Reference: Pit
American
A reservoir, either natural or artificial, for water. Pits were sometimes used as dungeons, Ge 37:20; Jer 38:6; or being slightly covered, and baited, they served as traps to catch wild beasts, a device which illustrates the plots of designing men and women, Ps 119:85; Pr 22:14; 26:27; Eze 19:4. The word pit is also used to denote the grave, Ps 28:1; 30:3,9; and hell, Re 20:1.
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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.
My cry goes up to you, O Lord, my Rock; do not keep back your answer from me, so that I may not become like those who go down into the underworld.
The men of pride, who are turned away from your law, have put nets for me.
The mouth of strange women is a deep hole: he with whom the Lord is angry will go down into it.
He who makes a hole in the earth will himself go falling into it: and on him by whom a stone is rolled the stone will come back again.
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.
And the nations had news of him; he was taken in the hole they had made: and, pulling him with hooks, they took him into the land of Egypt.
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the great deep and a great chain in his hand.
Easton
a hole in the ground (Ex 21:33-34), a cistern for water (Ge 37:24; Jer 14:3), a vault (Jer 41:9), a grave (Ps 30:3). It is used as a figure for mischief (Ps 9:15), and is the name given to the unseen place of woe (Re 20:1,3). The slime-pits in the vale of Siddim were wells which yielded asphalt (Ge 14:10).
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Now the valley of Siddim was full of holes of sticky earth; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah were put to flight and came to their end there, but the rest got away to the mountain.
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; The owner of the hole is responsible; he will have to make payment to their owner, but the dead beast will be his.
The nations have gone down into the hole which they made: in their secret net is their foot taken.
Their great men have sent their servants for water: they come to the holes and there is no water to be seen; they come back with nothing in their vessels; they are overcome with shame and fear, covering their heads.
Now the hole into which Ishmael had put the dead bodies of the men whom he had put to death, was the great hole which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha, king of Israel: and Ishmael, the son of Nethaniah, made it full of the bodies of those who had been put to death.
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the great deep and a great chain in his hand.
And put him into the great deep, and it was shut and locked over him, so that he might put the nations in error no longer, till the thousand years were ended: after this he will be let loose for a little time.
Fausets
(1) She'ol, "Hades"; the covered, unseen world. (See HELL.)
(2) Shachath, "sunk and lightly covered [pit]" to entrap animals (Ps 9:16; 35:7); typifying "hopeless doom" (Job 33:18,24,28,30).
(3) Bor, "a pit or cistern once full of water, now empty", with miry clay beneath (Ps 40:2; Zec 9:11); used as dungeon wherein the captive has no water or food; so Jeremiah (Jer 38:6,9), Isa 51:14; hence symbolizing "the dishonored grave of the once haughty transgressor", with the idea of condign [deserved; appropriate] punishment in the unseen world, shadowed forth by the ignominious state of the body (Eze 31:14,16; 32:18,24). (See ABYSS on the "bottomless pit": Re 9:1-2; 20:1-2.)
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And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:
He kept my soul from the underworld, and my life sees the light in full measure.
The Lord has given knowledge of himself through his judging: the evil-doer is taken in the net which his hands had made. (Higgaion. Selah.)
For without cause they have put a net ready for me secretly, in which to take my soul.
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.
The prisoner, bent under his chain, will quickly be made free, and will not go down into the underworld, and his bread will not come to an end.
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.
My lord the king, these men have done evil in all they have done to Jeremiah the prophet, whom they have put into the water-hole; and he will come to his death in the place where he is through need of food: for there is no more bread in the town.
In order that no trees by the waters may be lifted up in their growth, putting their tops among the clouds; and that no trees which are watered may take their place on high: for they are all given up to death, to the lowest parts of the earth among the children of men, with those who go down to the underworld.
I will send shaking on the nations at the sound of his fall, when I send him down to the underworld with those who go down into the deep: and on earth they will be comforting themselves, all the trees of Eden, the best of Lebanon, even all the watered ones.
Son of man, let your voice be loud in sorrow for the people of Egypt and send them down, even you and the daughters of the nations; I will send them down into the lowest parts of the earth, with those who go down into the underworld.
There is Elam and all her people, round about her last resting-place: all of them put to death by the sword, who have gone down without circumcision into the lowest parts of the earth, who were a cause of fear in the land of the living, and are put to shame with those who go down to the underworld:
And as for you, because of the blood of your agreement, I have sent out your prisoners from the deep hole in which there is no water.
And at the sounding of the fifth angel I saw a star falling from heaven to the earth: and there was given to him the key of the great deep. And he made the great deep open and a smoke went up from it, like the smoke of a great oven; and the sun and the air were made dark because of the smoke.
And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key of the great deep and a great chain in his hand. And he took the dragon, the old snake, which is the Evil One and Satan, and put chains on him for a thousand years,
Hastings
Of the dozen Heb. words, besides two Gr. words in NT, rendered 'pit' in English Version, the following are the most important.
1. The term b
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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;
But at the same time a fountain or a place where water is stored for use will be clean; but anyone touching their dead bodies will be unclean.
When the men of Israel saw the danger they were in, (for the people were troubled,) they took cover in cracks in the hillsides and in the woods and in rocks and holes and hollows.
When the men of Israel saw the danger they were in, (for the people were troubled,) they took cover in cracks in the hillsides and in the woods and in rocks and holes and hollows.
But he will certainly have taken cover now in some hole or secret place; and if some of our people, at the first attack, are overcome, then any hearing of it will say, There is destruction among the people who are on Absalom's side.
And they took Absalom's body and put it into a great hole in the wood, and put a great mass of stones over it: and every man of Israel went in flight to his tent.
My cry goes up to you, O Lord, my Rock; do not keep back your answer from me, so that I may not become like those who go down into the underworld.
Let us overcome them living, like the underworld, and in their strength, as those who go down to death;
But you will come down to the underworld, even to its inmost parts.
And the nations had news of him; he was taken in the hole they had made: and, pulling him with hooks, they took him into the land of Egypt.
Then the nations came against him from the kingdoms round about: their net was stretched over him and he was taken in the hole they had made.
But he who was given the one went away and put it in a hole in the earth, and kept his lord's money in a secret place.
And he gave them teaching in the form of stories. A man had a vine-garden planted, and put a wall about it, and made a place for crushing out the wine, and put up a tower, and let it out to field-workers, and went into another country.
And he said to them, Which of you, whose ox or ass has got into a water-hole, will not straight away get him out on the Sabbath?
And at the sounding of the fifth angel I saw a star falling from heaven to the earth: and there was given to him the key of the great deep.
Morish
There are several Hebrew words translated 'pit.' The principal are:
1. sheol, 'the grave, hades, hell.' Nu 16:30,33; Job 17:16.
2. shachath, 'a pit, a pitfall to entrap animals,' place of doom and corruption. Job 33:18,24,28,30; Ps 9:15; 30:9; 35:7; Eze 28:8; etc.
3. bor, beer, 'pit or well dug for water,' but which could be used for a dungeon. Ge 37:20-29; Ps 28:1; 40:2; 88:4,6; Eze 26:20; Zec 9:11; etc. See BOTTOMLESS PIT.
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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. But Reuben, hearing these words, got him out of their hands, saying, Let us not take his life. read more. 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. So when Joseph came to his brothers, they took off his long coat which he had on; And they took him and put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it. Then seating themselves, they took their meal: and looking up, they saw a travelling band of Ishmaelites, coming from Gilead on their way to Egypt, with spices and perfumes on their camels. And Judah said to his brothers, What profit is there in putting our brother to death and covering up his blood? Let us give him to these Ishmaelites for a price, and let us not put violent hands on him, for he is our brother, our flesh. And his brothers gave ear to him. And some traders from Midian went by; so pulling Joseph up out of the hole, they gave him to the Ishmaelites for twenty bits of silver, and they took him to Egypt. Now when Reuben came back to the hole, Joseph was not there; and giving signs of grief,
But if the Lord does something new, opening the earth to take them in, with everything which is theirs, and they go down living into the underworld, then it will be clear to you that the Lord has not been honoured by these men.
So they and all theirs went down living into the underworld, and the earth was shut over them, and they were cut off from among the meeting of the people.
Will they go down with me into the underworld? Will we go down together into the dust?
And if he has mercy on him, and says, Let him not go down to the underworld, I have given the price for his life:
He kept my soul from the underworld, and my life sees the light in full measure.
The nations have gone down into the hole which they made: in their secret net is their foot taken.
My cry goes up to you, O Lord, my Rock; do not keep back your answer from me, so that I may not become like those who go down into the underworld.
For without cause they have put a net ready for me secretly, in which to take my soul.
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.
I am numbered among those who go down into the earth; I have become like a man for whom there is no help:
Then I will make you go down with those who go down into the underworld, to the people of the past, causing your living-place to be in the deepest parts of the earth, in places long unpeopled, with those who go down into the deep, so that there will be no one living in you; and you will have no glory in the land of the living.
They will send you down to the underworld, and your death will be the death of those who are put to the sword in the heart of the seas.
And as for you, because of the blood of your agreement, I have sent out your prisoners from the deep hole in which there is no water.
Smith
Pit.
[HELL]
See Hell