'Pit' in the Bible

Reuben further said to them, “Shed no blood. Throw him into this pit that is in the wilderness, but do not lay hands on him”—that he might rescue him out of their hands, to restore him to his father.

and they took him and threw him into the pit. Now the pit was empty, without any water in it.

Then some Midianite traders passed by, so they pulled him up and lifted Joseph out of the pit, and sold him to the Ishmaelites for twenty shekels of silver. Thus they brought Joseph into Egypt.

Now Reuben returned to the pit, and behold, Joseph was not in the pit; so he tore his garments.

“If a man opens a pit, or digs a pit and does not cover it over, and an ox or a donkey falls into it,

the owner of the pit shall make restitution; he shall give money to its owner, and the dead animal shall become his.

They took Absalom and cast him into a deep pit in the forest and erected over him a very great heap of stones. And all Israel fled, each to his tent.

Then Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, who had done mighty deeds, killed the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion in the middle of a pit on a snowy day.

He said, “Take them alive.” So they took them alive and killed them at the pit of Beth-eked, forty-two men; and he left none of them.

Benaiah the son of Jehoiada, the son of a valiant man of Kabzeel, mighty in deeds, struck down the two sons of Ariel of Moab. He also went down and killed a lion inside a pit on a snowy day.

Yet You would plunge me into the pit,And my own clothes would abhor me.

If I call to the pit, ‘You are my father’;To the worm, ‘my mother and my sister’;

He keeps back his soul from the pit,And his life from passing over into Sheol.

“Then his soul draws near to the pit,And his life to those who bring death.

Then let him be gracious to him, and say,‘Deliver him from going down to the pit,I have found a ransom’;

‘He has redeemed my soul from going to the pit,And my life shall see the light.’

To bring back his soul from the pit,That he may be enlightened with the light of life.

He has dug a pit and hollowed it out,And has fallen into the hole which he made.

The nations have sunk down in the pit which they have made;In the net which they hid, their own foot has been caught.

A Psalm of David.To You, O Lord, I call;My rock, do not be deaf to me,For if You are silent to me,I will become like those who go down to the pit.

O Lord, You have brought up my soul from Sheol;You have kept me alive, that I would not go down to the pit.

“What profit is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit?Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?

For without cause they hid their net for me;Without cause they dug a pit for my soul.

He brought me up out of the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay,And He set my feet upon a rock making my footsteps firm.

But You, O God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction;Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days.But I will trust in You.

They have prepared a net for my steps;My soul is bowed down;They dug a pit before me;They themselves have fallen into the midst of it. Selah.

May the flood of water not overflow meNor the deep swallow me up,Nor the pit shut its mouth on me.

I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit;I have become like a man without strength,

You have put me in the lowest pit,In dark places, in the depths.

That You may grant him relief from the days of adversity,Until a pit is dug for the wicked.

Who redeems your life from the pit,Who crowns you with lovingkindness and compassion;

Answer me quickly, O Lord, my spirit fails;Do not hide Your face from me,Or I will become like those who go down to the pit.

Let us swallow them alive like Sheol,Even whole, as those who go down to the pit;

The mouth of an adulteress is a deep pit;He who is cursed of the Lord will fall into it.

For a harlot is a deep pitAnd an adulterous woman is a narrow well.

He who digs a pit will fall into it,And he who rolls a stone, it will come back on him.

He who leads the upright astray in an evil wayWill himself fall into his own pit,But the blameless will inherit good.

He who digs a pit may fall into it, and a serpent may bite him who breaks through a wall.

“Nevertheless you will be thrust down to Sheol,To the recesses of the pit.

“But you have been cast out of your tombLike a rejected branch,Clothed with the slain who are pierced with a sword,Who go down to the stones of the pitLike a trampled corpse.

Terror and pit and snareConfront you, O inhabitant of the earth.

Then it will be that he who flees the report of disaster will fall into the pit,And he who climbs out of the pit will be caught in the snare;For the windows above are opened, and the foundations of the earth shake.

“Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

“For Sheol cannot thank You,Death cannot praise You;Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.

Should good be repaid with evil?For they have dug a pit for me.Remember how I stood before YouTo speak good on their behalf,So as to turn away Your wrath from them.

May an outcry be heard from their houses,When You suddenly bring raiders upon them;For they have dug a pit to capture meAnd hidden snares for my feet.

“Terror, pit and snare are coming upon you,O inhabitant of Moab,” declares the Lord.

“The one who flees from the terrorWill fall into the pit,And the one who climbs up out of the pitWill be caught in the snare;For I shall bring upon her, even upon Moab,The year of their punishment,” declares the Lord.

They have silenced me in the pitAnd have placed a stone on me.

I called on Your name, O Lord,Out of the lowest pit.

‘Then nations heard about him;He was captured in their pit,And they brought him with hooksTo the land of Egypt.

‘Then nations set against himOn every side from their provinces,And they spread their net over him;He was captured in their pit.

then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit, to the people of old, and I will make you dwell in the lower parts of the earth, like the ancient waste places, with those who go down to the pit, so that you will not be inhabited; but I will set glory in the land of the living.

‘They will bring you down to the pit,And you will die the death of those who are slainIn the heart of the seas.

so that all the trees by the waters may not be exalted in their stature, nor set their top among the clouds, nor their well-watered mighty ones stand erect in their height. For they have all been given over to death, to the earth beneath, among the sons of men, with those who go down to the pit.”

I made the nations quake at the sound of its fall when I made it go down to Sheol with those who go down to the pit; and all the well-watered trees of Eden, the choicest and best of Lebanon, were comforted in the earth beneath.

“Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and bring it down, her and the daughters of the powerful nations, to the nether world, with those who go down to the pit;

whose graves are set in the remotest parts of the pit and her company is round about her grave. All of them are slain, fallen by the sword, who spread terror in the land of the living.

“Elam is there and all her hordes around her grave; all of them slain, fallen by the sword, who went down uncircumcised to the lower parts of the earth, who instilled their terror in the land of the living and bore their disgrace with those who went down to the pit.

They have made a bed for her among the slain with all her hordes. Her graves are around it, they are all uncircumcised, slain by the sword (although their terror was instilled in the land of the living), and they bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit; they were put in the midst of the slain.

“There also is Edom, its kings and all its princes, who for all their might are laid with those slain by the sword; they will lie with the uncircumcised and with those who go down to the pit.

“There also are the chiefs of the north, all of them, and all the Sidonians, who in spite of the terror resulting from their might, in shame went down with the slain. So they lay down uncircumcised with those slain by the sword and bore their disgrace with those who go down to the pit.

“I descended to the roots of the mountains.The earth with its bars was around me forever,But You have brought up my life from the pit, O Lord my God.

As for you also, because of the blood of My covenant with you,I have set your prisoners free from the waterless pit.