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 a pit. And the pit was empty, with no water in it.
Let me pass through your land. We will not turn into the fields or into the vineyards. We will not drink the waters of the well. We will go along by the king's highway until we are past your borders.
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet on a rock, and gave sureness to my steps.
Do not let the flood of waters overflow me, nor let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut its mouth on me.
Drink waters out of your own cistern, and running waters out of your own well.
Do not listen to Hezekiah; for so says the king of Assyria, Make a blessing with me by a present, and come out to me; and let everyone eat of his vine, and everyone of his fig tree, and everyone drink the waters of his own cistern,
For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And there was no water in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank into the mud.
They have cut off my life in the pit, and cast 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, Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him (in order to rescue him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again).
And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him (in order to rescue him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again).
he took counsel with his rulers and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains outside the city. And they helped him.
he took counsel with his rulers and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains outside the city. And they helped him. And there were gathered many people, who stopped all the fountains, and the torrent which ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the king of Assyria come and find much water?
And there were gathered many people, who stopped all the fountains, and the torrent which ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the king of Assyria come and find much water?
Drink waters out of your own cistern, and running waters out of your own well.
Drink waters out of your own cistern, and running waters out of your own well.
or ever the silver cord is not loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern;
or ever the silver cord is not loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern;
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
Ho, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat. Yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you weigh silver for what is not bread? and your labor for what never satisfies? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Why do you weigh silver for what is not bread? and your labor for what never satisfies? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
For My people have committed two evils; they have forsaken Me, the Fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.
And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And there was no water in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank into the mud.
And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And there was no water in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank into the mud.
Sell what you have and give alms. Make for yourselves purses which do not become old, an unfailing treasure in Heaven, where no thief comes nor moth corrupts.
Sell what you have and give alms. Make for yourselves purses which do not become old, an unfailing treasure in Heaven, where no thief comes nor moth corrupts.
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So the tongue is set among our members, spotting all the body and inflaming the course of nature, and being inflamed by hell.
And the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity. So the tongue is set among our members, spotting all the body and inflaming the course of nature, and being inflamed 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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Therefore come now, and let us kill him, and throw him into some pit, and we will say some evil beast has devoured him. And we shall see what will become of his dreams.
And if a man shall open a pit, or if a man shall dig a pit, and not cover it, and an ox or an ass falls in it,
and houses full of every good thing which you did not fill, and wells which are dug, but which you did not dig, vineyards and olive trees which you did not plant, and you shall eat and be full,
Do not listen to Hezekiah. For so says the king of Assyria, Make with me a blessing, and come out to me, and you each shall eat of his vine, and each of his fig tree, and you each shall drink of the waters of his own cistern,
And they took strong cities and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all goods, wells already dug, vineyards and olive-yards, and fruit trees in abundance. And they ate and were filled, and became fat, and delighted themselves in Your great goodness.
or ever the silver cord is not loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern;
And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And there was no water in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank into 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.
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And Reuben said to them, Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit in the wilderness, and lay no hand upon him (in order to rescue him out of their hands, to deliver him to his father again).
or ever the silver cord is not loosed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern;
And they took Jeremiah and threw him into the pit of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, which was in the court of the prison. And they let Jeremiah down with ropes. And there was no water in the pit, only mud. So Jeremiah sank into 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 Fountain of living waters, to hew out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water.