Dict: easton - Cistern

easton:

Cistern @ the rendering of a Hebrew word bor, which means a receptacle for water conveyed to it; distinguished from beer, which denotes a place where water rises on the spot kjv@Jeremiah:2:13; kjv@Proverbs:5:15; kjv@Isaiah:36:16), a fountain. Cisterns are frequently mentioned in Scripture. The scarcity of springs in Palestine made it necessary to collect rain-water in reservoirs and cisterns kjv@Numbers:21:22). (
See WELL.) Empty cisterns were sometimes used as prisons kjv@Jeremiah:38:6; kjv@Lamentations:3:53; kjv@Psalms:40:2 kjv@Psalms:69:15). The "pit" into which Joseph was cast kjv@Genesis:37:24) was a beer or dry well. There are numerous remains of ancient cisterns in all parts of Palestine.