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Bible Encyclopedias
Prison
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
or is represented in the A. V. by the following Heb. and Gr. words:
1. אֵסוּר, Aramaic for אסֵוּר, "a chain," is joined with בֵּית, and rendered a prison (Sept. οῖκος δεσμῶν; Vulg. carcer).
2. כְּלוּא כֶלֵא, and כְּלִיא, with בֵּית (Sept. οῖκος φυλακῆς; Jeremiah 37:15).
3. מִהְפֶּכֶת, from הָפִךְ, "turn," or "twist," the stocks (Jeremiah 20:2).
4. מִטָּרָה and מִטָּרָא; φυλαςή; carcer (Gesenius, Thesaur. p. 879).
5. מִסְגֵּר; δεσμωτήριον; carcer.
6. מִשְׁמָר; φυλακή; custodia; also intens. מִשְׁמֵרֶת; A.V. "hard."
7. עֹצֶר; angustia; ταπείνωσις (Gesenius, p. 1059).
8. — פְּקִהאּקיֹח (Isaiah 61:1), more properly written in one word; ἀνάβλεψις; apestio (Gesenius, p. 1121).
9. סֹהִר; ὀχύρωνα; carcer: properly a tower.
10. בֵּיתאּהִפְּקֻדֹּת; οἰκία μύλωνος; domus carceris. בִּיִת is also sometimes "prison" in the A.V. as Genesis 39:20.
11. צִינֹק; καταῤῥάκτης; carcer; probably "the stocks" (as in the A.V.) or some such instrument of confinement; perhaps understood by the Sept. as a sewer or underground passage.
12. In the N.T. δεσμωτήριον, οἴκημα, τήρησις, usually φυλακή .
In Egypt it is plain both that special places were used as prisons, and that they were under the custody of a military officer (Genesis 40:3; Genesis 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). Later still it is distinctly described as being in the king's house (Jeremiah 32:2; Jeremiah 37:21; Nehemiah 3:25). This was the case also at Babylon (2 Kings 25:27). But private houses were sometimes used as places of confinement (Jeremiah 37:15), probably much as Chardin describes Persian prisons in his day, viz. houses kept by private speculators for prisoners to be maintained there at their own cost (Voy. 6:100). Public prisons other than these, though in use by the Canaanitish nations (Judges 16:21; Judges 16:25), were unknown in Judaea previous to the captivity. Under the Herods we hear again of royal prisons attached to the palace, or in royal fortresses (Luke 3:20; Acts 12:4; Acts 12:10; Josephuts, Ant. 18:5, 2; Machzerus). By the Romans Antonia was used as a prison at Jerusalem (Acts 23:10), and at Caesarea the praetorium of Herod (Acts 23:35). The sacerdotal authorities also had a prison under the superintendence of special officers, δεσμφύλακες (Acts 5:18-23; Acts 8:3; Acts 26:10). 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 16:24, and Job 13:27). One of the readiest places for confinement was a dry, or partially dry, well or pit (see Genesis 37:24, and Jeremiah 38:6-11); but the usual place appears, in the time of Jeremiah, and in general, to have been accessible to visitors (Jeremiah 36:5; Matthew 11:2; Matthew 25:36; Matthew 25:39; Acts 24:23). — Smith. From the instance of the Mamertine Prison at Rome (q.v.), in which the apostle Paul (q.v.) is said to have been confined, many have rashly assumed that the Roman prisons generally were subterranean; but at Thessalonica at least, even "the inner prison" (Acts 16:24) seems to have been on the ground-floor ("doors," Acts 16:26; "sprang in," Acts 16:29). (See DUNGEON).
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McClintock, John. Strong, James. Entry for 'Prison'. Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature. https://www.studylight.org/encyclopedias/eng/tce/p/prison.html. Harper & Brothers. New York. 1870.
