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 lord taketh him, and putteth him unto the round-house, a place where the king's prisoners are bound; and he is there in the round-house. And Jehovah is with Joseph, and stretcheth out kindness unto him, and putteth his grace in the eyes of the chief of the round-house; read more. and the chief of the round-house giveth into the hand of Joseph all the prisoners who are in the round-house, and of all that they are doing there, he hath been doer; the chief of the round-house seeth not anything under his hand, because Jehovah is with him, and that which he is doing Jehovah is causing to prosper.
and he causeth him to rest in charge -- to explain to them by the mouth of Jehovah.
And the Philistines seize him, and pick out his eyes, and bring him down to Gaza, and bind him with two brazen fetters; and he is grinding in the prison-house.
And it cometh to pass, when their heart is glad, that they say, 'Call for Samson, and he doth play before us;' and they call for Samson out of the prison-house, and he playeth before them, and they cause him to stand between the pillars.
and thou hast said, Thus said the king, Place ye this one in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat bread of oppression, and water of oppression, till my coming in peace.'
For Jehovah hearkeneth unto the needy, And His bound ones He hath not despised.
Let the groaning of the prisoner come in before Thee, According to the greatness of Thine arm, Leave Thou the sons of death.
Bring forth from prison my soul to confess Thy name, The righteous do compass me about, When Thou conferrest benefits upon me!
To open the eyes of the blind, To bring forth from prison the bound one, From the house of restraint those sitting in darkness.
And then the forces of the king of Babylon are laying siege against Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet hath been shut up in the court of the prison that is in the house of the king of Judah,
And John having heard in the prison the works of the Christ, having sent two of his disciples,
naked, and ye put around me; I was infirm, and ye looked after me; in prison I was, and ye came unto me.
a stranger I was, and ye did not receive me; naked, and ye put not around me; infirm, and in prison, and ye did not look after me.
and they laid hands upon them, and did put them in custody unto the morrow, for it was evening already;
and laid their hands upon the apostles, and did put them in a public prison;
saying -- 'The prison indeed we found shut in all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors, and having opened -- within we found no one.'
and Saul was making havoc of the assembly, into every house entering, and haling men and women, was giving them up to prison;
whom also having seized, he did put in prison, having delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to guard him, intending after the passover to bring him forth to the people. Peter, therefore, indeed, was kept in the prison, and fervent prayer was being made by the assembly unto God for him,
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 take him and cast him into the pit, and the pit is empty, there is no water in it.
and Joseph's lord taketh him, and putteth him unto the round-house, a place where the king's prisoners are bound; and he is there in the round-house.
the chief of the round-house seeth not anything under his hand, because Jehovah is with him, and that which he is doing Jehovah is causing to prosper.
and giveth them in charge in the house of the chief of the executioners, unto the round-house, the place where Joseph is a prisoner,
And they dream a dream both of them, each his dream in one night, each according to the interpretation of his dream, the butler and the baker whom the king of Egypt hath, who are prisoners in the round-house.
And it cometh to pass, at midnight, that Jehovah hath smitten every first-born in the land of Egypt, from the first-born of Pharaoh who is sitting on his throne, unto the first-born of the captive who is in the prison-house, and every first-born of beasts.
And the Philistines seize him, and pick out his eyes, and bring him down to Gaza, and bind him with two brazen fetters; and he is grinding in the prison-house.
And it cometh to pass, when their heart is glad, that they say, 'Call for Samson, and he doth play before us;' and they call for Samson out of the prison-house, and he playeth before them, and they cause him to stand between the pillars.
And Asa is angry at the seer, and giveth him to the house of torture, for he is in a rage with him for this; and Asa oppresseth some of the people at that time.
and any who doth not do the law of thy God, and the law of the king, speedily is judgment done upon him, whether to death, or to banishment, or to confiscation of riches, and to bonds.'
and Pashhur smiteth Jeremiah the prophet, and putteth him unto the stocks, that are by the high gate of Benjamin, that is by the house of Jehovah.
Jehovah hath made thee priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, for there being inspectors of the house of Jehovah, for every one mad and making himself a prophet, and thou hast put him unto the torture and unto the stocks.
And Jeremiah is coming in and going out in the midst of the people, (and they have not put him in the prison-house),
and the heads are wroth against Jeremiah, and have smitten him, and put him in the prison-house -- the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it they had made for a prison-house.
and the heads are wroth against Jeremiah, and have smitten him, and put him in the prison-house -- the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it they had made for a prison-house.
and the heads are wroth against Jeremiah, and have smitten him, and put him in the prison-house -- the house of Jonathan the scribe, for it they had made for a prison-house. When Jeremiah hath entered into the house of the dungeon, and unto the cells, then Jeremiah dwelleth there many days,
When Jeremiah hath entered into the house of the dungeon, and unto the cells, then Jeremiah dwelleth there many days,
And Jeremiah saith unto the king Zedekiah, 'What have I sinned against thee, and against thy servants, and against this people, that ye have given me unto a prison-house?
And it cometh to pass, in the thirty and seventh year of the removal of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty and fifth of the month, hath Evil-Merodach king of Babylon lifted up, in the year of his reign, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and bringeth him out from the house of restraint,
Also thou -- by the blood of thy covenant, I have sent thy prisoners out of the pit, There is no water in it.
For Herod having laid hold on John, did bind him, and did put him in prison, because of Herodias his brother Philip's wife,
and having sent, he beheaded John in the prison,
and they laid hands upon them, and did put them in custody unto the morrow, for it was evening already;
and laid their hands upon the apostles, and did put them in a public prison;
who such a charge having received, did put them to the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks.
who such a charge having received, did put them to the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks.
and Paul remained an entire two years in his own hired house, and was receiving all those coming in unto him,
in stripes, in imprisonments, in insurrections, in labours, in watchings, in fastings,
in which also to the spirits in prison having gone he did preach,
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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They have afflicted with fetters his feet, Iron hath entered his soul,
And then the forces of the king of Babylon are laying siege against Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet hath been shut up in the court of the prison that is in the house of the king of Judah, Where Zedekiah king of Judah hath shut him up, saying, 'Wherefore art thou prophesying, saying, Thus said Jehovah, Lo, I am giving this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he hath captured it; read more. And Zedekiah king of Judah doth not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans, but is certainly given into the hand of the king of Babylon, and his mouth hath spoken with his mouth, and his eyes see his eyes, And to Babylon he leadeth Zedekiah, and there he is till My inspecting him, -- an affirmation of Jehovah -- because ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye do not prosper.' And Jeremiah saith, 'A word of Jehovah hath been unto me saying, Lo, Hanameel son of Shallum, thine uncle, is coming unto thee, saying, Buy for thee my field that is in Anathoth, for thine is the right of redemption -- to buy. And Hanameel, my uncle's son, cometh in unto me, according to the word of Jehovah, unto the court of the prison, and saith unto me, 'Buy, I pray thee, my field that is in Anathoth, that is in the land of Benjamin, for thine is the right of possession, and thine of redemption -- buy for thee.' And I know that it is the word of Jehovah, And I buy the field, that is in Anathoth, from Hanameel, my uncle's son, and I weigh to him the money -- seventeen shekels of silver. And I write in a book, and seal, and cause witnesses to testify, and weigh the silver in balances; And I take the purchase-book, the sealed one, according to law and custom, and the open one. And I give the purchase-book unto Baruch son of Neriah, son of Maaseiah, before the eyes of Hanameel, my uncle's son, and before the eyes of the witnesses, those writing in the purchase-book, before the eyes of all the Jews who are sitting in the court of the prison.
And it cometh to pass, in the thirty and seventh year of the removal of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth month, in the twenty and fifth of the month, hath Evil-Merodach king of Babylon lifted up, in the year of his reign, the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and bringeth him out from the house of restraint,
many blows also having laid upon them, they cast them to prison, having given charge to the jailor to keep them safely, who such a charge having received, did put them to the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks. read more. And at midnight Paul and Silas praying, were singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were hearing them, and suddenly a great earthquake came, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken, opened also presently were all the doors, and of all -- the bands were loosed; and the jailor having come out of sleep, and having seen the doors of the prison open, having drawn a sword, was about to kill himself, supposing the prisoners to be fled,
in which also to the spirits in prison having gone he did preach,
messengers also, those who did not keep their own principality, but did leave their proper dwelling, to a judgment of a great day, in bonds everlasting, under darkness He hath kept,
And when the thousand years may be finished, the Adversary 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 giveth them in charge in the house of the chief of the executioners, unto the round-house, the place where Joseph is a prisoner,
and he causeth him to rest in charge -- to explain to them by the mouth of Jehovah.
and thou hast said, Thus said the king, Place ye this one in the house of restraint, and cause him to eat bread of oppression, and water of oppression, till my coming in peace.'
And they say, 'We do not drink wine: for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, charged us, saying, Ye do not drink wine, ye and your sons -- unto the age; and a house ye do not build, and seed ye do not sow, and a vineyard ye do not plant, nor have ye any; for in tents do ye dwell all your days, that ye may live many days on the face of the ground whither ye are sojourning. read more. 'And we hearken to the voice of Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, to all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters; nor to build houses for our dwelling; and vineyard, and field, and seed, we have none; and we dwell in tents, and we hearken, and we do according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us; and it cometh to pass, in the coming up of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon unto the land, that we say, Come, and we enter Jerusalem, because of the force of the Chaldeans, and because of the force of Aram -- and we dwell in Jerusalem.'
who such a charge having received, did put them to the inner prison, and their feet made fast in the stocks.
and a great dissension having come, the chief captain having been afraid lest Paul may be pulled to pieces by them, commanded the soldiery, having gone down, to take him by force out of the midst of them, and to bring him to the castle.