Prison:
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" (Gen 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" (Lev 24:12; Num 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 (Psa 69:33; 79:11; 142:7). Samson was confined in a Philistine prison (Jdg 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 (Mat 11:2; 25:36,43). The apostles were put into the "common prison" at the instance of the Jewish council (Act 5:18,23; 8:3); and at Philippi Paul and Silas were thrust into the "inner prison" (Act 16:24; Act 4:3; 12:4,5).
The Blue Letter Bible ministry and the BLB Institute hold to the historical, conservative Christian faith, which includes a firm belief in the inerrancy of Scripture. Since the text and audio content provided by BLB represent a range of evangelical traditions, all of the ideas and principles conveyed in the resource materials are not necessarily affirmed, in total, by this ministry.
Blue Letter Bible study tools make reading, searching and studying the Bible easy and rewarding.
Blue Letter Bible is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization
©2018 Blue Letter Bible
Note: MLA no longer requires the URL as part of their citation standard. Individual instructors or editors may still require the use of URLs.
Loading...
Interlinear |
Bibles |
Cross-Refs |
Commentaries |
Dictionaries |
Miscellaneous |
Email / username or password was incorrect!
Check your email for password retrieval
Complete the form below to register [?]
Error: That Email is already registered
Error: Please provide a valid Email
Error: Passwords should have at least 6 characters
Error: Passwords do not match
Error: Please provide a valid first name
Error: That username is already taken
Error: Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores
Passwords should have at least 6 characters.
Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores.
Thank you for registering. A verification email has been sent to the address you provided.
Error: That Email / Username is not registered