Jeremiah 37:16

Jeremiah 37:16. When Jeremiah was entered, &c.— But Jeremiah was brought into a deep and secret dungeon. Houbigant. From comparing this place with ch. Jer 38:6 it seems likely that the dungeon was a deep pit, sunk perpendicularly like a well, in the middle of the open court or quadrangle, around which the great houses were built; and that in the sides of it, near the bottom, were scooped niches, like the cabins of a ship, for the separate lodgment of the unfortunate persons who were let down there. Hence also it may be, that the same word בור bor, is frequently put for the grave; the ancient repositories of the dead being often constructed with niches in the same manner, in which the bodies were placed separately. Accordingly we read, Isaiah 14:15. But thou shalt be brought down to the grave, to the sides of the pit. See the Hebrew.