Bible Dictionary
DITCH
A ditch may mean a trench, channel, reservoir, cistern, pit, or hole. Biblical translations distinguish these meanings according to the context.
Definition
A ditch may be a conduit or trench, a reservoir or cistern, or simply a pit or hole in the ground. The precise sense depends on the context. English versions therefore distinguish trenches, reservoirs, and pits rather than using one term indiscriminately.
Biblical Usage
The word describes trenches in the account of the waterworks in 2 Kings 3. Elsewhere it refers to a pit or place of destruction, and in Isaiah 22:11 to a reservoir or cistern. In Matthew 15:14 it has the sense of a pit into which the blind may fall.
Historical Background
The King James Version uses ditch for several different underlying ideas. Later revisions more carefully distinguish the meanings according to context.
Historical Bible Dictionaries
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (ISBE)
<p>dich: The word is used indiscriminately in the King James Version to represent at least three different ideas: a conduit or trench (2Ki 3:16); a reservoir or cistern; or simply a pit or hole in the ground. In the Revised Version (British and American) this distinction is observed more carefully. Compare Job 9:31; Ps 7:15 ("pit"), and Isa 22:11 ("reservoir"), the former meaning a pit or any similar place of destruction or corruption; the latter a reservoir or cistern of water. The New Testament usage (Mt 15:14 the King James Version) corresponds somewhat with the former. See also 2Ki 3:16 ("trenches").</p>