What does בּוֹר (bôr) mean in the Bible?
בּוֹר (bôr): A pit or cistern; figuratively, a place of confinement, death, or divine entrapment of the wicked
Hebrew · H953
בּוֹר
A pit hole (especially one used as a cistern or a prison)
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בּוֹר H953
Pronunciation bôr
What does בּוֹר (bôr) mean in the Bible?
בּוֹר (bôr): A pit or cistern; figuratively, a place of confinement, death, or divine entrapment of the wicked
Full entry for בּוֹר (H953) · Open the biblical lexicon
Questions this entry answers
How does the BSB render H953?
The BSB source-word alignment has 67 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include to the Pit (13), the cistern (5), . . . (4), a pit (4), of the pit (4).
Where does בּוֹר (bôr) appear in Scripture?
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Genesis 37:20. Its strongest book concentrations include Jeremiah (11), Ezekiel (10), Genesis (9), Psalms (7).
Source Word Evidence
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders It to the Pit 13× Psalms 28:1, Psalms 88:4, Psalms 143:7, Isaiah 38:18
the cistern 5× Jeremiah 38:6, Jeremiah 38:7, Jeremiah 38:9, Jeremiah 38:11
. . . 4× Genesis 37:29, Exodus 12:29, Isaiah 51:1, Jeremiah 37:16
a pit 4× Exodus 21:33, 2 Samuel 23:20, 1 Chronicles 11:22, Isaiah 24:22
of the pit 4× Exodus 21:34, Isaiah 14:15, Lamentations 3:55, Ezekiel 32:23
pit 4× Genesis 37:22, Psalms 88:6, Isaiah 14:19, Zechariah 9:11
from the well 3× 2 Samuel 3:26, 1 Chronicles 11:17, 1 Chronicles 11:18
into the pit 3× Genesis 37:24, Psalms 30:3, Proverbs 1:12
the pit 3× Genesis 37:28, Genesis 37:29, Proverbs 28:17
from his own cistern 2× 2 Kings 18:31, Isaiah 36:16
the well 2× 2 Kings 10:14, Ecclesiastes 12:6
- 1× Exodus 21:33
a cistern 1× Jeremiah 41:7
a hole 1× Psalms 7:15
and cisterns 1× 1 Samuel 13:6
As a well 1× Jeremiah 6:7
cistern 1× 1 Samuel 19:22
cisterns 1× 2 Chronicles 26:10
from the pit 1× Psalms 40:2
from your own cistern 1× Proverbs 5:15
in this dungeon 1× Genesis 40:15
into a pit 1× Lamentations 3:53
into the cistern 1× Jeremiah 38:6
Now the cistern 1× Jeremiah 41:9
Now the pit 1× Genesis 37:24
of the pits 1× Genesis 37:20
or cistern 1× Leviticus 11:36
out of the cistern 1× Jeremiah 38:10
the dungeon 1× Genesis 41:14
wells 1× Nehemiah 9:25
with wells 1× Deuteronomy 6:11
Show sample aligned rows
Genesis 37:20 הַבֹּר֔וֹת to of the pits Article | Noun - masculine plural Genesis 37:22 הַבּ֤וֹר to pit Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 37:24 הַבֹּ֑רָה to into the pit Article | Noun - masculine singular | third person feminine singular Genesis 37:24 וְהַבּ֣וֹר to Now the pit Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 37:28 הַבּ֔וֹר to the pit Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 37:29 הַבּ֔וֹר to the pit Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 37:29 בַּבּ֑וֹר to . . . Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 40:15 בַּבּֽוֹר׃ to in this dungeon Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular Genesis 41:14 הַבּ֑וֹר to the dungeon Article | Noun - masculine singular Exodus 12:29 הַבּ֑וֹר to . . . Article | Noun - masculine singular
Usage map
A compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
First aligned row Genesis 37:20
Aligned rows 67
Books represented 18
Genesis 9 Exodus 4 Leviticus 1 Deuteronomy 1 1 Samuel 2 2 Samuel 2 2 Kings 2 1 Chronicles 3 2 Chronicles 1 Nehemiah 1 Psalms 7 Proverbs 3 Ecclesiastes 1 Isaiah 6 Jeremiah 11 Lamentations 2 Ezekiel 10 Zechariah 1
Source forms
בֽוֹר׃ 9x ḇō·wr Psalms 28:1, Psalms 30:3, Psalms 143:7, Proverbs 1:12
הַבּ֑וֹר 5x hab·bō·wr Genesis 41:14, Exodus 12:29, Jeremiah 38:7, Jeremiah 38:9
הַבּ֖וֹר 4x hab·bō·wr 1 Chronicles 11:22, Jeremiah 37:16, Jeremiah 38:10, Jeremiah 38:11
ב֔וֹר 3x ḇō·wr Ezekiel 26:20, Ezekiel 32:23, Ezekiel 32:25
הַבּ֔וֹר 3x hab·bō·wr Genesis 37:28, Genesis 37:29, Jeremiah 41:7
ב֑וֹר 2x ḇō·wr Psalms 88:4, Ezekiel 31:16
ב֖וֹר 2x ḇō·wr Isaiah 14:19, Isaiah 38:18
בּ֣וֹר 2x bō·wr 2 Kings 10:14, Psalms 7:15
Parsing patterns
Noun - masculine singular 25x Exodus 21:33, 1 Samuel 19:22, Psalms 7:15, Psalms 28:1
Article | Noun - masculine singular 16x Genesis 37:22, Genesis 37:28, Genesis 37:29, Genesis 41:14
Preposition-m | Noun - masculine singular construct 4x 1 Chronicles 11:17, 1 Chronicles 11:18, Psalms 40:2, Zechariah 9:11
Preposition-b, Article | Noun - masculine singular 3x Genesis 37:29, Genesis 40:15, Lamentations 3:53
Conjunctive waw, Article | Noun - masculine singular 2x Genesis 37:24, Jeremiah 41:9
Noun - masculine plural 2x 2 Chronicles 26:10, Nehemiah 9:25
Noun - masculine singular construct | third person masculine singular 2x 2 Kings 18:31, Isaiah 36:16
Article | Noun - masculine plural 1x Genesis 37:20
Evidence Summary
Hebrew word. A pit or cistern; figuratively, a place of confinement, death, or divine entrapment of the wicked
Source Gloss
a pit hole (especially one used as a cistern or a prison)
Extended definition Source: Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon + Brown-Driver-Briggs
A pit or cistern; figuratively, a place of confinement, death, or divine entrapment of the wicked
a pit hole (especially one used as a cistern or a prison) BDB: pit Usage: cistern, dungeon, fountain, pit, well.
Grammatical Forms
How this word appears across different grammatical cases and numbers.
Selected Scripture Witness
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Old Testament Witnesses
A pit or grave symbolizing destruction.
Showing 1 selected witness from 68 lexical occurrence verses.
Word Origins
בּוֹר is built from these roots:
בּוּר H952
בֹּאר H877
Why This Word Matters
The descent to the pit underscores irreversible humiliation. Isaiah 14:12-15
Part of These Phrases
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
Sources
MorphGNT Strong's Dictionary XML — CC0 1.0 Public Domain
Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible (morphhb/OSHB) — CC BY 4.0
Open Scriptures Hebrew Lexicon — CC BY 4.0
Berean Standard Bible (BSB) source-word alignment - CC0 Public Domain