jericho to Bethel, "broken cisterns" of high antiquity are found at regular intervals. Jerusalem depends mainly for water upon its cisterns, of which almost every private house possesses one or more, excavated in the rock on which the city is built. The cisterns have usually a round opening at the top, sometimes built up with stonework above and furnished with a curb and a wheel for a bucket.
Empty cisterns were sometimes used as prisons and places of confinement. Joseph was cast into a "pit,"
as was Jeremiah.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
Do not put him to a violent death, but let him be placed in one of the holes; this he said to keep him safe from their hands, with the purpose of taking him back to his father again.
Before ever the silver cord is cut, or the vessel of gold is broken, or the pot is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the water-hole;
So they took Jeremiah and put him into the water-hole of Malchiah, the king's son, in the place of the armed watchmen: and they let Jeremiah down with cords. And in the hole there was no water, but wet earth: and Jeremiah went down into the wet earth.
Watsons
CISTERN, a reservoir chiefly for rain water. Numbers of these are still to be seen in Palestine, some of which are a hundred and fifty paces long, and sixty broad. The reason of their being so large was, that their cities were many of them built in elevated situations; and the rain falling only twice in the year, namely, spring and autumn, it became necessary for them to collect a quantity of water, as well for the cattle as for the people. A broken cistern would of course be a great calamity to a family, or in some cases even to a town; and with reference to this we may see the force of the reproof, Jer 2:13.
See Verses Found in Dictionary
For my people have done two evils; they have given up me, the fountain of living waters, and have made for themselves water-holes, cut out from the rock, broken water-holes, of no use for storing water.