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.
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And they took him and threw him into the pit (the pit [was] empty; there was no water in it).
"Let us go through your land; we will not turn aside into a field or vineyard; we will not drink well water along the way of the king until we have gone through your territory."
And [so] he brought me up from [the] roaring pit, from the miry clay. And he put my feet upon a rock; he made my steps steady.
Do not let the torrent of waters flood over me, or [the] deep swallow me, or the pit close its mouth over me.
Drink water from your [own] cistern and flowing waters from inside your own well.
You must not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: "Make a blessing with me, and come out to me, and each one will eat [from] his vine and [from] his fig tree and drink water from his cistern,
"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, [the] source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit [of] Malchiah, the son of the king, which [was] in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, {but only} mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
{They have silenced me in a pit}, they have thrown a stone at me.
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.
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And Reuben said to them, "You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that [is] in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him"--so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father.
And Reuben said to them, "You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that [is] in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him"--so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father.
he took counsel with his commanders and his mighty warriors to block off the waters of the springs that [came] from outside the city, and they helped him.
he took counsel with his commanders and his mighty warriors to block off the waters of the springs that [came] from outside the city, and they helped him. Then many people were gathered, and they blocked off all the springs and the river that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?"
Then many people were gathered, and they blocked off all the springs and the river that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come and find much water?"
Drink water from your [own] cistern and flowing waters from inside your own well.
Drink water from your [own] cistern and flowing waters from inside your own well.
Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken; and the jar at the foundation is broken, and the wheel at the cistern is broken.
Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken; and the jar at the foundation is broken, and the wheel at the cistern is broken.
"Ho! Everyone thirsty, come to the waters! And whoever has no money, come, buy and eat, and come, buy without money, wine and milk without price!
"Ho! Everyone thirsty, come to the waters! And whoever has no money, come, buy and eat, and come, buy without money, wine and milk without price! Why do you weigh out money for [what is] not food, and your labor for {what cannot satisfy}? Listen carefully to me, and eat [what is] good, and let your soul take pleasure in {rich} food.
Why do you weigh out money for [what is] not food, and your labor for {what cannot satisfy}? Listen carefully to me, and eat [what is] good, and let your soul take pleasure in {rich} food.
"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, [the] source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, [the] source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.
So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit [of] Malchiah, the son of the king, which [was] in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, {but only} mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit [of] Malchiah, the son of the king, which [was] in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, {but only} mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
Sell your possessions and give charitable gifts. Make for yourselves money bags that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven where thief does not approach or moth destroy.
Sell your possessions and give charitable gifts. Make for yourselves money bags that do not wear out, an inexhaustible treasure in heaven where thief does not approach or moth destroy.
And the tongue [is] a fire! The world of unrighteousness, the tongue, is set among our members, defiling the whole body and setting on fire {the course of human existence}, being set on fire by hell.
And the tongue [is] a fire! The world of unrighteousness, the tongue, is set among our members, defiling the whole body and setting on fire {the course of human existence}, being set on fire by 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
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Now then, come, let us kill him and throw him in one of the pits. Then we will say a wild animal devoured him. Then we will see what his dreams become."
" 'If a man opens a pit or if a man digs a pit and he does not cover it and an ox or a donkey falls into it,
and houses full of all [sorts] of good things that you did not fill, and hewn cisterns that you did not hew, vineyards and olive groves that you did not plant, and {you have eaten your fill},
Do not listen to Hezekiah; for thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make with me a treaty of peace and come out to me that each [may] eat [from] his vine and each [from] his fig tree, and each [may] drink water [from] his cistern!
And they captured fortified cities and a fertile land and took possession of houses filled with every good thing: hewn cisterns, vineyards, olive groves, and many [fruit] trees. They ate and became full, and they became fat and took delight in your great goodness.
Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken; and the jar at the foundation is broken, and the wheel at the cistern is broken.
So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit [of] Malchiah, the son of the king, which [was] in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, {but only} mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
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
And Reuben said to them, "You must not shed blood. Throw him into this pit that [is] in the desert, but do not lay a hand on him"--so that he might rescue him from their hand to return him to his father.
Before the silver cord is snapped and the golden bowl is broken; and the jar at the foundation is broken, and the wheel at the cistern is broken.
So they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit [of] Malchiah, the son of the king, which [was] in the courtyard of the guard. And they let Jeremiah down by ropes. Now in the pit there was no water, {but only} mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.
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.
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"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, [the] source of living water, to hew out for themselves cisterns, cracked cisterns that can hold no water.