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 in prison, in the place where the king's prisoners were kept in chains, and he was there in the prison-house. But the Lord was with Joseph, and was good to him, and made the keeper of the prison his friend. read more. And the keeper of the prison put all the prisoners under Joseph's control, and he was responsible for whatever was done there. And the keeper of the prison gave no attention to anything which was under his care, because the Lord was with him; and the Lord made everything he did go well.
And they kept him shut up, till a decision might be given by the mouth of the Lord.
And they had him shut up, because they had no directions about what was to be done with him.
So the Philistines took him and put out his eyes; then they took him down to Gaza, and, chaining him with bands of brass, put him to work crushing grain in the prison-house.
Now when their hearts were full of joy, they said, Send for Samson to make sport for us. And they sent for Samson out of the prison-house, and he made sport before them; and they put him between the pillars.
And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace.
For the ears of the Lord are open to the poor, and he takes thought for his prisoners.
Take my soul out of prison, so that I may give praise to your name: the upright will give praise because of me; for you have given me a full reward.
To give eyes to the blind, to make free the prisoners from the prison, to let out those who are shut up in the dark.
Now at that time the king of Babylon's army was round Jerusalem, shutting it in: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the place of the armed watchmen, in the house of the king of Judah.
Now when John had news in prison of the works of the Christ, he sent his disciples
I had no clothing, and you gave it to me: when I was ill, or in prison, you came to me.
I was wandering, and you took me not in; without clothing, and you gave me no clothing; ill, and in prison, and you came not to me.
And they took them and put them in prison till the morning, for it was now evening.
And they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison.
Saying, The doors of the prison were safely shut, and the keepers were at the doors, but when they were open, there was nobody inside.
But Saul was burning with hate against the church, going into every house and taking men and women and putting them in prison.
And having taken him, he put him in prison, with four bands of armed men to keep watch over him; his purpose being to take him out to the people after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison: but the church made strong prayer to God for him.
And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet.
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 put him in the hole: now the hole had no water in it.
And Joseph's master took him and put him in prison, in the place where the king's prisoners were kept in chains, and he was there in the prison-house.
And the keeper of the prison gave no attention to anything which was under his care, because the Lord was with him; and the Lord made everything he did go well.
And he put them in prison under the care of the captain of the army, in the same prison where Joseph himself was shut up.
And these two had a dream on the same night; the chief wine-servant and the chief bread-maker of the king of Egypt, who were in prison, the two of them had dreams with a special sense.
And in the middle of the night the Lord sent death on every first male child in the land of Egypt, from the child of Pharaoh on his seat of power to the child of the prisoner in the prison; and the first births of all the cattle.
So the Philistines took him and put out his eyes; then they took him down to Gaza, and, chaining him with bands of brass, put him to work crushing grain in the prison-house.
Now when their hearts were full of joy, they said, Send for Samson to make sport for us. And they sent for Samson out of the prison-house, and he made sport before them; and they put him between the pillars.
Then Asa was angry with the seer, and put him in prison, burning with wrath against him because of this thing. And at the same time Asa was cruel to some of the people.
And if anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, take care that punishment is given to him, by death or by driving him from his country or by taking away his goods or by putting him in prison.
And Pashhur gave blows to Jeremiah and had his feet chained in a framework of wood in the higher doorway of Benjamin, which was in the house of the Lord.
The Lord has made you priest in place of Jehoiada the priest, to be an overseer in the house of the Lord for every man who is off his head and is acting as a prophet, to put such men in prison and in chains.
(Now Jeremiah was going about among the people, for they had not put him in prison.
And the rulers were angry with Jeremiah, and gave him blows and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
And the rulers were angry with Jeremiah, and gave him blows and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.
And the rulers were angry with Jeremiah, and gave him blows and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison. So Jeremiah came into the hole of the prison, under the arches, and was there for a long time.
So Jeremiah came into the hole of the prison, under the arches, and was there for a long time.
Then Jeremiah said to King Zedekiah, What has been my sin against you or against your servants or against this people, that you have put me in prison?
And in the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin, king of Judah, had been taken prisoner, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the first year after he became king, took Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison.
And as for you, because of the blood of your agreement, I have sent out your prisoners from the deep hole in which there is no water.
For Herod had taken John and put him in prison because of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.
And he sent and had John's head cut off in the prison.
And they took them and put them in prison till the morning, for it was now evening.
And they took the Apostles and put them in the common prison.
And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet.
And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet.
And for the space of two years, Paul was living in the house of which he had the use, and had talk with all those who went in to see him,
In blows, in prisons, in attacks, in hard work, in watchings, in going without food;
By whom he went to the spirits in prison, preaching to those
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 round Jerusalem, shutting it in: and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the place of the armed watchmen, in the house of the king of Judah. For Zedekiah, king of Judah, had had him shut up, saying, Why have you, as a prophet, been saying, The Lord has said, See, I will give this town into the hands of the king of Babylon, and he will take it; read more. And Zedekiah, king of Judah, will not get away from the hands of the Chaldaeans, but will certainly be given up into the hands of the king of Babylon, and will have talk with him, mouth to mouth, and see him, eye to eye. And he will take Zedekiah away to Babylon, where he will be till I have pity on him, says the Lord: though you are fighting with the Chaldaeans, things will not go well for you? And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came to me, saying, See, Hanamel, the son of Shallum, your father's brother, will come to you and say, Give the price and get for yourself my property in Anathoth: for you have the right of the nearest relation. So Hanamel, the son of my father's brother, came to me, as the Lord had said, to the place of the armed watchmen, and said to me, Give the price and get my property which is in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin: for you have the nearest relation's right to the heritage; so get it for yourself. Then it was clear to me that this was the word of the Lord. So I got for a price the property in Anathoth from Hanamel, the son of my father's brother, and gave him the money, seventeen shekels of silver; And I put it in writing, stamping it with my stamp, and I took witnesses and put the money into the scales. So I took the paper witnessing the business, one copy rolled up and stamped, and one copy open: And I gave the paper to Baruch, the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, before the eyes of Hanamel, the son of my father's brother, and of the witnesses who had put their names to the paper, and before all the Jews who were seated in the place of the armed watchmen.
And in the thirty-seventh year after Jehoiachin, king of Judah, had been taken prisoner, in the twelfth month, on the twenty-fifth day of the month, Evil-merodach, king of Babylon, in the first year after he became king, took Jehoiachin, king of Judah, out of prison.
And when they had given them a great number of blows, they put them in prison, giving orders to the keeper of the prison to keep them safely: And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet. read more. But about the middle of the night, Paul and Silas were making prayers and songs to God in the hearing of the prisoners; And suddenly there was an earth-shock, so that the base of the prison was moved: and all the doors came open, and everyone's chains came off. And the keeper, coming out of his sleep, and seeing the prison doors open, took his sword and was about to put himself to death, fearing that the prisoners had got away.
By whom he went to the spirits in prison, preaching to those
And the angels who did not keep to their kingdom but went out from the place which was theirs, he has put in eternal chains and in dark night till the great day of the judging.
And when the thousand years are ended, Satan will be let loose 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 prison under the care of the captain of the army, in the same prison where Joseph himself was shut up.
And they kept him shut up, till a decision might be given by the mouth of the Lord.
And they had him shut up, because they had no directions about what was to be done with him.
And say, It is the king's order that this man is to be put in prison and given prison food till I come again in peace.
But they said, We will take no wine: for Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, gave us orders, saying, You are to take no wine, you or your sons, for ever: And you are to make no houses, or put in seed, or get vine-gardens planted, or have any: but all your days you are to go on living in tents, so that you may have a long life in the land where you are living as in a strange country. read more. And we have kept the rules of Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, in everything which he gave us orders to do, drinking no wine all our days, we and our wives and our sons and our daughters; Building no houses for ourselves, having no vine-gardens or fields or seed: But we have been living in tents, and have done everything which Jonadab our father gave us orders to do. But when Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came up into the land, we said, Come, let us go to Jerusalem, away from the army of the Chaldaeans and from the army of the Aramaeans: and so we are living in Jerusalem.
And he, having such orders, put them into the inner prison with chains on their feet.
And when the argument became very violent, the chief captain, fearing that Paul would be pulled in two by them, gave orders to the armed men to take him by force from among them, and take him into the army building.