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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arrested Joseph, and locked him up in the same prison where the king's prisoners were confined. So Joseph remained there in prison. But the LORD was with Joseph. He extended gracious love to him, causing the prison warden to be pleased with Joseph. read more. So the prison warden entrusted into Joseph's care all the prisoners who were confined in prison. Whatever they did, Joseph was in charge of the work detail. The prison warden did not have to worry about anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with him. That's why Joseph prospered in everything he did.
They placed him in custody until a decision would be made to them according to the word of the LORD.
Then the Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, tied him up in bronze chains, and made him grind grain in their prison.
Because they all got good and drunk, they ordered, "Go get Samson, so he can entertain us." So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them while they made him stand between the pillars.
Give him this order: "Place him in prison on survival rations of bread and water only until I come back safely.'"
For the LORD listens to the needy and doesn't despise those in bondage.
Let the cries of the prisoners reach you. With the strength of your power, release those condemned to death.
Break me out of this prison, so I can give thanks to your name. The righteous will surround me, for you will deal generously with me. A Davidic Song
to open blind eyes and to bring out those who are bound from their cells, and those sitting in darkness from prison.
The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard at the palace of the king of Judah
Now when John heard in prison about the activities of the Messiah, he sent a message by his disciples
I was naked, and you clothed me. I was sick, and you took care of me. I was in prison, and you visited me.'
I was a stranger, and you didn't welcome me. I was naked, and you didn't clothe me. I was sick and in prison, and you didn't visit me.'
So they arrested them and placed them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening.
arrested the apostles, and put them in the city jail.
"We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside."
But Saul kept trying to destroy the church. Going into one house after another, he began dragging off men and women and throwing them in prison.
When he arrested Peter, Herod put him in prison and turned him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, planning to bring him out to the people after Passover season. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer to God for him was being offered by the assembly.
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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They grabbed him and tossed him into the cistern, but the cistern was empty. (There was no water in it.)
arrested Joseph, and locked him up in the same prison where the king's prisoners were confined. So Joseph remained there in prison.
The prison warden did not have to worry about anything under Joseph's care, because the LORD was with him. That's why Joseph prospered in everything he did.
that he locked them up in the prison dungeon operated by the captain of the guard, the very place where Joseph was imprisoned.
Then the two of them each had a dream. They both had their dreams the same night, and there were separate interpretations for each dream the senior security advisor and the head chef to the king of Egypt, who had confined them in prison.
And so at midnight the LORD struck down every firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in the dungeon, and all the firstborn of the livestock.
Then the Philistines grabbed him, gouged out his eyes, brought him down to Gaza, tied him up in bronze chains, and made him grind grain in their prison.
Because they all got good and drunk, they ordered, "Go get Samson, so he can entertain us." So they called for Samson from the prison, and he entertained them while they made him stand between the pillars.
In response, Asa flew into a rage and locked up the seer in stocks in the palace prison because of what Hanani had told him. Asa also tortured some of the people of Israel at that time.
Whoever refuses to practice the law of your God and the law of the king is to see judgment executed quickly, whether to death, banishment, confiscation of goods, or imprisonment.
Pashhur struck Jeremiah the prophet and put him in the stocks that were at the upper Benjamin Gate of the Temple.
The LORD made you a priest instead of Jehoiada the priest to serve in the LORD's Temple as an official against every crazy prophet, and to put him in stocks and restraints.
Now Jeremiah was still going in and out among the people since he had not yet been put in prison.
The officials were angry with Jeremiah and beat him. They put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made it into a prison.
The officials were angry with Jeremiah and beat him. They put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made it into a prison.
The officials were angry with Jeremiah and beat him. They put him in jail in the house of Jonathan the scribe because they had made it into a prison. So Jeremiah came into the cells in the dungeon and remained there for a long time.
So Jeremiah came into the cells in the dungeon and remained there for a long time.
Jeremiah said, "There is," and then he said, "You will be given into the hand of the king of Babylon." Then Jeremiah asked King Zedekiah, "What offense have I committed against you, your officials, or these people that you have put me in prison?
In the first year of his reign, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, showed favor to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah.
Now concerning you and my blood covenant with you, I have liberated your prisoners from a waterless pit.
Herod had arrested John, bound him with chains, and put him in prison on account of Herodias, his brother Philip's wife.
So he sent word and had John beheaded in prison.
So they arrested them and placed them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening.
arrested the apostles, and put them in the city jail.
Having received these orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in leg irons.
Having received these orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in leg irons.
For two whole years Paul lived in his own rented place and welcomed everyone who came to him.
in beatings, imprisonments, and riots; in hard work, sleepless nights, and hunger;
in which he went and made a proclamation to those imprisoned spirits
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 bound his feet with fetters and placed an iron collar on his neck,
The army of the king of Babylon was then besieging Jerusalem, and Jeremiah the prophet was confined in the courtyard of the guard at the palace of the king of Judah where Zedekiah had confined him. Zedekiah had said, "Why did you prophesy and say these things? You said, "This is what the LORD says: "I'm about to give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he will capture it. read more. Zedekiah, king of Judah, won't escape from the Chaldeans, for he has surely been given over to the king of Babylon. He will speak to him face to face and look at him eye to eye. The king of Babylon will take Zedekiah to Babylon and there he will stay until I judge him," declares the LORD. "If you fight against the Chaldeans, you won't succeed."'" Jeremiah replied, "This message from the LORD came to me: "Look, Hanamel, your cousin, is coming to you and will say, "Buy my field in Anathoth for yourself, because the right of redemption to buy it belongs to you."' "Then my cousin Hanamel came to me in the courtyard of the guard just as the LORD had said, and he told me, "Please buy my field in Anathoth in the territory of Benjamin because you have the right to possess it, and the right to redeem it belongs to you. Buy it for yourself.' So I knew that this was a message from the LORD. "Then I bought the field in Anathoth from my cousin Hanamel. I weighed out the silver for him seventeen shekels of silver. I signed the deed and sealed it. I called in witnesses and used scales to weigh out the silver. Then I took the deed of purchase both the sealed one with the terms and conditions and the open one and I gave the deed of purchase to Neriah's son Baruch, the grandson of Mahseiah, in the presence of my cousin Hanamel, in the presence of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, and in the presence of all the Judeans sitting in the courtyard of the guard.
In the first year of his reign, King Evil-merodach of Babylon, showed favor to King Jehoiachin of Judah by releasing him from prison on the twenty-fifth day of the twelfth month in the thirty-seventh year of the exile of King Jehoiachin of Judah.
After giving them a severe beating, they threw them in jail and ordered the jailer to keep them under tight security. Having received these orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in leg irons. read more. Around midnight, Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the other prisoners were listening to them. Suddenly, there was an earthquake so violent that the foundations of the prison were shaken. All the doors immediately flew open, and everyone's chains were unfastened. When the jailer woke up and saw the prison doors wide open, he drew his sword and was about to kill himself, since he thought the prisoners had escaped.
in which he went and made a proclamation to those imprisoned spirits
He has also held in eternal chains those angels who did not keep their own position but abandoned their assigned place. They are held in deepest darkness for judgment on the great day.
When the thousand years are over, Satan will be freed from 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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that he locked them up in the prison dungeon operated by the captain of the guard, the very place where Joseph was imprisoned.
They placed him in custody until a decision would be made to them according to the word of the LORD.
Give him this order: "Place him in prison on survival rations of bread and water only until I come back safely.'"
But they said, "We won't drink wine, because our ancestor, Rechab's son Jonadab commanded us: "You and your descendants are never to drink wine! You aren't to build houses, you aren't to sow seeds, and you aren't to plant vineyards, or own them. Instead, you are to live in tents all your lives, so you will enjoy a long life in the land where you reside.' read more. We have obeyed everything that our ancestor, Rechab's son Jonadab, commanded us. So we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters have drunk no wine all our lives, and have built no houses to live in. We don't have vineyards, fields, or seed. We have lived in tents. We have obeyed and have done everything that our ancestor Jonadab commanded us. Now when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up against the land, we said, "Come on! Let's go to Jerusalem because of the army of the Chaldeans and the army of Aram. And now we're living in Jerusalem.'"
Having received these orders, he put them into the inner cell and fastened their feet in leg irons.
The quarrel was becoming violent, and the tribune was afraid that they would tear Paul to pieces. So he ordered the soldiers to go down, take him away from them by force, and bring him into the barracks.