{
  "id": "dict_004474",
  "term": "PITCHER",
  "slug": "pitcher",
  "letter": "P",
  "entry_type": "material_object",
  "entry_family": "theological_term",
  "depth_profile": "standard",
  "short_definition": "An ordinary vessel used in biblical times for carrying, storing, or pouring liquids, especially water.",
  "simple_one_line": "A pitcher is a common household container in biblical settings.",
  "tooltip_text": "An everyday vessel for water or other liquids; its meaning depends on the passage, not on a fixed symbol.",
  "aliases": [],
  "scripture_references": [],
  "original_language_terms": [],
  "related_entries": [
    "jar",
    "vessel",
    "water",
    "hospitality",
    "household goods",
    "earthen vessel"
  ],
  "see_also": [
    "jar",
    "bowl",
    "vessel",
    "water carrier",
    "hospitality",
    "Judges 7",
    "Genesis 24",
    "Mark 14"
  ],
  "lede_intro": "In Scripture, a pitcher is a practical container used in ordinary life. It appears in household and travel scenes and sometimes plays a narrative role, but it is not presented as a stable theological symbol.",
  "at_a_glance_definition": "An everyday vessel for carrying or pouring liquids in biblical life.",
  "at_a_glance_key_points": [
    "Common household object",
    "appears in narrative scenes",
    "usually practical rather than symbolic",
    "meaning is context-specific."
  ],
  "description_academic_short": "A pitcher is an ordinary container used for carrying or pouring liquids in biblical narratives. Its significance is usually practical and contextual rather than doctrinal or symbolic.",
  "description_academic_full": "A pitcher in the Bible is a simple vessel used in daily life for carrying, storing, or pouring liquids. It appears in ordinary household, travel, and narrative settings, where it helps move the action forward but does not normally carry a fixed theological meaning. In some passages, the pitcher is part of an important scene, but its significance comes from the context of the text rather than from the object itself. For that reason, a Bible dictionary entry for pitcher should explain the historical use of the vessel and avoid forcing a universal spiritual symbol onto every occurrence.",
  "background_biblical_context": "Pitchers appear in scenes of hospitality, travel, water-drawing, and other ordinary actions. Biblical narratives sometimes use them simply as part of the setting, while in a few passages they become important to the event itself, such as the water carrier who leads the disciples to a prepared room or the pitchers used in Gideon's victory.",
  "background_historical_context": "In the ancient world, pitchers were practical vessels made from clay, stone, metal, or other materials. They were used in homes, by travelers, and at wells or storage places where water had to be carried by hand.",
  "background_jewish_ancient_context": "In ancient Israel and the wider Near East, water storage and transport were central to daily life. Pitchers were common household items, and the task of carrying water was closely tied to domestic labor, hospitality, and survival in a dry land.",
  "key_texts_primary": [
    "Genesis 24:14-20",
    "Judges 7:16-20",
    "Mark 14:13",
    "Luke 22:10"
  ],
  "key_texts_secondary": [
    "Genesis 24:43-46",
    "1 Kings 17:12-16"
  ],
  "original_language_note": "The English term pitcher can represent more than one kind of ancient container. Biblical Hebrew and Greek use several words for jars, vessels, and water containers, so the exact object depends on the passage.",
  "theological_significance": "A pitcher is not a major doctrinal symbol in Scripture, but it can contribute to the theology of ordinary obedience, hospitality, provision, and God's use of simple means in His purposes.",
  "philosophical_explanation": "Material objects in Scripture are often meaningful because of the events in which they appear. A pitcher illustrates how biblical meaning is usually grounded in context rather than in an abstract symbol attached to the object itself.",
  "interpretive_cautions": "Do not treat pitcher as a fixed biblical symbol with a universal hidden meaning. Interpret each occurrence by its immediate context, and distinguish pitchers from other containers such as jars, bowls, or vessels when the passage requires it.",
  "major_views_note": "Some devotional or allegorical readings try to assign symbolic meaning to pitchers, especially in passages like Judges 7. Standard grammatical-historical interpretation treats the object as ordinary unless the text itself assigns special significance.",
  "doctrinal_boundaries": "Pitcher is a cultural and material term, not a doctrine-bearing category. Any theological application should come from the passage, not from the object alone.",
  "practical_significance": "The entry helps readers understand everyday biblical life, hospitality scenes, travel arrangements, and narrative details that make Scripture concrete and historically grounded.",
  "meta_description": "Pitcher in the Bible is an ordinary vessel used for carrying or pouring liquids, especially water, and should be interpreted in context rather than as a fixed symbol.",
  "public_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/pitcher/",
  "json_url": "/companion-bible-dictionary/data/dictionary/pitcher.json",
  "final_disposition": "PUBLISH_CANONICAL"
}