Came may be rendered “went,” depending on the language.

A cistern: See 2.13; 38.6. Presumably there was no water in it at this time, but that is not clear from the text. Nor is it necessary for translators to indicate this. They can say “a hole [or, pit] for storing water.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .