And they took him, and cast him into a pit: and the pit [was] empty, [there was] no water in it.
Ver. 24. They cast him into a pit.] Where they meant he should pine and perish with hunger, which is a more cruel death than to die by the sword. Lam 4:9 Thus died Drusus by the command of Tiberius; food being denied him, he had eaten the stuffings of his bed. a I have heard of a certain bishop, saith Melancthon, who, having cast ten men into a dungeon for their religion's sake, kept them there so long without all manner of food, that they devoured one another. b
a Druso adeo alimenta subducta, ut tomentum a culcitra tentaverit mandere. - Tacit.
b Joh. Manlii, loc. com., 124.