Prison

[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. (Genesis 40:3; 42:17) During the wandering in the desert we read on two occasions of confinement "in ward" -- (Leviticus 24:12; Numbers 15:34) 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. (1 Kings 22:27) Private houses were sometimes used as places of confinement. By the Romans the tower of Antoni, was used as a prison at Jerusalem, (Acts 23:10) 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 (Acts 16:24) One of the readiest places for confinement was a dry or partially-dry wall or pit. (Jeremiah 35:6-11)

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" (Genesis 39:20-23). The Hebrews 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" (Leviticus 24:12; Numbers 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 (69:33; 79:11; 142:7). Samson was confined in a Philistine prison (Judges 16:21, 25). In the subsequent history of Israel frequent references are made to prisons (1 Kings 22:27; 2 Kings 17:4; 25:27, 29; 2 Chronicles 16:10; Isaiah 42:7; Jeremiah 32:2). Prisons seem to have been common in New Testament times (Matthew 11:2; 25:36, 43). The apostles were put into the "common prison" at the instance of the Jewish council (Acts 5:18, 23; 8:3); and at Philippi Paul and Silas were thrust into the "inner prison" (16:24; Comp. 4:3; 12:4, 5).

1. (n.) A place where persons are confined, or restrained of personal liberty; hence, a place or state o/ confinement, restraint, or safe custody.

2. (n.) Specifically, a building for the safe custody or confinement of criminals and others committed by lawful authority.

3. (v. t.) To imprison; to shut up in, or as in, a prison; to confine; to restrain from liberty.

4. (v. t.) To bind (together); to enchain.

PRISON, SPIRITS IN

The phrase occurs in the much-disputed passage, 1 Peter 3:18-20, where the apostle, exhorting Christians to endurance under suffering for well-doing, says: "Because Christ also suffered for sins once, the righteous for the unrighteous, that he might bring us to God; being put to death in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit; in which also he went and preached unto the spirits in prison, that aforetime were disobedient, when the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah, while the ark was a preparing, wherein few, that is, eight souls, were saved through water." It is plain that in this context "the spirits in prison" (tois en phulake pneumasin) denote the generation who were disobedient in the days of Noah, while the words "spirits" and "in prison" refer to their present disembodied condition in a place of judgment in the unseen world (compare 2 Peter 2:4-9). The crucial point in the passage lies in what is said of Christ's preaching to these spirits in prison. The interpretation which strikes one most naturally is that Christ, put to death in the flesh, and made alive again in the spirit, went in this spiritual (disembodied) state, and preached to these spirits, who once had been disobedient, but are viewed as now possibly receptive of His message This is the idea of the passage taken by the majority of modern exegetes, and it finds support in what is said in 1 Peter 4:6, "For unto this end was the gospel preached even to the dead, that they might be judged indeed according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit." On this basis is now often reared a mass of doctrine or conjecture respecting "second probation," "restoration," etc.-in part going back to patristic times-for which the passage, even so taken, affords a very narrow foundation (see on this view, Plumptre, The Spirits in Prison; Dorner, System of Christian Doctrine, IV, 130-32; E. White, Life in Christ, chapter xxii). It must be admitted, however, that, on closer examination, the above plausible explanation is compassed with many difficulties. A preaching of Christ in Hades is referred to in no other passage of Scripture, while Peter appears to be speaking to his readers of something with which they are familiar; it seems strange that these antediluvians should be singled out as the sole objects of this preaching in the spiritual world; the word "made alive" does not exegetically refer to a disembodied state, but to the resurrection of Christ in the body, etc. Another line of interpretation is therefore preferred by many, who take the words "in which also he went," to refer, not to a disembodied manifestation, but to the historical preaching to the antediluvian generation through Noah while they yet lived. In favor of this view is the fact that the apostle in 1 Peter 1:11 regards the earlier prophetic preaching as a testifying of "the Spirit of Christ," that God's long-suffering with Noah's generation is described in Genesis 6:5, which Peter has doubtless in his mind, as a striving of God's Spirit, and that in 2 Peter 2:5 there is another allusion to these events, and Noah is described as "a preacher of righteousness." The passage, 1 Peter 4:6, may have the more general meaning that Christians who have died are at no disadvantage in the judgment as compared with those who shall be alive at the Parousia (compare 1 Thessalonians 4:15-18). (For an exposition of this view, with a full account of the interpretations and literature on the subject, compare Salmond's Christian Doctrine of Immortality, 4th edition, 364-87.)

See also ESCHATOLOGY OF THE NEW TESTAMENT.

James Orr

PRISON; PRISONER

priz'-n, priz'-'-n-er, priz'-ner (there are various Hebrew words which are rendered "prison" in the King James Version, among them:

1. Hebrew Words:

(1) cohar, "round house," "fortress" (8 times in Genesis), (2) kele' "restraint," "confinement" (12 times: in historic books, Isaiah, Jeremiah, with "house"), (3) maTTarah, "guard," "sentry" (13 times in Jeremiah and Nehemiah), (4) mahaphekheth, "distorting," i.e. stocks or pillory (4 times), (5) 'ecur, "bond," "fetters" (Ecclesiastes 4:14 Jeremiah 37:15); "ward" in the King James Version is usually the rendering for mishmar):

2. In Early Times:

The earliest occurrence of the word "prison" in the King James Version is found in the narrative of Joseph's life in Egypt (the Jahwist). The term used, namely, cohar, means perhaps "round house" or "tower." It seems probable that among the Hebrews there were no special buildings erected as "jails" in the premonarchical period, and perhaps not before the post-exilic period, when the adoption of the civic institutions and customs of surrounding nations prevailed. In Egypt and Assyria, on the contrary, there were probably public buildings corresponding to our modern jails. Among the Hebrews, rooms in connection with the royal palace or the residence of prominent court officials would be used for the purpose.

3. Joseph in Egypt:

According to one narrative (Jahwist) in Genesis the prison in which Joseph was confined had a "keeper," while according to another narrative (the Elohist) the offending members of the royal household, namely, the royal butler and the royal baker, were placed "in ward" with the "captain of the guard" in charge, i.e. in some part of the royal palace. This is still more probable if, instead of "captain of the guard," we should translate "chief of the cooks" i.e. superintendent of the royal kitchen.

4. Causes of Imprisonment:

It was often necessary to restrict the liberty of individuals who for various causes were a menace to those in authority, without inflicting any corporal punishment, e.g. Joseph's brethren were kept "in ward" three days (Genesis 42:19); Shimei was forbidden to pass beyond the boundary of Jerusalem (1 Kings 2:36); the person who was caught gathering sticks on the Sabbath was put "in ward" pending his trial (Numbers 15:34). In the monarchical period, prophets who criticized the throne were put in prison, e.g. Micaiah by Ahab (1 Kings 22:27), Hanani by Asa (2 Chronicles 16:10). Hoshea, after his abortive effort to institute an alliance with So or Seve, king of Egypt, was shut up in prison by Shalmaneser (2 Kings 17:4); compare also 2 Kings 25:27 (Jehoiachin in Babylon); Jeremiah 52:11 (Zedekiah in Babylon).

5. Under the Monarchy:

The Book of Jeremiah throws considerable light on the prison system of Jerusalem in the later monarchical period. The prophet was put "in the stocks that were in the upper gate of Benjamin, which was in the house of Yahweh" (20:2). Mere imprisonment was not adequate punishment for the prophet's announcement of Judah's doom; it was necessary to have recourse to the pillory. During the siege of Jerusalem Jeremiah was confined in the "court of the guard, which was in the king of Judah's house" (32:2, etc.). The "court of the guard" was evidently the quarters of the sentry who guarded the royal palace. According to the narrative of Jeremiah 37, the prophet was arrested on a charge of treachery and put in prison "in the house of Jonathan the scribe" (37:15). This verse does not necessarily mean that a private house was used as a prison. The words are capable of another interpretation, namely, that a building known as the "house of Jonathan the scribe" had been taken over by the authorities and converted into a jail. We read in the following verse that the house had a "dungeon" (literally, "house of the pit") and "cabins" or "cells."

6. The Treatment of Prisoners:

The data are not sufficient to enable us to give any detailed description of the treatment of prisoners. This treatment varied according to the character of the offense which led to incarceration. Samson during the period of his imprisonment was compelled to do hard labor (Judges 16:21). Grinding was the occupation of women, and marked the depth of Samson's humiliation. Dangerous persons were subjected to various kinds of physical mutilation, e.g. Samson was deprived of his sight. This was a common practice in Assyria (2 Kings 25:7). The thumbs and great toes of Adonibezek were cut off to render him incapable of further resistance (Judges 1:6).

Various forms of torture were in vogue. Hanani the seer was put into the pillory by Asa (for "in a prison house" we should render "in the stocks"; see the Revised Version margin). In Jeremiah 29:26 for "prison," we should render "stocks" (so the Revised Version (British and American)) or "pillory," and for "stocks," "collar" (as in the Revised Version margin). the King James Version renders a different Hebrew word by "stocks" in Job (13:27; 33:11). There was a special prison diet (1 Kings 22:27), as well as a prison garb (2 Kings 25:29).

7. Other Hebrew Words:

There are other Hebrew words rendered "prison" (sometimes incorrectly) in the King James Version. In Psalm 142:7, the word which is translated "prison" means a "place of execution," and is derived from a root which denotes, for instance, the isolation of the leper (Leviticus 13:5; compare Isaiah 24:22; 42:7). In Isaiah 53:8 "oppression" not "prison" is the correct translation while in Isaiah 61:1 the Hebrew denotes "opening of the eyes," rather than "opening of the prison." Prisoners are promised "light after darkness, gleam after gloom."

8. In the New Testament:

In the New Testament "prison" generally occurs for the Greek word phulake, which corresponds to the Hebrew word mishmar, referred to above (Matthew 5:25 Mark 6:17 Luke 3:20 Acts 5:19 1 Peter 3:19). In Revelation 18:2, the King James Version renders this word by two different words, namely, "hold" and "cage"; the Revised Version (British and American) employs "hold" in each case (the Revised Version margin "prison"). In one passage "ward" is the rendering in the King James Version (Acts 12:10). In connection with the imprisonment of John the term used is desmoterion, "place of bonds" or "fetters" (Matthew 11:2); the same word is used in the case of Peter and John (Acts 5:21, 23), and of Paul and Silas (Acts 16:26). But the more common term is also found in these narratives. In Acts 12:17 "prison" renders a Greek word which means "dwelling." In Acts 5:18 the King James Version, "prison" is the rendering for another Greek word, namely, teresis, "watching" or "ward" (the Revised Version (British and American) "ward"). In Acts 4:3, the King James Version employs "hold" as the rendering for the same word. This would correspond to the modern "police station" or "lockup."

See also PUNISHMENTS.

T. Lewis

PRISON GARMENTS

See preceding article.

SPIRITS IN PRISON

See PRISON, SPIRITS IN.

1201. desmoterion -- a prison
... a prison. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: desmoterion Phonetic Spelling:
(des-mo-tay'-ree-on) Short Definition: a prison Definition: a prison. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1201.htm - 6k

1200. desmophulax -- a prison keeper
... a prison keeper. Part of Speech: Noun, Masculine Transliteration: desmophulax Phonetic
Spelling: (des-mof-oo'-lax) Short Definition: a keeper of a prison, a ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1200.htm - 6k

3612. oikema -- a dwelling
... a dwelling. Part of Speech: Noun, Neuter Transliteration: oikema Phonetic Spelling:
(oy'-kay-mah) Short Definition: a prison Definition: a prison cell. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3612.htm - 6k

5438. phulake -- a guarding, guard, watch
... Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: phulake Phonetic Spelling:
(foo-lak-ay') Short Definition: a watching, guard, prison, imprisonment Definition ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5438.htm - 7k

5084. teresis -- a watching, hence imprisonment, a keeping
... a keeping. Part of Speech: Noun, Feminine Transliteration: teresis Phonetic Spelling:
(tay'-ray-sis) Short Definition: a prison, observance Definition: a prison ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5084.htm - 7k

930. basanistes -- a torturer
... Cognate: 930 (from 928 ) -- a guard in a prison "whose function was to prisoners
as a phase of judicial examination -- prison guard, " (, 1, 37.126). ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/930.htm - 6k

4887. sundeo -- to bind together
... jail. See 4886 (). Word Origin from sun and deo Definition to bind together
NASB Word Usage prison (1). be a fellow-prisoner. From ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4887.htm - 6k

5421. phrear -- a well
... derivation; a hole in the ground (dug for obtaining or holding water or other purposes),
ie A cistern or well; figuratively, an abyss (as a prison) -- well, pit ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5421.htm - 6k

3860. paradidomi -- to hand over, to give or deliver over, to ...
... and didomi; to surrender, ie yield up, intrust, transmit -- betray, bring forth,
cast, commit, deliver (up), give (over, up), hazard, put in prison, recommend. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3860.htm - 11k

4929. mishmar -- place of confinement, jail, prison, guard, watch ...
... mishmar. 4930 . place of confinement, jail, prison, guard, watch, observance.
Transliteration: mishmar Phonetic Spelling: (mish-mawr') Short Definition: guard ...
/hebrew/4929.htm - 6k

4307. mattara -- a guard, ward, prison, target, mark
... a guard, ward, prison, target, mark. Transliteration: mattara or mattarah Phonetic
Spelling: (mat-taw-raw') Short Definition: guardhouse. ... mark, prison. ...
/hebrew/4307.htm - 6k

5474. sugar -- a cage, prison
... 5473, 5474. sugar. 5475 . a cage, prison. Transliteration: sugar Phonetic
Spelling: (soo-gar') Short Definition: cage. Word Origin ...
/hebrew/5474.htm - 6k

3608. kele -- confinement, restraint, imprisonment
... 3607, 3608. kele. 3609 . confinement, restraint, imprisonment. Transliteration:
kele Phonetic Spelling: (keh'-leh) Short Definition: prison. ... prison. ...
/hebrew/3608.htm - 6k

3628. keli -- confinement, restraint, imprisonment
... keli or kelu. 3629 . confinement, restraint, imprisonment. Transliteration: keli
or kelu Phonetic Spelling: (kel-ee') Short Definition: prison. ... prison. ...
/hebrew/3628.htm - 6k

4525. masger -- a locksmith, smith, a dungeon
... Word Origin from sagar Definition a locksmith, smith, a dungeon NASB Word
Usage dungeon (1), prison (2), smiths (4). prison, smith. ...
/hebrew/4525.htm - 6k

4115. mahpeketh -- stocks (instrument of punishment)
... Word Origin from haphak Definition stocks (instrument of punishment) NASB
Word Usage prison* (1), stocks (3). prison, stocks. From ...
/hebrew/4115.htm - 6k

6486. pequddah -- oversight, mustering, visitation, store
... 1), appointed (1), care (1), class (1), executioners (1), fate (1), muster (2),
office (1), officers (1), offices (3), oversight (2), prison* (1), punishment ...
/hebrew/6486.htm - 6k

6115. otser -- restraint, coercion
... barren, oppression, prison. From atsar; closure; also constraint -- X barren,
oppression, X prison. see HEBREW atsar. 6114, 6115. otser. 6116 . ...
/hebrew/6115.htm - 6k

5470. sohar -- perhaps roundness
... prison. From the same as cahar; a dungeon (as surrounded by walls) -- prison. see
HEBREW cahar. 5469, 5470. sohar. 5471 . Strong's Numbers.
/hebrew/5470.htm - 6k

February the First the Soul in Prison
... FEBRUARY The First THE SOUL IN PRISON. "Bring my soul out of prison!" "Psalm
142.p> I too, have my prison-house, and only the Lord can deliver me. ...
/.../my daily meditation for the circling year/february the first the soul.htm

The Prison-House.
... SERMON LII. THE PRISON-HOUSE. (Seventeenth Sunday after Trinity.) Ephesians 4:1. ...
And now what lesson can we learn from the prison-house at Rome? ...
/.../the life of duty a years plain sermons v 2/sermon lii the prison-house.htm

Paul's Prison Psalm.
... (Psalm xxxvii:1-11; Matthew vi:19-34, Philippians iv:6-7. American Revision.)
Paul's Prison Psalm. ... Philippians is a prison psalm. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/gordon/quiet talks on service/pauls prison psalm.htm

Delivered from Prison
... Lesson 15 Delivered From Prison. ... Remembering the former escape of the apostles from
prison, Herod on this occasion had taken double precautions. ...
/.../white/the acts of the apostles/lesson 15 delivered from prison.htm

Peter's Deliverance from Prison
... PETER'S DELIVERANCE FROM PRISON. 'Peter therefore was kept in the prison: but prayer
was made earnestly of the Church unto God for him.'"Acts 12:5 (RV) ...
/.../expositions of holy scripture the acts/peters deliverance from prison.htm

Remarkable Escape from Prison
... Chapter 19. An Ideal Circuit; Wesley in his Eighties; Wesley Visits Holland;
Incidents in Scotland Remarkable Escape from Prison. ...
/.../wesley/the journal of john wesley/remarkable escape from prison.htm

Wesley in the Marshalsea Prison
... Chapter 14. Justice for Methodists; Methodist Character; Instructions to Parents;
Wesley's Opinion of Mary Queen of Scots Wesley in the Marshalsea Prison. 1768. ...
/.../wesley/the journal of john wesley/wesley in the marshalsea prison.htm

Prison Meditations Directed to the Heart of Suffering Saints and ...
... PRISON MEDITATIONS DIRECTED TO THE HEART OF SUFFERING SAINTS AND REIGNING SINNERS.
By John Bunyan, in Prison, 1665 ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. ...
/.../the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/prison meditations directed to the.htm

What Things Befell Joseph in Prison.
... Containing The Interval Of Two Hundred And Twenty Years. From The Death Of Isaac
To The Exodus Out Of Egypt. CHAPTER 5. What Things Befell Joseph In Prison. ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/chapter 5 what things befell.htm

Jesus Confined in the Subterranean Prison.
... CHAPTER XII. Jesus confined in the subterranean Prison. The Jews, having
quite exhausted their barbarity, shut Jesus up in a little ...
/.../the dolorous passion of our lord jesus christ/chapter xii jesus confined in.htm

Prison (131 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary The first occasion on which we read of a prison is
in the history of Joseph in Egypt. Then Potiphar, "Joseph's ...
/p/prison.htm - 52k

Prison-house (29 Occurrences)
Prison-house. Prisoners, Prison-house. Prison-houses . Multi-Version
Concordance Prison-house (29 Occurrences). Acts ...
/p/prison-house.htm - 15k

Prison-houses (1 Occurrence)
Prison-houses. Prison-house, Prison-houses. Prisoning . Multi-Version
Concordance Prison-houses (1 Occurrence). Isaiah ...
/p/prison-houses.htm - 6k

Prison-doors (1 Occurrence)
Prison-doors. Prison, Prison-doors. Prisoned . Multi-Version
Concordance Prison-doors (1 Occurrence). Acts 5:19 But ...
/p/prison-doors.htm - 6k

Jail (15 Occurrences)
... 1. (n.) A kind of prison; a building for the confinement of persons held in lawful
custody, especially for minor offenses or with reference to some future ...
/j/jail.htm - 10k

Keeper (72 Occurrences)
... possession of anything. 2. (n.) One who retains in custody; one who has the
care of a prison and the charge of prisoners. 3. (n.) One ...
/k/keeper.htm - 30k

Jailer (8 Occurrences)
... and power. Noah Webster's Dictionary. (n.) The keeper of a jail or prison.
Multi-Version Concordance Jailer (8 Occurrences). Acts ...
/j/jailer.htm - 9k

Confined (18 Occurrences)
... (DBY NAS RSV NIV). Genesis 40:3 He put them in custody in the house of the captain
of the guard, into the prison, the place where Joseph was bound. ...
/c/confined.htm - 11k

Dungeon (15 Occurrences)
... Easton's Bible Dictionary Different from the ordinary prison in being more severe
as a place of punishment. ... dun'-jun. See PRISON. Multi-Version Concordance ...
/d/dungeon.htm - 12k

Joseph's (36 Occurrences)
... Genesis 39:20 Joseph's master took him, and put him into the prison, the place where
the king's prisoners were bound, and he was there in custody. ...
/j/joseph's.htm - 17k

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