Prisoners

Imprisonment in the biblical world served different functions than modern incarceration: it was typically used to hold accused persons awaiting trial or sentence rather than as punishment itself. The OT records prisoners being held in cisterns (Joseph, Gen. 39:20; Jeremiah, Jer. 38:6), guardhouses, and pits. Military prisoners of war were sometimes enslaved, killed, or mutilated. The Mosaic law did not prescribe imprisonment as a standard punishment.

The NT narrates numerous imprisonments in the apostolic period: John the Baptist (Matt. 14:3), Peter (Acts 12:4), Paul and Silas at Philippi (Acts 16:23–24), and Paul's extended imprisonments in Caesarea and Rome. Paul wrote several letters from prison (Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Philemon, 2 Timothy). He interprets his imprisonment as advancing the gospel: "What has happened to me has really served to advance the gospel" (Phil. 1:12). Jesus's identification with prisoners — "I was in prison and you visited me" (Matt. 25:36) — makes ministry to prisoners a mark of genuine discipleship.