Cistern in Biblical History

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Schaff's Bible Dictionary

Definitions in Biblical History
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What is a Cistern?
CIS'TERN
The face of the country and the rarity of rain between May and September made cisterns indispensable in Judgea. They were mostly private property. Num 21:22. Some were formed by merely excavating the earth; others were covered reservoirs, into which the water was conducted; and others still were lined with wood or cement, or hewn out of the rock with great labor and ornamented with much skill. When the pits were empty there was a tenacious mire at the bottom, and they were used as the places of the most cruel punishments. It was into such a pit, probably, that Joseph and Jeremiah were cast. Gen 37:22; Jer 38:6. Large cisterns are now found in Palestine at intervals of 15 or 20 miles. One of them is described by a modern traveller to be 660 feet long by 270 broad. These cisterns were the chief dependence of the people for water; hence the force of the allusion. Jer 2:13. The city of Jerusalem was remarkably well supplied with water, so that during her many sieges her inhabitants never suffered from thirst. See Conduit. Various illustrations from the cistern are given in Scripture. A wheel was used to draw up the bucket, and "the wheel broken at the cistern," in Eccl 12:6, denotes the breaking up of the vital powers of the human body. An exhortation to due restraint in pleasure is indicated by "Drink waters out of thine own cistern." Prov 5:15.

Bibliography Information
Schaff, Philip, Dr. "Biblical Definition for 'cistern' in Schaffs Bible Dictionary".
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