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 threw Joseph in the same prison where the king's prisoners were kept. While Joseph was in prison, Jehovah helped him and was good to him. He even made the jailer like Joseph so much that read more. he put him in charge of the other prisoners and of everything that was done in the jail. The jailer did not worry about anything, because Jehovah was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did.
They held him in custody until Jehovah told them what to do.
The Philistines captured him and put his eyes out. They took him to Gaza, chained him with copper chains. They put him to work grinding at the mill in the prison.
They forced him to stand between the columns. When the people saw him, they sang praise to their god: Our god gave us victory over our enemy, who devastated our land and killed so many of us!
Tell them: '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 Jehovah hears the needy and does not despise his captive people.
Let the groans of prisoners come into your presence. With your powerful arm (according to the greatness of your power) rescue those who are condemned to death.
Release me from prison so that I may praise your name. Righteous people will surround me because you are good to me.
You will open the eyes of the blind and set free those who sit in dark prisons.
At that time the army of the king of Babylon was blockading Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah was locked up in the courtyard of the prison. This prison was in the palace of the king of Judah.
While in prison, John heard news of what Christ was doing. He sent his disciples.
I was naked and you clothed me. I was sick and you visited me. I was in prison and you came to me.'
I was a stranger and you did not take me in. I was naked and you did not dress me. I was sick and in prison and you did not visit me.'
They laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day for it was already evening.
They captured the apostles and put them in the common prison.
We found the prison locked with the guards standing before the doors. When we opened it we did not find a man.
Saul ravaged the congregation. He entered every house and dragged off men and women and put them in prison.
When he apprehended him, he put him in prison. He turned him over to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him. After Passover he would be presented to the people. Peter was kept in prison. Prayer was made without ceasing by the congregation to God for him.
Receiving this command he threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet 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 threw Joseph in the same prison where the king's prisoners were kept. While Joseph was in prison,
The jailer did not worry about anything, because Jehovah was with Joseph and made him successful in all that he did.
So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard. It was the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.
both prisoners, the cupbearer and the baker for the king of Egypt, had dreams one night. Each man had a dream with its own special meaning.
At midnight Jehovah killed every firstborn male in Egypt from the firstborn son of Pharaoh who ruled the land to the firstborn son of the prisoner in jail, and also every firstborn animal.
The Philistines captured him and put his eyes out. They took him to Gaza, chained him with copper chains. They put him to work grinding at the mill in the prison.
They forced him to stand between the columns. When the people saw him, they sang praise to their god: Our god gave us victory over our enemy, who devastated our land and killed so many of us!
Asa was so angry with the prophet that he had him put in chains. It was at this same time that Asa began treating some of the people cruelly.
If anyone does not keep the law of your God and the law of the king, take care that punishment is given to him. This is by death or by driving him from his country or by taking away his goods or by putting him in prison.
Pashhur had Jeremiah the prophet beaten and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate, which was by the house of Jehovah.
Jehovah made you priest instead of Jehoiada so that there would be officials for Jehovah's temple. You should put every madman who acts like a prophet in prison and in shackles.
Jeremiah was still free to come and go among the people. The people of Jerusalem had not put him in prison yet.
The officials were so angry with Jeremiah that they beat him and put him in prison in the scribe Jonathan's house, which had been turned into a prison.
The officials were so angry with Jeremiah that they beat him and put him in prison in the scribe Jonathan's house, which had been turned into a prison.
The officials were so angry with Jeremiah that they beat him and put him in prison in the scribe Jonathan's house, which had been turned into a prison. Jeremiah went into a prison cell, and he stayed there a long time.
Jeremiah went into a prison cell, and he stayed there a long time.
Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah: What crime have I committed against you, your administrators, or these people? Why have you put me in prison?
On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the imprisonment of King Jehoiakin of Judah, King Evil Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, freed King Jehoiakin of Judah and released him from prison.
I set your prisoners free from the waterless pit. This is because of the blood of your covenant!
Herod locked John in prison to please Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.
He gave the order to behead John in prison.
They laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day for it was already evening.
They captured the apostles and put them in the common prison.
Receiving this command he threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Receiving this command he threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.
Paul rented a place to live for two full years and welcomed everyone who came to him.
in beatings, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labors, in watching, in fasting;
He preached to the people 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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At that time the army of the king of Babylon was blockading Jerusalem. The prophet Jeremiah was locked up in the courtyard of the prison. This prison was in the palace of the king of Judah. When King Zedekiah of Judah locked up Jeremiah, Zedekiah asked him: Why are you prophesying? You are saying, 'this is what Jehovah says: I am going to hand this city over to the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. read more. King Zedekiah of Judah will not escape from the Babylonians. He will certainly be handed over to the king of Babylon. He will talk to Nebuchadnezzar in person and look him in the eye. Nebuchadnezzar will take Zedekiah to Babylon, and Zedekiah will stay there until I deal with him, declares Jehovah. When you fight the Babylonians, you will not win.' Jeremiah said: The word of Jehovah came to me. He said: Hanamel the son of Shallum your uncle is coming to you. He says: Buy for yourself my field at Anathoth, for you have the right of redemption to buy it.' Then Hanamel my uncle's son came to me in the court of the guard according to the word of Jehovah and said to me: 'Buy my field, please, that is at Anathoth, which is in the land of Benjamin. You have the right of possession and the redemption is yours. Buy it for yourself.' Then I knew that this was the word of Jehovah. I bought the field at Anathoth from Hanamel my uncle's son. I weighed out the silver for him, seventeen shekels of silver. I signed and sealed the deed, and called in witnesses, and weighed out the silver on the scales. I took the deeds of purchase, both the sealed copy containing the terms and conditions and the open copy. I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, before all the Jews who were sitting in the court of the guard.
On the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month of the thirty-seventh year of the imprisonment of King Jehoiakin of Judah, King Evil Merodach of Babylon, in the first year of his reign, freed King Jehoiakin of Judah and released him from prison.
After they were severely beaten, they threw them into prison, charging the jailor to keep them safe. Receiving this command he threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks. read more. Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God at midnight. The prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly there was a massive earthquake. It was so great the foundations of the prison-house were shaken. All the doors were opened and everyone's bands came off. The jailor, who was roused out of sleep and saw the prison doors open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, supposing that the prisoners had escaped.
He preached to the people in prison.
Angels who did not keep their position left their proper habitation. He has kept them in everlasting bonds under darkness for the judgment of the great day.
When the thousand years end, 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.
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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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So he put them in confinement in the house of the captain of the bodyguard. It was the same place where Joseph was imprisoned.
They held him in custody until Jehovah told them what to do.
Tell them: '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 answered: No! The ancestor of our clan, Jonadab son of Rechab, made a rule that we must obey. He said: 'Do not ever drink wine or build houses or plant crops and vineyards. Instead, you must always live in tents and move from place to place. If you obey this command, you will live a long time.' read more. We have obeyed all the instructions that Jonadab gave us. We never drink wine, and neither do our wives, our sons, or our daughters. We do not build houses for homes for we live in tents. We own no vineyards, fields, or grain. We have fully obeyed everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. We live in tents, and we have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab ordered us to do. But when King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon invaded this land, we said: 'Let's go to Jerusalem to escape the Babylonian and Aramean armies. That is why we are living in Jerusalem.'
Receiving this command he threw them into the inner prison, and fastened their feet in the stocks.
The dispute became so violent the commander was afraid they would pull Paul to pieces. He commanded the soldiers to go down and to take him from among them by force, and to bring him into the barracks.