KING JAMES BIBLE DICTIONARY

The rendering of a Hebrew word bor, which means a receptacle for water conveyed to it; distinguished from beer, which denotes a place where water rises on the spot (Jeremiah 2:13; Proverbs 5:15; Isaiah 36:16), a fountain. Cisterns are frequently mentioned in Scripture. The scarcity of springs in Palestine made it necessary to collect rain-water in reservoirs and cisterns (Numbers 21:22). (See WELL.)

Empty cisterns were sometimes used as prisons (Jeremiah 38:6; Lamentations 3:53; Psalms 40:2; 69:15). The "pit" into which Joseph was cast (Genesis 37:24) was a beer or dry well. There are numerous remains of ancient cisterns in all parts of Palestine.

General references
Isaiah 36:16

Broken
Jeremiah 2:13

Figurative
2 Kings 18:31; Proverbs 5:15; Ecclesiastes 12:6
Wells

a receptacle for water, either conducted from an external spring or proceeding from rain-fall. The dryness of the summer months and the scarcity of springs in Judea made cisterns a necessity, and they are frequent throughout the whole of Syria and Palestine. On the long-forgotten way from Jericho to Bethel, "broken cisterns" of high antiquity are found at regular intervals. Jerusalem depends mainly for water upon its cisterns, of which almost every private house possesses one or more, excavated in the rock on which the city is built. The cisterns have usually a round opening at the top, sometimes built up with stonework above and furnished with a curb and a wheel for a bucket. (Ecclesiastes 12:6) Empty cisterns were sometimes used as prisons and places of confinement. Joseph was cast into a "pit," (Genesis 37:22) as was Jeremiah. (Jeremiah 38:6)

CISTERN, noun

1. An artificial reservoir or receptacle for holding water, beer or other liquor, as in domestic uses, distilleries, and breweries.

2. A natural reservoir; a hollow place containing water; as a fountain or lake.