H6354 H6354
Pit; a hole in the ground, used literally and figuratively for calamity and entrapment.
A masculine noun meaning a pit or hole dug in the earth. It appears in narrative contexts where bodies are thrown into a pit (2 Sam 18:17) and where fugitives hide in pits (2 Sam 17:9). Its most famous usage comes in the alliterative triad 'terror, pit, and snare' (pachad, pachat, pach) in Isaiah 24:17–18 and Jeremiah 48:43–44, where the pit represents inescapable divine judgment. Lamentations 3:47 echoes the same trio. The Spanish glosses oscillate between 'hoyo' (hole), 'fosa' (pit), and 'cuevas' (caves), showing the range from literal excavation to metaphorical doom.
Senses
1. pit, snare, trap — A pit or hole in the ground, used concretely for a physical excavation (2 Sam 17:9; 18:17) and figuratively for inescapable calamity. The word is best known from the alliterative prophetic formula pachad-pachat-pach ('dread, pit, and trap') in Isa 24:17–18, Jer 48:43–44, and Lam 3:47, where fleeing one danger only plunges the victim into the next. Spanish glosses range from 'hoyo' to 'fosa' to 'cuevas,' and French offers both 'fosse' and 'piege' (snare), reflecting the dual literal-figurative usage across all ten occurrences. 10×
AR["الْحُفَرِ", "الْحُفْرَةِ", "الْهُوَّةِ", "وَحُفْرَةٌ"]·ben["-গর্ত-এর", "-গর্তে", "এবং-গর্ত", "ও-গর্ত", "গর্ত", "গর্তে", "গর্তের"]·DE["[הפחת]", "[ופחת]", "[פחת]", "der-Grube", "der-pits", "und-Statthalter"]·EN["a-pit", "and-pit", "of-the-pit", "the-pit", "the-pits"]·FR["et-piège", "le-fosse", "le-pits", "piège"]·heb["ה-פחת", "ה-פחתים", "ו-פחת", "פחת"]·HI["और-गड्ढा", "और-गढ़्ढा", "खड्ड-के", "गड्ढे", "गड्ढों-के", "गढ़्ढे", "गढ़्ढे-के", "गहरे-गड्ढे"]·ID["-lubang", "-lubang-lubang", "dan-lubang", "jurang", "lubang"]·IT["e-fossa", "fossa", "il-fossa", "il-pits"]·jav["jurang", "lan-luwangan", "luwangan", "luweng"]·KO["구덕이의", "구덩이", "그-구덩이", "그-구덩이들", "그리고-구덩이와", "그리고-함정-이", "그리고-함정과", "함정에", "함정의"]·PT["a-cova", "as-covas", "cova", "e-cova", "precipicio"]·RU["и-яма", "из-ям", "пропасти", "яму", "ямы"]·ES["el-hoyo", "la-fosa", "las-cuevas", "precipicio", "y-fosa"]·SW["na-shimo", "shimo", "ya-mashimo", "ya-shimo"]·TR["cukura", "cukurun", "ve-cukur", "ve-çukur", "çukura", "çukurdan", "çukurların", "çukurun"]·urd["-گڑھے", "اور-گڑھا", "گڑھوں-کے", "گڑھے", "گڑھے-کے"]
Related Senses
H8033 1. There (locative adverb) (835×)H7760a 1. put, place, set physically (444×)H8064 1. heavens / sky (329×)H5439 1. around, all around (spatial) (319×)H4057b 1. wilderness, desert region (270×)H3220 1. sea, body of water (269×)H0520a 1. cubit (unit of length) (246×)H0127 1. ground, land (territory) (210×)H3383 1. Jordan River (proper noun) (183×)G1093 1. earth, the world (176×)H5800a 1. forsake, abandon (Qal active) (166×)H8121 1. sun (celestial body) (133×)H7126 1. offer, present sacrificially (122×)H6828 1. north, cardinal direction (120×)H2351 1. outside, exterior space (119×)H5104 1. river, stream (119×)H7341 1. width, breadth (101×)G1563 1. there (95×)H7126 2. draw near, approach (95×)G2281 1. sea, large body of water (91×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† פַּ֫חַת n.m. 2 S 18:17 (in 17:9 read בְּאַחַד) pit;—פ׳ abs. Je 48:13 +, פָּ֑חַת v 28; pl. פְּחָתִים 2 S 17:9;—pit, 2 S 17:9; 18:17; Je 48:28 (Gie qu. text); fig. of calamity פַּחַד וָפ׳ וָפָ֑ח Je 48:43 cf. v 44(×2) = Is 24:17 cf. v 18(×2) and La 3:47.