In biblical literature, the term "pit" is often used figuratively to represent various spiritual and moral conditions. The imagery of a pit conveys themes of danger, destruction, entrapment, and divine judgment, as well as deliverance and redemption. This entry explores the figurative use of "pit" in the Bible, drawing from various passages to illustrate its symbolic meanings.

1. Symbol of Sheol and Death: The pit is frequently associated with Sheol, the realm of the dead. In Psalm 30:3 , the psalmist declares, "O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit." Here, the pit symbolizes the grave or the state of death, from which God delivers the faithful. This imagery underscores the power of God to rescue from the ultimate fate of death.

2. Metaphor for Despair and Hopelessness: The pit is also a metaphor for deep despair and hopelessness. In Psalm 40:2 , David recounts, "He lifted me up from the pit of destruction, out of the miry clay; He set my feet upon a rock, and made my footsteps firm." The pit of destruction represents a state of overwhelming trouble and helplessness, from which God provides stability and salvation.

3. Representation of Sin and Moral Decline: The pit can symbolize the consequences of sin and moral decline. Proverbs 26:27 warns, "Whoever digs a pit will fall into it, and he who rolls a stone will have it roll back on him." This proverb illustrates the principle of retributive justice, where those who engage in sinful or deceitful actions ultimately suffer the consequences of their own making.

4. Image of Divine Judgment: In prophetic literature, the pit often signifies divine judgment. Isaiah 24:17-18 states, "Terror and pit and snare await you, O dweller of the earth. Whoever flees the sound of terror will fall into the pit, and whoever climbs from the pit will be caught in the snare." The pit here is part of a triad of judgment, emphasizing the inescapable nature of God's righteous wrath upon the wicked.

5. Symbol of Captivity and Exile: The pit can also represent captivity and exile, as seen in the experience of the prophet Jeremiah. In Jeremiah 38:6 , he is cast into a cistern, described as a pit, where he sinks into the mud. This act symbolizes the rejection and suffering of God's prophet, yet also foreshadows eventual deliverance, as Jeremiah is later rescued.

6. Foreshadowing of Christ's Suffering and Resurrection: The pit serves as a foreshadowing of Christ's suffering and resurrection. In Acts 2:27 , Peter quotes Psalm 16:10, "because You will not abandon my soul to Hades, nor will You let Your Holy One see decay." The pit, in this context, prefigures Christ's death and His triumph over the grave, affirming the hope of resurrection for believers.

Throughout Scripture, the figurative use of "pit" powerfully conveys the themes of human frailty, divine justice, and the hope of redemption. It serves as a vivid reminder of the consequences of sin and the boundless grace of God in delivering His people from the depths of despair and death.Psalm 7:15,16
He made a pit, and dig it, and is fallen into the ditch which he made.
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Psalm 40:2
He brought me up also out of an horrible pit, out of the miry clay, and set my feet on a rock, and established my goings.
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Psalm 57:6
They have prepared a net for my steps; my soul is bowed down: they have dig a pit before me, into the middle whereof they are fallen themselves. Selah.
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Psalm 69:15
Let not the flood overflow me, neither let the deep swallow me up, and let not the pit shut her mouth on me.
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Psalm 119:85
The proud have dig pits for me, which are not after your law.
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Proverbs 23:27
For a whore is a deep ditch; and a strange woman is a narrow pit.
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Proverbs 26:27
Whoever digs a pit shall fall therein: and he that rolls a stone, it will return on him.
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Proverbs 28:10
Whoever causes the righteous to go astray in an evil way, he shall fall himself into his own pit: but the upright shall have good things in possession.
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Ecclesiastes 10:8
He that digs a pit shall fall into it; and whoever breaks an hedge, a serpent shall bite him.
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Jeremiah 48:44
He that flees from the fear shall fall into the pit; and he that gets up out of the pit shall be taken in the snare: for I will bring on it, even on Moab, the year of their visitation, said the LORD.
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The Use of the Symbolic Style by Poets and Philosophers.
... by the warp (stemosi), the furrows; and the woof (mitos) is a figurative expression
for ... the coat of many colours, and took and threw him into a pit (the pit ...
/.../clement/the stromata or miscellanies/chapter viii the use of the.htm

The Scope of the Apocalypse is Indicated by Its Place in the ...
... Pit is called "his own place." Here the Beast is shown ascending out of the Bottomless
Pit. ... Second, they supply a figurative description of the Emperor himself ...
//christianbookshelf.org/pink/the antichrist/the scope of the apocalypse.htm

The Sermon on the Mount.
... that blessedness which Jesus meant when he said, "It is more blessed to give than
to receive." The figurative language is ... shall they not both fall into a pit? ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/xlii the sermon on the 7.htm

Letter Xlvi. Paula and Eustochium to Marcella.
... punished; if the temple was overthrown, it was that its figurative sacrifices might ...
by John: "The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall...kill ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/letter xlvi paula and eustochium.htm

Miller's views on the Second Coming of Christ.
... and make good sense; and that in every case where the language is figurative, we
must ... the gospel, will be banished from the earth, shut up in the pit or place ...
/.../hayward/the book of religions/millers views on the second.htm

The Death and the Raising of Lazarus - the Question of Miracles ...
... So little had they understood the figurative language about the twelve hours on
which ... practice for a considerable time, and rules are given how a pit, the size ...
/.../edersheim/the life and times of jesus the messiah/chapter xxi the death and.htm

The Rich Man and Lazarus.
... [94] It is true a figurative meaning has ... I saw in an extension of the parish churchyard
the graves of the two hundred men who perished in the pit accident at ...
/.../christianbookshelf.org/arnot/the parables of our lord/xxvi the rich man and.htm

Elucidations.
... Thus He fulfilled the figurative law of His priesthood, as given by Moses, (Deuteronomy
33 ... The pit, as we very appropriately call it in English, answers to the ...
/.../tertullian/the five books against marcion/elucidations.htm

Whether the Third Precept of the Decalogue, Concerning the ...
... among you, that hath one sheep, and if the same fall into a pit on the ... For this
observance is not figurative, as was the observance of the Sabbath in the Old ...
/.../aquinas/summa theologica/whether the third precept of.htm

He Then once More Excellently, Appropriately, and Clearly Examines ...
... when about to exchange the literal sense of the history for figurative contemplation,
says ... mire where no ground is [571] ," whose life is truly a pit, as the ...
/.../gregory/gregory of nyssa dogmatic treatises etc/section 2 he then once.htm

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