βόθυνος
bothunos
pit
Lexicon Entry
Lexicon data from STEPBible TIPNR, Tyndale House, Cambridge. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.
What Original Readers Understood
ExploredThe word βόθυνος (bothunos) is a Greek term with the short definition of "pit." It appears in the Bible three times. In the contexts where it is used, βόθυνος likely refers to a deep hole in the ground, possibly man-made or natural. This could be a literal pit or a metaphorical one. The word's frequency and restricted usage suggest it may be a relatively common feature in the environment of the writers and communities for whom the texts were written. The significance of βόθυνος lies in its depiction of natural or constructed features in the biblical narrative, possibly influencing the way people understood their world or the experiences of the characters in the stories. As a relatively simple and clear term in the biblical texts, βόθυνος serves its purpose in conveying the physical setting of events and descriptions, providing insight into life, geography, or environmental factors in the world of the authors.
Source data & methodology
Occurrences in Scripture
3 total occurrences across the text
He said to them, “What man is there among you, who has one sheep, and if this one falls into a pit on the Sabbath day, won’t he grab on to it, and lift it out?
Matthew 15:14Leave them alone. They are blind guides of the blind. If the blind guide the blind, both will fall into a pit.”
Luke 6:39He spoke a parable to them. “Can the blind guide the blind? Won’t they both fall into a pit?