THE FULL ARTICLE — from the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia (1915), general editor James Orr — public domain, printed whole.

dich: The word is used indiscriminately in the King James Version to represent at least three different ideas: a conduit or trench (2Ki 3:16); a reservoir or cistern; or simply a pit or hole in the ground. In the Revised Version (British and American) this distinction is observed more carefully. Compare Job 9:31; Ps 7:15 ("pit"), and Isa 22:11 ("reservoir"), the former meaning a pit or any similar place of destruction or corruption; the latter a reservoir or cistern of water. The New Testament usage (Mt 15:14 the King James Version) corresponds somewhat with the former. See also 2Ki 3:16 ("trenches").