DRAWER OF WATER

dro'-er, (sho'ebh mayim, from sha'abh, "to bale up" water): In Syria and Palestine, outside of Mt. Lebanon and the Anti-Lebanon, the springs of water are scarce and the inhabitants of these less favored places have always depended upon wells and cisterns for their water supply. This necessitates some device for drawing the water. In the case of a cistern or shallow well, an earthenware water jar or a bucket made of tanned goats' skin is lowered into the water by a rope and then raised by pulling up the rope hand over hand (probably the ancient method), or by running the rope over a crude pulley fixed directly over the cistern or well. In the case of deep wells, the rope, attached to a larger bucket, is run over a pulley so that the water may be raised by the drawers walking away from the well as they pull the rope. Frequently animals are hitched to the rope to do the pulling.

In some districts where the water level is not too deep, a flight of steps leading down to the water's edge is constructed in addition to the opening vertically above the water. Such a well is pointed out near Haran in Mesopotamia as the one from which Rebekah drew water for Abraham's servant. In Genesis 24:16 we read that Rebekah "went down to the fountain, and filled her pitcher, and came up."

The deep grooves in their curbs, worn by the ropes as the water was being raised, attest to the antiquity of many of the wells of Palestine and Syria. Any one of the hundreds of grooves around a single well was many years in being formed. The fact that the present method of drawing water from these wells is not making these grooves, shows that they are the work of former times.

The drawing of water was considered the work of women or of men unfit for other service (Genesis 24:11, 13, 13 1 Samuel 9:11 John 4:7). In Syria, today, a girl servant willingly goes to draw the daily supply of water, but seldom is it possible to persuade a boy or man to perform this service. When the well or fountain is at a distance, or much water is needed, tanned skins or earthen jars are filled and transported on the backs of men or donkeys.

Water drawing was usually done at evening time (Genesis 24:11), and this custom has remained unchanged. There is no sight more interesting than the daily concourse at a Syrian water source. It is bound to remind one of the Bible stories where the setting is a wellside (Genesis 24 John 4).

The service of water drawing was associated, in early times, with that of hewer of wood (Deuteronomy 29:11). Joshua made the Gibeonites hewers of wood and drawers of water in exchange for their lives (Joshua 9:21, 23, 17). The inhabitants of Nineveh were exhorted to draw water and fill the cisterns of their fortresses in preparation for a siege (Nahum 3:14).

Figurative: Water drawing is mentioned in the metaphor of Isaiah 12:3, "Ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."

James A. Patch

The Golden Rule Exemplified
... The little girl went to the table drawer to get one, and her mother said to her:
"Get the longest handled spoon." As she opened the drawer, I saw only two ...
/.../the golden rule exemplified.htm

The Blessedness of Giving
... I went to look in my drawer, and was so sorry to find I had but one sovereign left
in my bank for the poor, and my allowance would not be due for two or three ...
/.../various/the wonders of prayer/the blessedness of giving.htm

Various Precepts.
... shall be or no. [2414] 5. Be not a stretcher forth of the hands to receive
and a drawer of them back to give. [2415] 6. If thou ...
/.../various/the teaching of the twelve apostles/chapter iv name precepts.htm

The Seed Growing Secretly
... But in any case the argument forgets that the whole kingdom of God is to resemble
seed, not in a drawer, but in the earth, and advancing towards the harvest. ...
/.../chadwick/the gospel of st mark/chapter 4 26-29 the seed growing.htm

Letter iv. To Olympius.
... cf. Lucian, Pereg. 15, and Synesius, Ep. 147. [1767] Cleanthes, the Lydian Stoic,
was hence called phreantlos, or well drawer. On him vide Val. Max. viii. ...
/.../basil/basil letters and select works/letter iv to olympius.htm

Of the Corruption of Nature and the Efficacy of Divine Grace
... of discipline, the light of the heart, the solace of anxiety, the banisher of sorrow,
the deliverer from fear, the nurse of devotion, the drawer forth of tears ...
/.../kempis/imitation of christ/chapter lv of the corruption.htm

On Refuges of Lies.
... She returned with only the sad story that the mice had found their way to his drawer
and had eaten up the paper"all the dying man's evidence of piety! Alas! ...
/.../finney/sermons on gospel themes/vii on refuges of lies.htm

Rest, Rest
... treasure. It is all his own, but he has not yet seen it all, for one day he
detects a secret drawer, he touches a hidden spring, and lo! ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 17 1871/rest rest.htm

Our God of the Impossible
... A sight of them, I knew, would recover my energies better than anything else. But
in getting home I in some way lost the key of the money-drawer. ...
/.../goforth/how i know god answers prayer/viii our god of the.htm

Book iii. The Words of the Lord, I in the Father...
... Water is poured into the vessels, wine drawn out in the cups. The evidence
of the senses of the pourer contradicts that of the drawer. ...
/.../hilary/the life and writings of st hilary of poitiers/book iii the words of.htm

Drawer of water: (Deuteronomy 29:11; Joshua 9:21, 23), a servile employment to which the Gibeonites were condemned. 1. (n.) One who, or that which, draws

2. (n.) One who draws liquor for guests; a waiter in a taproom.

3. (n.) One who delineates or depicts; a draughtsman; as, a good drawer.

4. (n.) One who draws a bill of exchange or order for payment; -- the correlative of drawee.

5. (n.) That which is drawn

6. (n.) A sliding box or receptacle in a case, which is opened by pulling or drawing out, and closed by pushing in.

7. (n.) An under-garment worn on the lower limbs.

Drawer (1 Occurrence)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Drawer of water: (Deuteronomy 29:11; Joshua 9:21, 23),
a servile employment to which the Gibeonites were condemned. ...DRAWER OF WATER. ...
/d/drawer.htm - 11k

Till (774 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) A vetch; a tare. 2. (n.) A drawer. 3. (n.) A tray
or drawer in a chest. 4. (n.) A money drawer in a shop or store. ...
/t/till.htm - 36k

Hewer (2 Occurrences)
... Israelites had sworn, the Gibeonites would probably have been killed. See DRAWER
OF WATER. chatsbh, from the root "to cut" or "to carve ...
/h/hewer.htm - 8k

Knob (4 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) A knoblike ornament or handle; as, the knob of a lock, door, or drawer.
3. (n.) A rounded hill or mountain; as, the Pilot Knob. 4. (n.) See Knop. ...
/k/knob.htm - 8k

Lock (6 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) Anything that fastens; specifically, a fastening, as for a door, a lid,
a trunk, a drawer, and the like, in which a bolt is moved by a key so as to ...
/l/lock.htm - 11k

Tiller (3 Occurrences)
... itself. 8. (n.) The handle of anything. 9. (n.) A small drawer; a till.
Multi-Version Concordance Tiller (3 Occurrences). Genesis ...
/t/tiller.htm - 8k

Drawers (4 Occurrences)

/d/drawers.htm - 7k

Pull (32 Occurrences)
... 11. (n.) A pluck; loss or violence suffered. 12. (n.) A knob, handle, or lever,
etc., by which anything is pulled; as, a drawer pull; a bell pull. 13. ...
/p/pull.htm - 17k

Stop (108 Occurrences)
... shuts. This takes the place, or answers the purpose, of a rebate. Also, a
pin or block to prevent a drawer from sliding too far. 17. ...
/s/stop.htm - 38k

Hews (4 Occurrences)
... Deuteronomy 29:11 your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in the
midst of thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water ...
/h/hews.htm - 7k

Drawer (1 Occurrence)

Deuteronomy 29:11 Your little ones, your wives, and thy stranger that is in thy camp, from the hewer of thy wood unto the drawer of thy water:
(KJV JPS ASV DBY WBS YLT)

Drawer

Drawer of Water

Till (774 Occurrences)

Hewer (2 Occurrences)

Knob (4 Occurrences)

Lock (6 Occurrences)

Tiller (3 Occurrences)

Drawers (4 Occurrences)

Pull (32 Occurrences)

Stop (108 Occurrences)

Hews (4 Occurrences)

Water (4571 Occurrences)

Infants (71 Occurrences)

Draw (212 Occurrences)

Sojourner (81 Occurrences)

Stranger (152 Occurrences)

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