Prison

Prisons in the ancient biblical world were primarily places of detention before trial or execution rather than for punitive long-term sentences as such. The first mention is the pit or dungeon in Egypt where Joseph was confined after Potiphar's wife's false accusation (Gen. 39:20–23). The Philistines imprisoned Samson in Gaza to grind at the mill (Judg. 16:21). Jeremiah was imprisoned in the court of the guard (Jer. 32:2) and later thrown into a muddy cistern (Jer. 38:6). In the New Testament, Peter was imprisoned by Herod Agrippa (Acts 12:4–5) and Paul and Silas at Philippi (Acts 16:23–40), from which they were miraculously released. The image of prison also carries theological weight as a metaphor for spiritual bondage (Isa. 42:7; 61:1; Luke 4:18) and for the confinement of fallen angels (2 Pet. 2:4; Jude 6; Rev. 20:7).