Cisterns differed from springs and wells because they stored captured water rather than tapping a flowing source. When empty, they could become dangerous pits or places of confinement.
Customs & Culture
Cisterns and Water Storage
In the dry climate of biblical lands, households and cities often collected rainwater in plastered cisterns cut into rock or built below ground.
Primary Scripture
Historical and Cultural Background
Biblical Examples
Joseph is thrown into an empty pit, Jeremiah is lowered into a muddy cistern, and Jeremiah contrasts God, the fountain of living waters, with broken cisterns that cannot hold water.
Biblical Significance
The metaphor of a broken cistern is especially vivid in a land where survival depended on storing scarce seasonal water securely.
Common Misconceptions
The biblical words translated pit, well, and cistern can overlap in English translations and should be interpreted from context.
Historical Setting and Evidence
Culture: Ancient Near Eastern, Israelite, Judean/Jewish
Period: Patriarchal Period, Exodus and Wilderness, Conquest and Judges, United Monarchy, Divided Monarchy, Kingdom of Judah, Babylonian Exile, Persian Period, Hellenistic Period, Hasmonean Period, Roman / Second Temple Period
Evidence: Well Attested
Interpretive Importance: Major
Cisterns are ubiquitous in the archaeology of ancient Israel and Judah.
Scripture References
Related Information
Sources
Genesis 37; Jeremiah 2; Jeremiah 38