The Hebrew bor refers to a pit dug in the ground, typically a cistern for collecting water, but frequently used as a place of confinement. Joseph was thrown into a bor (Genesis 37:20), and it became synonymous with the grave or Sheol — the realm of the dead.
In biblical theology, bor carries powerful imagery of helplessness and divine rescue. The pit represents the depths of human suffering, abandonment, and mortality. Psalms repeatedly call on God to bring the soul up from the pit (Psalm 30:3; 40:2), making bor a backdrop against which God's saving power shines. Joseph's pit foreshadows the suffering Servant who descends to death before being exalted.