PIT/DITCH/WELL

Definition:

A place under the earth (possibly more general, a place underneath) (also see “The Sea, Water, and Valley“).

Scripture:

The Underworld

• The pit is used interchangeably with hell.

Isaiah 14:15 (KJV) Yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, to the sides of the pit.

• The pit is used interchangeably with “the sea” (the underworld, see “The Sea”)

Ezekiel 28:8 (KJV) They shall bring thee down to the pit, and thou shalt die the deaths of them that are slain in the midst of the seas.

Revelation 13:1, 17:8 (KJV) And I stood upon the sand of the sea, and saw a beast rise up out of the sea… Chapter 17, Verse 8  The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit…

• Ezekiel mentions the deep, the waters, the pit, and the low parts of the earth (underworld) as the same place. It also states that this is a place where people of old are.
• The pit may be a name for the underworld generally or a place in the underworld.

Ezekiel 26:19-20 (KJV) For thus saith the Lord GOD; When I shall make thee a desolate city, like the cities that are not inhabited; when I shall bring up the deep upon thee, and great waters shall cover thee; 20 When I shall bring thee down with them that descend into the pit, with the people of old time, and shall set thee in the low parts of the earth, in places desolate of old, with them that go down to the pit, that thou be not inhabited; and I shall set glory in the land of the living;

• Before Jesus died on the cross, all people (even believers) went under the earth after they died. Therefore, if Jesus healed someone and saved them from physical death, He was saving them from the pit. Therefore, Jesus frequently referred to people He healed as His sheep that He was saving from a ditch, or an ox/donkey (His servant, see Ox/Donkey) that He was saving from a pit.

Matthew 12:10-12 (KJV) And, behold, there was a man which had his hand withered. And they asked him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath days? that they might accuse him. 11 And he said unto them, What man shall there be among you, that shall have one sheep [the withered man himself], and if it fall into a pit on the sabbath day [the man dying, slipping into the pit], will he not lay hold on it, and lift it out [as Jesus saved the man from the pit]? 12 How much then is a man better than a sheep? Wherefore it is lawful to do well on the sabbath days. 

Luke 14:2-5 (KJV) And, behold, there was a certain man before him which had the dropsy. 3 And Jesus answering spake unto the lawyers and Pharisees, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbath day? 4 And they held their peace. And he took him,and healed him, and let him go; 5 And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox [the man, a servant/believer of Christ] fallen into a pit [dying, slipping into the pit], and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day [as Jesus saved the man from the pit]?

The Holy Spirit

• In the Bible, the word “well, pit, or ditch” seems to typically be the same word. While the pit can refer to the place under the earth (the underworld), it can also refer to the inside of us where the Holy Spirit lives inside of our earth body.

• Song of Solomon refers to the Holy Spirit inside of us as a well or a pit of living water (see John 4:14, 7:38).

Song of Solomon 4:15  (KJV) A fountain of gardens, a well [lit. a well, pit or spring] of living waters, and streams from Lebanon [the Spirit in us]. 

• Also see “Water”

Waterless Pit

• Some parts of the pit are said to have water in them, while others are said to be waterless. It seems probable that this is speaking about different places in the underworld. It’s uncertain what this means, but it will become more certain once understanding what the water in the pit represents (see “Water”).

• Jesus is said to set prisoners free from the waterless pit.

Zechariah 9:11 (KJV)  As for thee also, by the blood of thy covenant I have sent forth thy prisoners out of the pit wherein is no water.

• It seems apparent that when a demon is cast out of someone, it goes to this “waterless pit” from which it came. Jesus calls it “waterless places.” 

Luke 11:24 (YLT)  When the unclean spirit may go forth from the man it walketh through waterless places seeking rest, and not finding, it saith, I will turn back to my house whence I came forth…

• Also, Joseph came to his brothers, but they did not receive him. Instead, they tore off his coat and threw him into the waterless pit, only for him to rise from that pit shortly thereafter. This is a symbol of how Jesus came to His own Jewish brothers, but they did not receive Him. Instead, they tore off his flesh (see “Coat/Clothing”) and threw him into the true waterless pit for three days, only for him to rise from that pit shortly thereafter.

Genesis 37:24 (KJV)  And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.

The Holy Spirit And The Waters Of The Pit

• You’ll notice there are similarities in the symbols used for the Holy Spirit and the waters of the underworld (well/pit). See “the Sea” for more on these parallel symbols.