LITERAL PITS IN THE BIBLE

I have previously posted two short essays titled “A Pit of One's own Making” illustrating the principle that traps one sets for others often backfire on the plotter. But I would now like to turn our attention to some more literal pits that are mentioned in the Bible as well as (in a subsequent post) ultimate pits.

There are a variety of Hebrew and Greek words translated as “pit” or some equivalent terms in English. These include beer, bor, pachath, sheol, shuchah, phrear and abussou. Of these, at least the last one may sound familiar since it is the basis for the English word “abyss.” Between all of them, one can count roughly 50 references in the Bible to pits of one sort or another. Let's concentrate on the literal pits only in this present post.

Genesis 14:10 In this obscure passage we are told of the attempted rebellion of a coalition of Canaanite kings against their overlords led by Chedorlaomer. The Canaanite kings flee for their lives but the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah accidentally fall into tar pits. Their property, as well as Lot himself, are taken by Chedorlaomer. I am well aware of the danger of falling into such death traps, having visited the LaBrea Tar Pits in Southern California on several occasions and viewed the large variety of ancient animal bones recovered from such death traps. This event also presages the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and narrow escape of Lot and his daughters narrated a few chapters later in Genesis.

Genesis 37:20-27 This is perhaps the most famous story in the OT involving a pit. As you no doubt recall, Joseph the dreamer has raised the ire of his brothers and they put him down in a pit in the ground before deciding what to do with him. Eventually, of course, they sell him to a band of traveling merchants and Joseph ends up as a captive in Egypt. This story illustrates another use of pits in biblical times, as a jail. We must keep in mind that other than much later when the Romans were in charge of Israel, there were no handy jails around for prisoners to dwell in until their ultimate fates were decided. Thus, we are told in the NT of the several such secure holding tanks in which Christians such as Peter, Paul and Silas were kept captive.

II Samuel 18:17

This illustrates a different sort of pit in that it is a burial pit. After Absalom had been killed during his attempt to usurp David's throne, Joab's men throw his body in a pit and cover it with a mound of rocks. As McKenzie says, “this kind of burial was reserved for a cursed person (Josh 7.26).”

Jeremiah

There are four references to literal pits in this prophetic book. The first is found in 2:6 where God reminds the people how He had led them out of Egypt and brought them safely through all sorts of dangers in the wilderness, including deserts and pits.

Then in Jeremiah 38:6-13 is narrated the story of Jeremiah himself being lowered into a pit and left there. It is uncertain if the intent was merely to confine him until his fate was decided (as with Joseph much earlier) or whether they were just hoping he would eventually die there, but fortunately he was rescued from that fate.

Next comes Jer. 41:7,9 with its description of Ishmael (of the royal seed of Judah) and his traitorous act in murdering Gedaliah and the inhabitants of Mizpah and filling up an empty cistern (i.e. pit) with their bodies. And finally there is the prophecy in Jeremiah 48:43-44 concerning the coming judgment against Moab who will face “terror, pit, and trap.”

Zechariah 

Zechariah is the last prophet in the OT to mention a pit, in 9:11. Boda has much to say regarding this verse but I will just share a few of his words. “The place of imprisonment in 9:11 is a cistern in which there is no water. Such a cistern (bor) as a prison is described at several points in the OT (see Gen. 37:20, 22, 24, 28-29; 40:15; 41:14; Isa. 24:22; Jer. 38:6-13; Lam. 3:53), which explains why the phrase bet habbor ('house of the cistern') refers to a prison (Exod. 12:29; Jer. 37:16). Some see the lack of water as positive, since water could have drowned them, while others treat this as a negative feature, since such a pit would lack drinking water. More likely, the water is not the issue, since it is probably a stereotypical phrase for a pit designed or available for imprisoning someone.”