Bible Dictionary
DIG
To dig means to excavate soil or break through a wall. Scripture mentions digging wells during military campaigns and breaking through mud or clay walls to enter houses.
Definition
To dig means to excavate soil, make a well, or break through a wall. The term can describe obtaining water or entering a house through its mud or clay walls.
Biblical Usage
Sennacherib speaks of digging and drinking foreign waters during military campaigns. Job and Matthew refer to thieves digging through houses, while the biblical law and narratives assume the practical importance of wells and walls.
Historical Background
Eastern houses were often built of mud or clay and frequently had no windows. Because the threshold of a Syrian house was regarded as sacred, a thief could break through the wall rather than enter at the doorway.
Related Figures
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>(qur, "to dig", chathar; diorusso, "to dig through"): "I have digged (dug) and drunk strange waters" (2Ki 19:24). In his campaigns on foreign soil, where the enemy had stopped up the watersprings, Sennacherib would at once dig fresh wells for his armies. "They dig through houses" (Job 24:16; Mt 6:19,20 margin). Walls of eastern houses are often made of mud or clay, and frequently have no windows; and as the threshold of a Syrian house is sacred, the thief breaks in through the wall (see Trumbull, The Threshold Covenant).</p><p>M. O. Evans</p>