Lectionary Calendar
Thursday, December 5th, 2024
the First Week of Advent
Attention!
StudyLight.org has pledged to help build churches in Uganda. Help us with that pledge and support pastors in the heart of Africa.
Click here to join the effort!
Bible Encyclopedias
Well
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Search for
or
(1) ( בּאר , be'ēr ; compare Arabic bi'r , "well" or "cistern"; usually artificial: "And Isaac's servants digged (dug) in the valley, and found there a well of springing (margin "living") water" ( Genesis 26:19 ); some times covered: "Jacob ... rolled the stone from the well's mouth" (Genesis 29:10 ). Be'ēr may also be a pit: "The vale of Siddim was full of slime pits" (Genesis 14:10 ); "the pit of destruction" (Psalm 55:23 ). (2) (בּור , bōr ), usually "pit": "Let us slay him, and cast him into one of the pits" (Genesis 37:20 ); may be "well": "drew water out of the well of Beth-lehem" (2 Samuel 23:16 ).
(3) ( πηγή , pēgḗ ), usually "running water," "fount," or "source": "Doth the fountain send forth from the same opening sweet water and bitter?" ( James 3:11 ); may be "well"; compare "Jacob's well" (John 4:6 ). (4) (φρέαρ , phréar ), usually "pit": "the pit of the abyss" (Revelation 9:1 ); but "well"; compare "Jacob's well" (John 4:11 , John 4:12 ): "Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a well" (the King James Version "pit") (Luke 14:5 ). (5) (κρήνη , krḗnē ), "wells" (Sirach 48:17), Latin, fons , "spring" (2 Esdras 2:32).
(6) עין , ‛ayin , compare Arabic ‛ain "fountain," "spring": "the fountain (English Versions of the Bible) which is in Jezreel" ( 1 Samuel 29:1 ); "In Elim were twelve springs (the King James Version "fountains" of water" (Numbers 33:9 ); "She (Rebekah) went down to the fountain" (the King James Version "well") (Genesis 24:16 ); "the jackal's well" (the English Revised Version "the dragon's well," the King James Version "the dragon well") (Nehemiah 2:13 ). (7) (מעין , ma‛yān ), same root as (6); "the fountain (the King James Version "well") of the waters of Nephtoah" (Joshua 18:15 ); "Passing through the valley of Weeping (the King James Version "Baca") they make it a place of springs" (the King James Version "well") (Psalm 84:6 ); "Ye shall draw water out of the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3 ). (8) (מקור , māḳōr ), usually figurative : "With thee is the fountain of life" (Psalm 36:9 ); "The mouth of the righteous is a fountain (the King James Version "well") of life" (Proverbs 10:11 ); "make her (Babylon's) fountain (the King James Version "spring") dry" (Jeremiah 51:36 ); "a corrupted spring" (Proverbs 25:26 ). (9) (מבּוּע , mabbūa‛ ), root נבע , nābha‛ , "to flow," "spring," "bubble up"; compare Arabic (nab‛ , manba‛ , yanbu‛ ) "fountain": "or the pitcher is broken at the fountain" (Ecclesiastes 12:6 ); "the thirsty ground springs of water" (Isaiah 35:7 ). (10) (מוצא , mōcā' ), "spring," root יצא , yācā' , "to go out," "the dry land springs of water" (Isaiah 41:18 ); "a dry land into watersprings" (Psalm 107:35 ); "the upper spring of the waters of Gihon" (2 Chronicles 32:30 ). (11) (נבך , nēbhekh ), root uncertain, reading doubtful; only in Job 38:16 , "Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?" (12) (תּהום , tehōm ), "deep," "abyss"; compare Genesis 1:2; translated "springs," the King James Version "depths" (Deuteronomy 8:7 ). (13) (גּל , gal ), (root גּלל , gālal ), "to roll"; compare Gilgal (Joshua 5:9 ); "a spring shut up" (Song of Solomon 4:12 ). (14) (גּלּה , gullāh ), "bowl," "basin," "pool," same root: "Give me also springs of water. And he gave her the upper sprigs and the nether springs" (Joshua 15:19 ); compare Arabic (kullat ), pronounced gullat , "a marble," "a cannon-ball."
As is clear from references cited above, wells and springs were not sharply distinguished in name, though be'ēr , and phrear are used mainly of wells, and ‛ayin , ma‛yān , mōcā' , mabbūa‛ and (poetically) māḳōr are chiefly used of fountains. The Arabic bi'r , the equivalent of the Hebrew be'ēr , usually denotes a cistern for rain-water, though it may be qualified as bi'r jam‛ , "well of gathering," i.e. for rain-water, or as bi'r nab‛ , "well of springing water." A spring or natural fountain is called in Arabic ‛ain or nab‛ (compare Hebrew ‛ayin and mabbūa‛ ). These Arabic and Hebrew words for "well" and "spring" figure largely in place-names, modern and ancient: Beer ( Numbers 21:16 ); Beer-elim (Isaiah 15:8 ), etc.; ‛Ain (a ) on the northeast boundary of Palestine (Numbers 34:11 ), (b ) in the South of Judah, perhaps = En-rimmon (Joshua 15:32 ); Enaim (Genesis 38:14 ); Enam (Joshua 15:34 ), etc. Modern Arabic names with ‛ain are very numerous, e.g. ‛Ainul -fashkhah , ‛Ain -ul -ḥajleh , ‛Ain -kârim , etc. See CISTERN; FOUNTAIN; PIT; POOL .
Copyright Statement
These files are public domain and were generously provided by the folks at WordSearch Software.
Bibliography Information
Orr, James, M.A., D.D. General Editor. Entry for 'Well'. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. https://www.studylight.org/​encyclopedias/​eng/​isb/​w/well.html. 1915.