"a well, cistern, Lk. 14:5; Jn. 4:11, 12; a pit, Rev. 9:1, 2*"
Definition and meaning
a well, cistern, Lk. 14:5; Jn. 4:11, 12; a pit, Rev. 9:1, 2*
In the original Greek the word is written: φρέαρ
Historical context
Luke wrote as a historian addressing a Greek audience. He carefully interviewed eyewitnesses and arranged events in order. The social and economic realities he describes — Roman taxation, Jewish religious hierarchy, the marginalization of women and the poor — are consistent with first-century Judea under Roman administration.
The people who first heard this word were not reading a book — they were living through empires, oppression, exile, and covenant. Every word carried the weight of that reality. Understanding it changes how you read Scripture.
Scripture references
These are the most notable occurrences of phrear (G5421) across the King James Bible.
And answered them, saying, Which of you shall have an ass or an ox fallen into a pit, and will not straightway pull him out on the sabbath day?
The woman saith unto him, Sir, thou hast nothing to draw with, and the well is deep: from whence then hast thou that living water?
Art thou greater than our father Jacob, which gave us the well, and drank thereof himself, and his children, and his cattle?
And the fifth angel sounded, and I saw a star fall from heaven unto the earth: and to him was given the key of the bottomless pit.
And he opened the bottomless pit; and there arose a smoke out of the pit, as the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by reason of the smoke of the pit.
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Common questions
Strong's G5421 (phrear) is a Greek word that means: a well, cistern, Lk. 14:5; Jn. 4:11, 12; a pit, Rev. 9:1, 2* It appears 5 times in the King James Bible.
The word phrear (G5421) appears 5 times in the original Greek text.
Strong's G5421 is phrear, a Greek word defined as: a well, cistern, Lk. 14:5; Jn. 4:11, 12; a pit, Rev. 9:1, 2*. James Strong catalogued this in his 1890 concordance to help English readers study the original languages of the Bible.
phrear is a Greek word found in the New Testament.