Pit

Word used frequently in the OT to denote the grave, the abode of the dead, or Sheol—that is, a shadowy existence that the living feared because it cut them off from light, joy, and vitality. Godly people abhorred it because it seemed to them that it would negate their fellowship with God: Hezekiah (Is 38:17–18), Job (Jb 17:13–16; 33:22), and the psalmists (Pss 28:1; 30:3; 55:23; 88:4–6).

See also Bottomless Pit; Dead, Place of the; Death; Sheol.