PIT (בּﯴר, H1014, שַׁ֫חַת, H8846; βόθυνος, φρέαρ, pit or well; ten additional Heb. words are also tr. pit). There are eighty-one occurrences of the word “pit” in the KJV; all but five are in the OT. בּﯴר, H1014, appears thirty-six times and conveys the idea of a hole esp. dug for water, but is also used where water is not present. It may also mean a “cistern” (Deut 6:11), or “dungeon” (Exod 12:29). בּﯴר, H1014, describes the place of physical burial, a hole with graves dug into the sides. By a natural transition it refers to calamity, as in Psalm 40:2. Probably by analogy to the burial crypt, the expression “go down to the pit,” means more than dying without hope, being a reference to the nether world of departed spirits (Job 33:18).

The derivation of שַׁ֫חַת, H8846, suggests that the concept of “sinking” is primary (Ps 9:15; 35:7). In the latter passage a trap for wild animals is the basis of the analogy. Confusion, despair, and sorrow are expressed.

In the NT βόθυνος, G1073, is a general word for hole. It occurs in Matthew 12:11 where the KJV renders it pit, but the same word is tr. in the KJV as “ditch” (Matt 15:14; Luke 6:39). Luke 14:5, a parallel to Matthew 12:11, uses φρέαρ, G5853. This word often means a well purposely dug, a shaft leading down. In John 4:11, 12 it is tr. “well” in the account of Jesus’ conversation with the Samaritan woman. It refers to the bottomless pit in Revelation 9:1, 2, where mention of a key indicates that the pit was considered as a type of dungeon.