Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PRISON

People were imprisoned for a variety of reasons in biblical times. Joseph was charged with sexual impropriety by Potiphar’s wife and held in the house of the captain of the guard (Gen. 40:3). The Mosaic code permitted imprisonment to allow time for clarifying the facts of a case (Lev. 24:12; Num. 15:34). Other accounts refer to confinement in non-Israelite prisons (Gen. 39:20; 2 Kgs. 17:4; 25:27, 29; Jer. 52:11; Judg. 16:21).

Later, Jewish prisons kept in custody people who were awaiting trial (Matt. 5:25; Acts 4:3; 5:18-23). Roman imprisonment could be used to coerce a prisoner into testifying (Matt. 18:30) and as punishment for disorderly conduct (11:2; Acts 16:26). Early Christians experienced imprisonment (2 Cor. 6:5; 11:23), often at the hands of religious opponents. Paul called this a service for Christ (Phlm. 1, 9; Eph. 3:1; 4:1; 2 Tim. 1:8). Other passages describe miraculous releases from prison (Acts 12:6-10; 16:25-26).

Conditions in ancient prisons were harsh. Prisoners were often chained (Heb. 11:36) either to posts or to guards (Acts 12:6). Wooden stocks were sometimes used to confine prisoners (Acts 16:24) in inner chambers with no windows. The sexes were not separated, and the lack of ventilation and facilities for good hygiene encouraged rats and disease. Such conditions explain the frequent encouragement to visit believers in prison (Matt. 25:36; 2 Tim. 1:8; Heb. 13:3).

Bibliography. B. Rapske, Paul in Roman Custody, vol. 3 of The Book of Acts in Its First Century Setting, ed. B. K. Winter (Grand Rapids, 1994).

Dennis Gaertner

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

PRISON

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)