SUBJECT · Complete Bible Study

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. This unified study connects 7 installed resource categories without replacing their source records.

View overview sources
  • Historical Reference: Nave’s Topical Bible — Public domain
  • Historical Reference: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)
  • Historical Reference: topics
  • Historical Reference: concordance
  • Historical Reference: STEPBible TBESG (based primarily on Abbott-Smith)
  • Historical Reference: A Greek-English Lexicon to the New Testament
  • Historical Reference: Installed reference work
  • Historical Reference: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible lexical data / BDB-Strong mapping

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Study overview

Study at a glance

Subject type
Subject
Strong’s
G1201, G3612, H3608, H4307, H4929, H5474, H3628, H5470
Hebrew
כֶּ֫לֶא · keleʼ
Greek
δεσμωτήριον · desmōtērion

Strong’s and original-language information

Abbott-Smith Greek Lexicon

δεσμωτήριον

G1201
Transliteration
desmōtērion
Language
Greek
Part of speech
G:N-N
Indexed occurrences
4

Glosses

prison

Lexicon definition

δεσμωτήριον, -ου, τό [in LXX for בֵּית סֹהַר (Ge), אָסִיר ;] a prison: Mat.11:2, Act.5:21, 23 16:26.† (AS)

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible lexical data / BDB-Strong mapping

כֶּ֫לֶא

H3608
Transliteration
keleʼ
Pronunciation
keh'-leh
Language
Hebrew
Indexed occurrences
10

Glosses

confinement, restraint, imprisonment, prison, garments of imprisonment, prison. Compare H3610 (כִּלְאַיִם), H3628 (כְּלִיא).

Lexicon definition

a prison

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible lexical data / BDB-Strong mapping

מַטָּרָה

H4307
Transliteration
maṭṭârâʼ
Pronunciation
mat-taw-raw'
Language
Hebrew
Indexed occurrences
16

Glosses

guard, ward, prison, target, mark, mark, prison.

Lexicon definition

a jail (as a guard-house)

also an aim (as being closely watched)

Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible lexical data / BDB-Strong mapping

מִשְׁמָר

H4929
Transliteration
mishmâr
Pronunciation
mish-mawr'
Language
Hebrew
Indexed occurrences
22

Glosses

place of confinement, gaol, prison, guard, watch, observance, diligence, guard, office, prison, ward, watch.

Lexicon definition

a guard (the man, the post or the prison)

a deposit (figuratively)

also (as observed) a usage (abstractly), or an example (concretely)

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

δεσμωτήριον

G1201
Transliteration
desmōtḗrion
Language
Greek
Indexed occurrences
4

Glosses

prison

Lexicon definition

a place of bondage, i.e. a dungeon

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

סֹהַר

H5470
Transliteration
çôhar
Pronunciation
so'-har
Language
Hebrew
Indexed occurrences
8

Glosses

prison.

Lexicon definition

a dungeon (as surrounded by walls)

Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Lexicon

אָסִיר

H0615
Transliteration
ʼâçîyr
Pronunciation
aw-sere'
Language
Hebrew
Indexed occurrences
12

Glosses

(those which are) bound, prisoner.

Lexicon definition

bound, i.e. a captive

Complete dictionary entries

Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897)

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 (69:33; 79:11; 142:7). Samson was confined in a Philistine prison (Judg. 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 Chr. 16:10; Isa. 42:7; Jer. 32:2). Prisons seem to have been common in New Testament times (Matt. 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).

Source: Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897) · View data sources

Concordance

Strong's Concordance

Prison

Indexed occurrences: 56

Source: Strong's Concordance · View data sources

Strong's Concordance

Prisons

Indexed occurrences: 1

Source: Strong's Concordance · View data sources

All Scripture references111 references

Genesis 11

Leviticus 1

Numbers 1

Judges 2

1 Samuel 1

1 Kings 6

2 Kings 5

1 Chronicles 1

2 Chronicles 2

Ezra 1

Nehemiah 9

Job 2

Psalms 1

Proverbs 1

Ecclesiastes 1

Isaiah 2

Jeremiah 18

Lamentations 1

Ezekiel 2

Amos 1

Matthew 9

Mark 2

Luke 5

John 1

Acts 20

Hebrews 2

1 Peter 1

Revelation 2

Topical Bible

Sources

Ancient Context9 items

Josephus Antiquities Whiston

What Things Befell Joseph In Prison.

Antiquities Book 2, Chapter 5

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Josephus Antiquities Whiston

That The King Of Babylon Repented Of Making Jehoiachin King, And Took Him Away To Babylon And Delivered The Kingdom To Zedekiah. This King Would Not Believe What Was Predicted By Jeremiah And Ezekiel But Joined Himself To The Egyptians; Who When They Came Into Judea, Were Vanquished By The King Of Babylon; As Also What Befell Jeremiah.

Antiquities Book 10, Chapter 7

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Josephus Antiquities Whiston

How Antiochus Made A League With Ptolemy And How Onias Provoked Ptolemy Euergetes To Anger; And How Joseph Brought All Things Right Again, And Entered Into Friendship With Him; And What Other Things Were Done By Joseph, And His Son Hyrcanus.

Antiquities Book 12, Chapter 4

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Josephus Antiquities Whiston

How Aristobulus, When He Had Taken The Government First Of All Put A Diadem On His Head, And Was Most Barbarously Cruel To His Mother And His Brethren; And How, After He Had Slain Antigonus, He Himself Died.

Antiquities Book 13, Chapter 11

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Josephus Antiquities Whiston

How Pompey When The Citizens Of Jerusalem Shut Their Gates Against Him Besieged The City And Took It By Force; As Also What Other Things He Did In Judea.

Antiquities Book 14, Chapter 4

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Josephus Antiquities Whiston

How Herod Took Up Alexander And Bound Him; Whom Yet Archelaus King Of Cappadocia Reconciled To His Father Herod Again.

Antiquities Book 16, Chapter 8

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Josephus Antiquities Whiston

How Herod, By Permission From Cæsar Accused His Sons Before An Assembly Of Judges At Berytus; And What Tero Suffered For Using A Boundless And Military Liberty Of Speech. Concerning Also The Death Of The Young Men And Their Burial At

Antiquities Book 16, Chapter 11

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Josephus Antiquities Whiston

Of The Navigation Of King Agrippa To Rome, To Tiberius Cæsar; And Now Upon His Being Accused By His Own Freed-Man, He Was Bound; How Also He, Was Set At Liberty By Caius, After Tiberius's Death And Was Made King Of The Tetrarchy Of Philip.

Antiquities Book 18, Chapter 6

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Josephus Antiquities Whiston

Concerning Silas And On What Account It Was That King Agrippa Was Angry At Him. How Agrippa Began To Encompass Jerusalem With A Wall; And What Benefits He Bestowed On The Inhabitants Of Berytus.

Antiquities Book 19, Chapter 7

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Related UNLEARN Content12 items

Topic

PRISON

Nave’s Topical Bible references for PRISON.

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Dictionary

Cage

(Heb. kelub', Jer. 5:27, marg. "coop;" rendered "basket" in Amos 8:1), a basket of wicker-work in which birds were placed after being caught. In Rev. 18:2 it is the rendering of the Greek phulake, properly a prison or place of confinement.

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Dictionary

Court

The enclosure of the tabernacle (Ex. 27:9-19; 40:8), of the temple (1 Kings 6:36), of a prison (Neh. 3:25), of a private house (2 Sam. 17:18), and of a king's palace (2 Kings 20:4).

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Dungeon

Different from the ordinary prison in being more severe as a place of punishment. Like the Roman inner prison (Acts 16:24), it consisted of a deep cell or cistern (Jer. 38:6). To be shut up in, a punishment common in Egypt (Gen. 39:20; 40:3; 41:10; 42:19). It is not mentioned, however, in the law of Moses as a mode of punishment. Under the later kings imprisonment was frequently used as a punishment (2 Chron. 16:10; Jer. 20:2; 32:2; 33:1; 37:15), and it was customary after the Exile (Matt. 11:2; Luke 3:20; Acts 5:18, 21; Matt. 18:30).

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Dictionary

Gate

(1.) Of cities, as of Jerusalem (Jer. 37:13; Neh. 1:3; 2:3; 3:3), of Sodom (Gen. 19:1), of Gaza (Judg. 16:3). (2.) Of royal palaces (Neh. 2:8). (3.) Of the temple of Solomon (1 Kings 6:34, 35; 2 Kings 18:16); of the holy place (1 Kings 6:31, 32; Ezek. 41:23, 24); of the outer courts of the temple, the beautiful gate (Acts 3:2). (4.) Tombs (Matt. 27:60). (5.) Prisons (Acts 12:10; 16:27). (6.) Caverns (1 Kings 19:13). (7.) Camps (Ex. 32:26, 27; Heb. 13:12). The materials of which gates were made were, (1.) Iron and brass (Ps. 107:16; Isa. 45:2; Acts 12:10). (2.) Stones and pearls (Isa. 54:12; Rev. 21:21). (3.) Wood (Judg. 16:3) probably. At the gates of cities courts of justice were frequently held, and hence "judges of the gate" are spoken of (Deut. 16:18; 17:8; 21:19; 25:6, 7, etc.). At the gates prophets also frequently delivered their messages (Prov. 1:21; 8:3; Isa. 29:21; Jer. 17:19, 20; 26:10). Criminals were punished without the gates (1 Kings 21:13; Acts 7:59). By the "gates of righteousness" we are probably to understand those of the temple (Ps. 118:19). "The gates of hell" (R.V., "gates of Hades") Matt. 16:18, are generally interpreted as meaning the power of Satan, but probably they may mean the power of death, denoting that the Church of Christ shall never die.

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Dictionary

Machaerus

The Black Fortress, was built by Herod the Great in the gorge of Callirhoe, one of the wadies 9 miles east of the Dead Sea, as a frontier rampart against Arab marauders. John the Baptist was probably cast into the prison connected with this castle by Herod Antipas, whom he had reproved for his adulterous marriage with Herodias. Here Herod "made a supper" on his birthday. He was at this time marching against Aretas, king of Perea, to whose daughter he had been married. During the revelry of the banquet held in the border fortress, to please Salome, who danced before him, he sent an executioner, who beheaded John, and "brought his head in a charger, and gave it to the damsel" (Mark 6:14-29). This castle stood "starkly bold and clear" 3,860 feet above the Dead Sea, and 2,546 above the Mediterranean. Its ruins, now called M'khaur, are still visible on the northern end of Jebel Attarus.

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Dictionary

Matri

rain; prison

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Dictionary

Nebushasban

Adorer of Nebo, or Nebo saves me, the "Rabsaris," or chief chamberlain, of the court of Babylon. He was one of those whom the king sent to release Jeremiah from prison in Jerusalem (Jer. 39:13).

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Dictionary

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 (69:33; 79:11; 142:7). Samson was confined in a Philistine prison (Judg. 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 Chr. 16:10; Isa. 42:7; Jer. 32:2). Prisons seem to have been common in New Testament times (Matt. 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).

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Dictionary

Quaternion

A band of four soldiers. Peter was committed by Herod to the custody of four quaternions, i.e., one quaternion for each watch of the night (Acts 12:4). Thus every precaution was taken against his escape from prison. Two of each quaternion were in turn stationed at the door (12:6), and to two the apostle was chained according to Roman custom.

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Dictionary

Shamir

Shamer, prison; bush; lees; thorn

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Ward

A prison (Gen. 40:3, 4); a watch-station (Isa. 21:8); a guard (Neh. 13:30).

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