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 me pass through your land: we will not turn aside into field, or into vineyard; we will not drink of the water of the wells: we will go by the king's highway, until we have passed your border."
He brought me up also out of a horrible pit, out of the miry clay. He set my feet on a rock, and gave me a firm place to stand.
Do not let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Do not let the pit shut its mouth on me.
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and each of you eat from his vine, and each one from his fig tree, and each one of you drink the waters of his own cistern;
"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
They have cut off my life in a pit, and have cast a stone on 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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Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"?that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"?that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the springs which were outside of the city; and they helped him.
he took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the springs which were outside of the city; and they helped him. So many people gathered together, and they stopped all the springs, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?"
So many people gathered together, and they stopped all the springs, and the brook that flowed through the midst of the land, saying, "Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water?"
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
Drink water out of your own cistern, running water out of your own well.
before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the spring, or the wheel broken at the cistern,
before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the spring, or the wheel broken at the cistern,
"Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters. Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price.
"Come, everyone who thirsts, to the waters. Come, he who has no money, buy, and eat. Yes, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn't satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
Why do you spend money for that which is not bread? and your labor for that which doesn't satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat you that which is good, and let your soul delight itself in fatness.
"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
"For my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys.
Sell that which you have, and give gifts to the needy. Make for yourselves purses which do not grow old, a treasure in the heavens that does not fail, where no thief approaches, neither moth destroys.
And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is set on fire by hell.
And the tongue is a fire. The world of iniquity among our members is the tongue, which defiles the whole body, and sets on fire the course of nature, and is 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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Come now therefore, and let's kill him, and cast him into one of the pits, and we will say, 'An evil animal has devoured him.' We will see what will become of his dreams."
"If a man opens a pit, or if a man digs a pit and doesn't cover it, and a bull or a donkey falls into it,
and houses full of all good things, which you did not fill, and cisterns dug out, 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 thus says the king of Assyria, 'Make your peace with me, and come out to me; and everyone of you eat of his vine, and everyone of his fig tree, and everyone drink the waters of his own cistern;
They took fortified cities, and a rich land, and possessed houses full of all good things, cisterns dug out, vineyards, and olive groves, and fruit trees in abundance. So they ate, were filled and became fat, and delighted themselves in your great goodness.
before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the spring, or the wheel broken at the cistern,
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
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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Reuben said to them, "Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but lay no hand on him"?that he might deliver him out of their hand, to restore him to his father.
before the silver cord is severed, or the golden bowl is broken, or the pitcher is broken at the spring, or the wheel broken at the cistern,
Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the king's son, that was in the court of the guard: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. In the dungeon there was no water, but mire; and Jeremiah sank in the mire.
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 spring of living waters, and cut them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.