בְּאֵר
bᵉʼêr · H875 · Hebrew · 37 occurrences
Thing
- WellBuildings and Structures46 verses
Meanings
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well, watering place or spring
A hole in the ground that reaches underground water, usually manmade, dug or hewn from rock but sometimes natural, used for accessing, collecting and storing water and by shepherds for their animals, regarded as a source of life and sometimes used as a metaphor for a woman
ExamplesGenesis 16:14 Therefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Genesis 21:19 Then God opened her eyes, and she saw a well of water; and she went and filled the skin with water and gave the boy a drink.
Genesis 21:25 But Abraham complained to Abimelech because of the well of water which the servants of Abimelech had seized.
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tar pit, bitumen pit
Hole in the ground where crude oil seeps to the surface from inside the earth
ExamplesGenesis 14:10 Now the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits; and the kings of Sodom and Gomorrah fled, and they fell into them. But those who survived fled to the hill country.
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pit
Naturally occurring depression, hole or pit, usually containing a substance in liquid form; a metaphor for death, based on the physical resemblance of a pit to a grave, on the danger of falling into a pit, or being drowned by water in it, and on the depth of a pit recalling the underworld place of the dead
ExamplesPsalm 55:23 But You, God, will bring them down to the pit of destruction; Men of bloodshed and deceit will not live out half their days. But I will trust in You.
Psalm 69:15 May the flood of water not overflow me Nor the deep swallow me up, Nor the pit close its mouth on me.
Proverbs 23:27 For a prostitute is a deep pit, And a strange woman is a narrow well.
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Beer
A location with a well in the Sinai peninsula, where the Israelites encamped on their way from Egypt to Canaan
ExamplesNumbers 21:16 From there they continued to Beer, that is the well where the LORD said to Moses, “Assemble the people, that I may give them water.”
How it’s used In 8 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Whose, or of whatGenitive or possessive
10 occurrences in 5 groups
- מַיִםwater 6
- חֵמָרbitumen 1
- שַׁחַתpit 1
- בְּאֵרwell 1
- ךָyour 1
Words describing itAdjectives, demonstratives, participles
10 occurrences in 7 groups
- חָפַרto dig, to search out 3
- אַחֵרother 2
- גָּזַלto seize 1
- הוּאhe, she, it 1
- זֹאתthis 1
- אָמַרto say 1
What it doesIt is the subject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- אָטַרto close 1
What is done to itIt is the object
7 occurrences in 4 groups
- חָפַרto dig, to search out 4
- כָּרָהto dig 1
- מָצָאto find 1
- רָאָהto see 1
What it is said to bePredicate
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- חָצֵרcourt, courtyard 1
- שָׂדֶהfield, countryside 1
What is said to be itIt is the predicate
3 occurrences in 3 groups
- הוּאhe, she, it 1
- נׇכְרִיforeign, foreigner 1
- עֵמֶקvalley 1
After prepositionsPrepositional phrases
7 occurrences in 4 groups
- אֵלto, toward 4
- מִןfrom 4
- לto/for 4
- עַלon, upon, over, against 2
In phrases “… of it”It is the genitive
13 occurrences in 7 groups
- פֶּהmouth 5
- אוֹדוֹתcause 2
- מַיִםwater 2
- פָּנִיםface, presence, before 1
- שֵׁםname 1
- תָּוֶךְmiddle 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
In the other Testament 1 word
- φρέαρ phréar · G5421 · well, deep pit
- Greek φρέαρ translates Hebrew בְּאֵר for wells and cisterns (dug water sources), with φρέαρ extending to figurative abysses where Hebrew uses other terms.
Semantic domains 3 entries
- Waterbodies001002008
- בְּאֵר denotes a well or pit for water, as at Genesis 21:19 — "she saw a well of water" — and Genesis 24:11 — "by the well of water when it was evening."
- Landforms001002003
- The term also names a natural or dug landform feature in the terrain, as at Genesis 14:10 — "the Valley of Siddim was full of tar pits" — where the pits are a feature of the land itself, distinct from a constructed water source.
- Names of Locations003001010
- The word underlies several place names built on "Beer" (well), as at Genesis 16:14 — "the well was called Beer-lahai-roi" — where the well's name becomes the place's own name.
Word family 6 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H875. beer בְּאֵר noun feminineGen 26:21 well, pit, mostly Hexateuch, Genesis 23 t.,…
בְּאֵר noun feminineGen 26:21 well, pit, mostly Hexateuch, Genesis 23 t., Exodus 1 t., Numbers 5 t., 37 t. in all; Arabic , Aramaic בֵּירָא בֵּיר, בְּאֵרָא,, , Sabean באר DHMZMG. 1875, 608, Assyrian bêru, LyonSargon 61 (connection with above √ not clear; Lagl.c. spring of water, as coming to light, appearing; possible, although meaning in use rather well, than spring; see however, Gen 16:14 compare Gen 16:7; Gen 26:19; Num 21:17) — ׳בּ absolute Gen 21:30 +; construct Gen 21:19 +; suffix בְּאֵֶר֑ךָ Pro 5:15; Plural absolute בְּאֵרֹת Gen 26:15; construct id. Gen 26:18; compare חֵמָר בֶּאֱרֹת בֶּאֱרֹת Gen 14:10; —
1 a well, often as made by digging (חָפַר) Gen 21:25, Gen 21:30 (E), Gen 26:15, Gen 26:18, Gen 26:19, Gen 26:21, Gen 26:22, Gen 26:32 (all J), also in poetry Num 21:18 (+ כרה) see also Num 21:16; Num 21:17 (where the well addressed, in song, בְאֵר עֲלִי); also with כרה in prose Gen 26:25; also with no reference to its origin Gen 16:14 (J; || עַיִן Gen 16:7), Gen 29:2; Exo 2:15 (J) Num 20:17; Num 21:22 (E) 2Sa 17:18, 2Sa 17:21; (ה)מַיִם בְּאֵר Gen 21:19 (E) Gen 24:11 (J; || עַיִן Gen 24:13; Gen 24:16; Gen 24:43; Gen 24:45); (compare also Gen 21:25; Gen 26:18 above & especially Gen 26:19 חַיִּים מַיִם בְּאֵר); water taken from it by drawing (שָׁאַב) Gen 24:11, Gen 24:20; flocks watered from it (מִןֿ הִשְׁקָה) Gen 29:2-3, Gen 29:8, Gen 29:10 (compare especially Exo 2:16 they drew, דלה, and filled the troughs); also בְּאֵרֶ֑ךָ מִתּוֺךְ .... מַיִם שְׁתֵה Pro 5:15 (|| בּוֺר); the opening called הַבְּאֵר מִּי Gen 29:2-3,(twice in verse); Gen 29:8, Gen 29:10; compare הַבּ ׳מְּנֵי 2Sa 17:19 (read probably מּי so ᵑ9 ᵑ6 ᵑ7 ⅏, compare Dr); figurative of fresh delights of woman beloved Son 4:15 מִןלְֿבָנוֺן וְנוֺזְלִים חַיִּים מַיִם בְּאֵר גַּנִּים מַעְיַן.
2 pit (= בּוֺר); pits of bitumen Gen 14:10 (compare above); שַׁחַת בְּאֵר Psalm 55:24 pit of (the) grave; compare Psa 69:16 מִּיהָ בְּאֵר עָלַי וְאַלתֶּֿאְטַר and let not (the) pit shut its mouth over me (|| מְצוּלָה); figurative of strange woman צָרָה בְּאֵר a narrow pit, out of which rescue is difficult Pro 23:27 (|| עֲמֻקָּה שׁוּחָה). 3 as
proper name, of a location a. with ָ ה locative בְּאֵ֫רָה a station of Israel in desert Num 21:16, possibly = אֵילִים בְּאֵר Isa 15:8.
b. same form Jdg 9:21, according to Euseb. LagOnom.238, 2nd ed. 2508miles north of Eleutheropolis; compare RobBR i. 452 who compare elBîreh, near Beth-shemesh.
אֵילִים בְּאֵר see בְּאֵר
3. a. above
Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain
Topical studies with this word 3 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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