The Pit

The term

Obviously, “The Pit” is rendered in English because two different Hebrew terms are used metaphorically to describe “the pit.”  Yet, both are clearly speaking of the same place, and both mean “the pit,” so they are grouped together in this section.

·         Heb. Shachath, means “destruction, the pit, or corruption.”

·         Heb. Bowr, means “a pit or dungeon”

Shachath (transliterated “shahat”) and bowr appear more than twenty times in the Old Testament.  These are terms that can be used literally or metaphorically.  When they are used literally, they mean simply a pit; a hole in the ground.  When used metaphorically, they render the conclusions of this section.  Several times Job used shachath metaphorically and spoke of “the soul” going there to ensure proper understanding.

Job used shachath, however, both literally and metaphorically:

Job 9:30-31 (NIV) [a literal usage]
³⁰ Even if I washed myself with soap and my hands with washing soda, ³¹ you would plunge me into a slime pit so that even my clothes would detest me.

Job 33:22 (NIV) [a metaphorical usage]
²² His soul draws near to the pit, and his life to the messengers of death.

A sampling of texts:

Job 33:23-24 (NIV)
²³ “Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, ²⁴ to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the pit (shachath); I have found a ransom for him’–

Job 33:29-30 (NIV)
²⁹ “God does all these things to a man– twice, even three times– ³⁰ to turn back his soul from the pit (shachath), that the light of life may shine on him.

Psalms 30:3 (NIV)
³ O LORD, you brought me up from the grave (Sheol); you spared me from going down into the pit (bowr).

Isaiah 38:18 (NIV)
¹⁸ For the grave(Sheol) cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit (bowr) cannot hope for your faithfulness.

Ezekiel 32:18 (NIV)
¹⁸ “Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, with those who go down to the pit (bowr).

 Proverbs 1:12 (NIV)
¹² let’s swallow them alive, like the grave (Sheol), and whole, like those who go down to the pit(bowr);

Ezekiel 26:20 (NIV)
²⁰ then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit (bowr), to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit (bowr), and you will not return or take your place in the land of the living.

Conclusions

“The pit” is a place of the dead

Proverbs 1:12 (NIV)
¹² let’s swallow them alive, like the grave (Sheol), and whole, like those who go down to the pit(bowr);

Ezekiel 26:20 (NIV)
²⁰ then I will bring you down with those who go down to the pit (bowr), to the people of long ago. I will make you dwell in the earth below, as in ancient ruins, with those who go down to the pit (bowr), and you will not return or take your place in the land of the living.

Proverbs 1 equates the pit with Sheol, while Ezekiel 26 emphatically states that those who go there will “not return…in the land of the living.”

It is always referenced in a negative light

·         It is a place to be spared from

Job 33:23-24 (NIV)
²³ “Yet if there is an angel on his side as a mediator, one out of a thousand, to tell a man what is right for him, ²⁴ to be gracious to him and say, ‘Spare him from going down to the pit (shachath); I have found a ransom for him’–

Psalms 30:3 (NIV)
³ O LORD, you brought me up from the grave (Sheol); you spared me from going down into the pit (bowr).

·         It is a place which those who go there are to be mourned for

Ezekiel 32:18 (NIV)
¹⁸ “Son of man, wail for the hordes of Egypt and consign to the earth below both her and the daughters of mighty nations, with those who go down to the pit (bowr).

·         It is always referenced in a negative light, never positive.

The direction is always downward

Psalms 30:3 (NIV)
³ O LORD, you brought me up from the grave (Sheol); you spared me from going down into the pit (bowr).

Isaiah 38:18 (NIV)
¹⁸ For the grave(Sheol) cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit (bowr) cannot hope for your faithfulness.

It is used in parallel with Sheol

·         Just as Abaddon was used, so “the pit” is used in parallel with Sheol in poetic texts

Proverbs 1:12 (NIV)
¹² let’s swallow them alive, like the grave (Sheol), and whole, like those who go down to the pit(bowr);

Isaiah 38:18 (NIV)
¹⁸ For the grave(Sheol) cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit (bowr) cannot hope for your faithfulness.

Conclusion:

“The pit” has the same characteristics of Abaddon, though it is a common noun used metaphorically.  Thus, “the pit” is a term for Abaddon which is not a proper name, but a general reference.  “The pit” and Abaddon are one and the same; the unrighteous side of Sheol.