Reference: Spirits in Prison
Fausets
1Pe 3:18-19. The argument is, Be not afraid (1Pe 3:14,17) of suffering for well doing even unto death, for death in the flesh leads to life in the spirit as in Christ's case, who was put to death in the flesh but quickened in spirit (i.e. in virtue of His divine nature: Ro 1:3-4; 1Co 15:45; 2Co 13:4) in which (as distinguished from in person) He went in the person of Noah (compare 1Pe 1:11 "a preacher of righteousness" (2Pe 2:5; He went not locally but as Eph 2:17, "He came and preached peace," namely, by His ministers) and preached unto the spirits in prison, namely, the antediluvian unbelievers; their bodies seemed free, but their spirits were in prison (Ps 141:9) and they like "prisoners shut up in the prison" just as the fallen are judicially regarded as in chains of darkness, though for a time at large on the earth (2Pe 2:4; Isa 24:18,22-23; 61:1; Ge 7:11, referred to in Isa 24:18). "His Spirit" long "strove" with them, but ceased to do so because even the seed of the godly Seth proved "flesh" and quenched the Spirit (Ge 6:3).
See Verses Found in Dictionary
And the Lord said, My spirit will not be in man for ever, for he is only flesh; so the days of his life will be a hundred and twenty years.
In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, all the fountains of the great deep came bursting through, and the windows of heaven were open;
And it will be that he who goes in flight from the sound of fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for the windows on high are open, and the bases of the earth are shaking.
And it will be that he who goes in flight from the sound of fear will be overtaken by death; and he who gets free from death will be taken in the net: for the windows on high are open, and the bases of the earth are shaking.
And they will be got together, like prisoners in the prison-house; and after a long time they will have their punishment. Then the moon will be veiled, and the sun put to shame; for the Lord of armies will be ruling in Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, and before his judges he will let his glory be seen.
The spirit of the Lord is on me, because I am marked out by him to give good news to the poor; he has sent me to make the broken-hearted well, to say that the prisoners will be made free, and that those in chains will see the light again;
About his Son who, in the flesh, came from the family of David, But was marked out as Son of God in power by the Holy Spirit through the coming to life again of the dead; Jesus Christ our Lord,
And he came preaching peace to you who were far off, and to those who were near;
Attempting to see what sort of time the Spirit of Christ which was in them was pointing to, when it gave witness to the pains which Christ would undergo and the glories which would come after them.
But you are happy if you undergo pain because of righteousness; have no part in their fear and do not be troubled;
Because if it is God's purpose for you to undergo pain, it is better to do so for well-doing than for evil-doing. Because Christ once went through pain for sins, the upright one taking the place of sinners, so that through him we might come back to God; being put to death in the flesh, but given life in the Spirit; read more. By whom he went to the spirits in prison, preaching to those
For if God did not have pity for the angels who did evil, but sent them down into hell, to be kept in chains of eternal night till they were judged; And did not have mercy on the world which then was, but only kept safe Noah, a preacher of righteousness, with seven others, when he let loose the waters over the world of the evil-doers;