Reference: Prison
Easton
The first occasion on which we read of a prison is in the history of Joseph in Egypt. Then Potiphar, "Joseph's master, took him, and put him into the prison, a place where the king's prisoners were bound" (Ge 39:20-23). The Heb word here used (sohar) means properly a round tower or fortress. It seems to have been a part of Potiphar's house, a place in which state prisoners were kept.
The Mosaic law made no provision for imprisonment as a punishment. In the wilderness two persons were "put in ward" (Le 24:12; Nu 15:34), but it was only till the mind of God concerning them should be ascertained. Prisons and prisoners are mentioned in the book of Psalms (Ps 69:33; 79:11; 142:7). Samson was confined in a Philistine prison (Jg 16:21,25). In the subsequent history of Israel frequent references are made to prisons (1Ki 22:27; 2Ki 17:4; 25:27,29; 2Ch 16:10; Isa 42:7; Jer 32:2). Prisons seem to have been common in New Testament times (Mt 11:2; 25:36,43). The apostles were put into the "common prison" at the instance of the Jewish council (Ac 5:18,23; 8:3); and at Philippi Paul and Silas were thrust into the "inner prison" (Ac 16:24; comp. Ac 4:3; 12:4-5).
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And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison. But Jehovah was with Joseph, and showed kindness unto him, and gave him favor in the sight of the keeper of the prison. read more. And the keeper of the prison committed to Joseph's hand all the prisoners that were in the prison; and whatsoever they did there, he was the doer of it. The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and that which he did, Jehovah made it prosper.
And they put him in ward, that it might be declared unto them at the mouth of Jehovah.
And they put him in ward, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.
And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he made sport before them. And they set him between the pillars:
and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
For Jehovah heareth the needy, And despiseth not his prisoners.
Let the sighing of the prisoner come before thee: According to the greatness of thy power preserve thou those that are appointed to death;
Bring my soul out of prison, That I may give thanks unto thy name: The righteous shall compass me about; For thou wilt deal bountifully with me.
to open the blind eyes, to bring out the prisoners from the dungeon, and them that sit in darkness out of the prison-house.
Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house.
Now when John heard in the prison the works of the Christ, he sent by his disciples
naked, and ye clothed me; I was sick, and ye visited me; I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
I was a stranger, and ye took me not in; naked, and ye clothed me not; sick, and in prison, and ye visited me not.
And they laid hands on them, and put them in ward unto the morrow: for it was now eventide.
and laid hands on the apostles, and put them in public ward.
saying, The prison-house we found shut in all safety, and the keepers standing at the doors: but when we had opened, we found no man within.
But Saul laid waste the church, entering into every house, and dragging men and women committed them to prison.
And when he had taken him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him; intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people. Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer was made earnestly of the church unto God for him.
who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
Hastings
Imprisonment, in the modern sense of strict confinement under guard, had no recognized place as a punishment for criminals under the older Hebrew legislation (see Crimes and Punishments,
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and they took him, and cast him into the pit: and the pit was empty, there was no water in it.
And Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where the king's prisoners were bound: and he was there in the prison.
The keeper of the prison looked not to anything that was under his hand, because Jehovah was with him; and that which he did, Jehovah made it prosper.
And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
And they dreamed a dream both of them, each man his dream, in one night, each man according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker of the king of Egypt, who were bound in the prison.
And it came to pass at midnight, that Jehovah smote all the first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh that sat on his throne unto the first-born of the captive that was in the dungeon; and all the first-born of cattle.
And the Philistines laid hold on him, and put out his eyes; and they brought him down to Gaza, and bound him with fetters of brass; and he did grind in the prison-house.
And it came to pass, when their hearts were merry, that they said, Call for Samson, that he may make us sport. And they called for Samson out of the prison-house; and he made sport before them. And they set him between the pillars:
Then Asa was wroth with the seer, and put him in the prison-house; for he was in a rage with him because of this thing. And Asa oppressed some of the people at the same time.
And whosoever will not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, let judgment be executed upon him with all diligence, whether it be unto death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of goods, or to imprisonment.
Then Pashhur smote Jeremiah the prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Jehovah.
Jehovah hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the priest, that there may be officers in the house of Jehovah, for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, that thou shouldest put him in the stocks and in shackles.
Now Jeremiah came in and went out among the people; for they had not put him into prison.
And the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.
And the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison.
And the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe; for they had made that the prison. When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
When Jeremiah was come into the dungeon-house, and into the cells, and Jeremiah had remained there many days;
Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, Wherein have I sinned against thee, or against thy servants, or against this people, that ye have put me in prison?
And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison;
As for thee also, because of the blood of thy covenant I have set free thy prisoners from the pit wherein is no water.
For Herod had laid hold on John, and bound him, and put him in prison for the sake of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.
and he sent and beheaded John in the prison.
And they laid hands on them, and put them in ward unto the morrow: for it was now eventide.
and laid hands on the apostles, and put them in public ward.
who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
And he abode two whole years in his own hired dwelling, and received all that went in unto him,
in stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watchings, in fastings;
in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison,
Morish
In Egypt, in Babylon, among the Romans, and doubtless in most other nations, these were used as places in which to secure prisoners. Joseph was cast into prison, and his feet were hurt with fetters (Ps 105:18), though it does not appear that there was any trial as to the crime of which he was accused. God interfered on his behalf, and made the keeper or jailor favourable to him, and he committed all the prisoners into Joseph's care. This was the royal prison, but the condition of the place is not known: he called it 'the dungeon.'
Jeremiah was confined in 'the court of the prison,' a place to which the Jews could come and where they could converse with him. Jer 32:2-12. Jehoiachin was in prison in Babylon. Jer 52:31. The prison at Jerusalem, under the Romans, is more fully described. Peter was bound by two chains, and lay asleep between two soldiers. It was under military rule, and the soldiers were responsible for the safety of the prisoners. The angel conducted Peter through the first and second guard to the outer iron gate that led into the city. This shows what is meant by the 'inner prison' mentioned elsewhere. Acts 12. At Philippi there was a jailor who was responsible for the safety of the prisoners. He, supposing some had escaped, was about to destroy himself, when Paul stopped him. Ac 16:23-27.
Fallen angels are said to be kept in 'everlasting chains,' Jude 1:6; and there are spirits which are kept in prison. 1Pe 3:19. The abyss in which Satan is to be shut up for the thousand years is also called a prison, which may refer to the same place. Re 20:7.
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Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was besieging Jerusalem; and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it; read more. and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; and he shall bring Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be until I visit him, saith Jehovah: though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper? And Jeremiah said, The word of Jehovah came unto me, saying, Behold, Hanamel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee, saying, Buy thee my field that is in Anathoth; for the right of redemption is thine to buy it. So Hanamel mine uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Jehovah, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, that is in Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin; for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is thine; buy it for thyself. Then I knew that this was the word of Jehovah. And I bought the field that was in Anathoth of Hanamel mine uncle's son, and weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed the deed, and sealed it, and called witnesses, and weighed him the money in the balances. So I took the deed of the purchase, both that which was sealed, according to the law and custom, and that which was open: and I delivered the deed of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the presence of Hanamel mine uncle's'son , and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the deed of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the court of the guard.
And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that Evil-merodach king of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and brought him forth out of prison;
And when they had laid many stripes upon them, they cast them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safely: who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks. read more. But about midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns unto God, and the prisoners were listening to them; and suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison-house were shaken: and immediately all the doors were opened, and every one's bands were loosed. And the jailor, being roused out of sleep and seeing the prison doors open, drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison,
And angels that kept not their own principality, but left their proper habitation, he hath kept in everlasting bonds under darkness unto the judgment of the great day.
And when the thousand years are finished, Satan shall be loosed out of his prison,
Smith
[For imprisonment as a punishment, see PUNISHMENTS] It is plain that in Egypt special places were used as prisons, and that they were under the custody of a military officer.
See Punishments
During the wandering in the desert we read on two occasions of confinement "in ward" --
but as imprisonment was not directed by the law, so we hear of none till the time of the kings, when the prison appears as an appendage to the palace, or a special part of it.
Private houses were sometimes used as places of confinement. By the Romans the tower of Antoni, was used as a prison at Jerusalem,
and at Caesarea the praetorium of Herod. The royal prisons In those days were doubtless managed after the Roman fashion, and chains, fetters and stocks were used as means of confinement. See
One of the readiest places for confinement was a dry or partially-dry wall or pit.
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And he put them in ward in the house of the captain of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound.
And they put him in ward, that it might be declared unto them at the mouth of Jehovah.
And they put him in ward, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
and say, Thus saith the king, Put this fellow in the prison, and feed him with bread of affliction and with water of affliction, until I come in peace.
But they said, We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons, for ever: neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land wherein ye sojourn. read more. And we have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters; nor to build houses for us to dwell in; neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed: but we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us. But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; so we dwell at Jerusalem.
who, having received such a charge, cast them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
And when there arose a great dissension, the chief captain, fearing lest Paul should be torn in pieces by them, commanded the soldiers to go down and take him by force from among them, and bring him into the castle.