Cistern
/SIS-tern/
Summary
An underground reservoir for storing rainwater, essential in Palestine due to dry summers and scarcity of springs, used figuratively for unfaithful sources of spiritual supply.
☩Practical Necessity
The dryness of summer months in Palestine and the scarcity of springs made cisterns essential. Nearly every house in Jerusalem possessed one or more, cut from the rocky soil. They had round openings with stonework and often a wheel for drawing water. Empty cisterns sometimes served as prisons.
Key verses:Isaiah 36:162 Kings 18:31Genesis 37:24Jeremiah 38:6
☩Figurative Usage
Jeremiah's powerful image of 'broken cisterns that can hold no water' condemns Israel for forsaking God, the fountain of living waters, for worthless idols. Proverbs uses 'drinking water from your own cistern' to enjoin marital fidelity.
Key verses:Jeremiah 2:13Proverbs 5:15Ecclesiastes 12:6
Related Verses5 mentions
See Also
References
- 1.John McClintock and James Strong, "Cistern," in Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature, vol. II (Harper & Brothers, 1867–1887).
- 2.James Orr (ed.), "Cistern," in International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, vol. I (Howard-Severance Company, 1915).
- 3.F. N. Peloubet & M. A. Peloubet (ed.), "Cistern," in Smith's Bible Dictionary (Porter & Coates, 1884).
- 4.Andrew Robert Fausset, "Cistern," in The Englishman's Critical and Expository Bible Cyclopædia (Hodder & Stoughton, 1878).