cistern

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

Concise Bible Dictionary:

 
Roman Cisterns at Carthage – Malga—Tunisia
These were extensively used in Palestine for the collection of rain water. In Jerusalem every house has its cistern, and some have more than one. Solomon also brought water from long distances to be stored in cisterns, of which there are many under the Temple area. Some were really pits, for we read of the “wheel” being broken (Eccl. 12:66Or ever the silver cord be loosed, or the golden bowl be broken, or the pitcher be broken at the fountain, or the wheel broken at the cistern. (Ecclesiastes 12:6)). There were also many cisterns in fields or by the road side as reservoirs for the irrigation of the land. For every man to be able to drink water out of his own cistern, was held out as a boon (2 Kings 18:3131Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me, and then eat ye every man of his own vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern: (2 Kings 18:31); Isa. 36:1616Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the king of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, and come out to me: and eat ye every one of his vine, and every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his own cistern; (Isaiah 36:16)). This is also used as a symbol not to indulge in illicit desires (Prov. 5:1515Drink waters out of thine own cistern, and running waters out of thine own well. (Proverbs 5:15)). Israel is charged with forsaking God, the fountain of blessing, and making for themselves cisterns which could hold no water (Jer. 2:1313For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. (Jeremiah 2:13)).

Strong’s Dictionary of Hebrew Words:

Number:
877 (find all occurrences in KJV Bible)
Transliteration:
bo’r
Phonic:
bore
Meaning:
from 874; a cistern
KJV Usage:
cistern

From Manners and Customs of the Bible:

Genesis 37:2424And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it. (Genesis 37:24). They took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
There are numerous pits or cisterns still to be found in Palestine. They are often hewn out of the solid rock, and, being narrower at the mouth than at the bottom, it is not an easy thing to get out unaided, if one should he so unfortunate as to get in. Dr. Thomson mentions the case of an acquaintance who fell into one of these pits, or empty cisterns, and, being unable to extricate himself, passed two dreadful days and nights before he was discovered and drawn out, more dead than alive.
These cisterns, when dry, were sometimes used as dungeons for prisoners, and thus Joseph’s brethren put him into one. The prophet Jeremiah was also imprisoned in a cistern which had been dug in the courtyard of the prison. See Jeremiah 38:66Then took they Jeremiah, and cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hammelech, that was in the court of the prison: and they let down Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no water, but mire: so Jeremiah sunk in the mire. (Jeremiah 38:6), where the word bor is translated “dungeon.” This is the same word that in the text is rendered “pit,” and in some other places “cistern.”