φρέ-αρ G5421
A well, pit, or shaft; an artificially dug opening in the earth for water or as a deep cavity.
In Greek, phréar denotes a dug well or deep pit, distinguished from a natural spring (krēnē). In the Gospels it appears concretely as the well where Jesus meets the Samaritan woman (John 4:11-12), and in Luke 14:5 as an open pit into which an animal might fall. In Revelation 9:1-2, the word takes on a dramatic apocalyptic dimension as the 'shaft of the abyss,' from which demonic smoke billows. Spanish pozo and French puits preserve the same dual range of 'well' and 'pit,' reflecting the word's flexibility between everyday and visionary usage.
Senses
1. pit — A well, pit, or deep shaft — covering both the practical sense of a dug water-well (John 4:11-12, where the Samaritan woman notes the well is deep) and the apocalyptic sense of a bottomless shaft (Rev 9:1-2, the pit of the abyss). The LXX also uses this word for pits of destruction (cf. Ps 55:23). Spanish pozo and French puits both carry the same range, from an ordinary water source to a figurative abyss. 7×
AR["البِئْرِ", "بِئْرٍ", "بِئْرَ", "بِئْرُ", "بِئْرِ"]·ben["কূপ", "কূপকে", "কূপে", "কূপের", "কূপের,", "কূপের।"]·DE["Brunnen", "φρέαρ"]·EN["pit", "well"]·FR["puits"]·heb["בְּאֵר", "הַבְּאֵר"]·HI["कुआँ", "कुआँ,", "कुआं", "कुएं", "कुएं।"]·ID["lubang", "lubang,", "lubang.", "sumur", "sumur,"]·IT["phrear", "phreatos"]·jav["sumur", "sumur,"]·KO["구덩이", "구덩이-의", "구덩이를", "우물", "우물-을", "우물이"]·PT["poço", "poço,"]·RU["колодец", "колодца", "колодца,", "колодца."]·ES["pozo"]·SW["kisima", "shimo", "shimo,", "shimo."]·TR["kuyu", "kuyudan", "kuyunun", "kuyusunu", "kuyusunun", "kuyuya", "kuyuyu"]·urd["-ال", "کنواں", "کنویں", "کنویں-کو"]
Related Senses
H1129 1. Qal: build, construct (316×)H2691a 1. court, courtyard, enclosure (142×)G4864 1. synagogue, place of Jewish assembly (56×)G5438 1. prison, place of confinement (41×)H4013 1. fortress, stronghold (37×)H0875 1. well, cistern (dug water source) (35×)H0352b 1. pillar or jamb of gateway (32×)H2474 1. window, opening in wall (32×)H1406 1. roof / rooftop (31×)H4609b 1. steps, stairs, stairway (31×)H1129 2. Nifal: be built, be established (30×)H0361 1. portico, porch (architectural structure) (27×)H1129 3. Qal participle: builder (27×)H1219 1. fortified, inaccessible (25×)H4581 1. fortress, stronghold (25×)H3805 1. capital of a pillar (24×)H4350 1. stand, base, pedestal (24×)H0759 1. palace, royal residence (21×)H4692 1. siege, besiegement (20×)G3618 1. build or construct physically (19×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
φρέ-αρ, epigram φρεῖαρ Refs 2nd c.BC+, contraction φρητός Refs 1st c.AD+, Hdn.Gr.1.409; Epic dialect dative φρέᾰτι Refs 3rd c.BC+; plural φρέᾱτα, also φρῆτα Refs 3rd c.BC+; Epic dialect plural φρείᾰτα (see. below):—an artificial well (thus distinguished from κρήνη,Refs 5th c.BC+; but φ. ἀσφάλτον naphtha-spring, LXX+8th c.BC+; the stem φρεατ - first in Refs __2 later, tank, cistern, reservoir,…