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Bible Dictionaries
Well
Bible Dictionary of Animals, Plants and other Objects
Credit: zstadler
License: CC BY-SA 4.0
Credit URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org...
Comments: Israel Hiking Map water-well 2
Credit: Matson Collection, Library of Congress
License: Public Domain
Credit URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org...
Credit: Richard Mortel from Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
License: CC BY 2.0
Credit URL: https://commons.wikimedia.org...
Comments: Ancient well, al-Shinana, Qasim (7)
From ISBE: Well - (1) (be'er; 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'er may also be a pit: "The vale of Siddim was full of slime pits" (Genesis 14:10); "the pit of destruction" (Psalms 55:23).
(2) (bor), 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) (pege), 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) (phrear), 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) (krene), "wells" (Sirach 48:17), Latin, fons, "spring" (2 Esdras 2:32).
(6) 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) (ma`yan), 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") (Psalms 84:6); "Ye shall draw water out of the wells of salvation" (Isaiah 12:3).
(8) (maqor), usually figurative: "With thee is the fountain of life" (Psalms 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) (mabbu`), (nabha`, "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) (motsa'), "spring," (yatsa'), "to go out," "the dry land springs of water" (Isaiah 41:18); "a dry land into watersprings" (Psalms 107:35); "the upper spring of the waters of Gihon" (2 Chronicles 32:30).
(11) (nebhekh), root uncertain, reading doubtful; only in Job 38:16, "Hast thou entered into the springs of the sea?"
(12) (tehom), "deep," "abyss"; compare Genesis 1:2; translated "springs," the King James Version "depths" (Deuteronomy 8:7).
(13) (gal), (galal), "to roll"; compare Gilgal (Joshua 5:9); "a spring shut up" (Song of Solomon 4:12).
(14) (gullah), "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'er, and phrear are used mainly of wells, and `ayin, ma`yan, motsa', mabbua` and (poetically) maqor are chiefly used of fountains. The Arabic bi'r, the equivalent of the Hebrew be'er, 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 mabbua`). 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-chajleh, `Ain-karim, etc.
See CISTERN; FOUNTAIN; PIT; POOL.
Alfred Ely Day
Verses:
- Genesis 16:7
- Genesis 16:14
- Genesis 21:19
- Genesis 21:25
- Genesis 21:30
- Genesis 24:11
- Genesis 24:13
- Genesis 24:20
- Genesis 24:43
- Genesis 24:45
- Genesis 26:15
- Genesis 26:18
- Genesis 26:19
- Genesis 26:20
- Genesis 26:21
- Genesis 26:22
- Genesis 26:25
- Genesis 26:32
- Genesis 29:2
- Genesis 29:3
- Genesis 29:8
- Genesis 29:10
- Genesis 37:20
- Genesis 37:24
- Genesis 37:28
- Genesis 37:29
- Exodus 2:15
- Exodus 15:27
- Leviticus 11:36
- Numbers 20:17
- Numbers 21:16
- Numbers 21:17
- Numbers 21:18
- Numbers 21:22
- Numbers 33:9
- Deuteronomy 6:11
- Joshua 15:19
- Joshua 18:15
- 1 Samuel 19:22
- 1 Samuel 29:1
- 2 Samuel 17:18
- 2 Samuel 17:19
- 2 Samuel 17:21
- 2 Samuel 23:15
- 2 Samuel 23:16
- 2 Kings 3:19
- 2 Kings 3:25
- 2 Kings 18:31
- 1 Chronicles 11:17
- 1 Chronicles 11:18
- 2 Chronicles 26:10
- 2 Chronicles 32:3
- Nehemiah 2:13
- Nehemiah 9:25
- Psalms 36:9
- Psalms 84:6
- Proverbs 5:15
- Proverbs 10:11
- Proverbs 18:4
- Proverbs 25:26
- Ecclesiastes 12:6
- Song of Solomon 4:12
- Song of Solomon 4:15
- Isaiah 12:3
- Isaiah 30:14
- Isaiah 35:7
- Isaiah 36:16
- Jeremiah 2:13
- Jeremiah 14:3
- Jeremiah 41:9
- Jeremiah 51:36
- Luke 14:9
- John 4:6
- John 4:11
- John 4:12
- John 4:14
- James 3:11
- James 3:12
- 2 Peter 2:17
- Revelation 7:17
- Revelation 8:10
- Revelation 14:7
- Revelation 16:4
- Revelation 21:6
These files are public domain.
Bible Diciontary of Animals, Plants, and other Objects. https://www.studylight.org/​dictionaries/​eng/​apo/​w/well.html. 2024.