When Jesus returned to Nazareth after his baptism by John the Baptist, he read the scroll of Isaiah in the synagogue there and proclaimed afterwards that the prophecy was being fulfilled in their midst, the idea that Jesus has been endowed with "the Spirit . . . and sent [among other things] to proclaim freedom for the prisoners" must disturb any reader coming to the Bible for the first time. Why would God set criminals free? The same thing would probably happen if they read in that psalms that "the Lord sets prisoners free" (Psm 146:7).
The idea of a permanent place of incarceration for criminals, to keep them out of society, is a relatively modern invention. Permanent prisons were not unknown: e.g., King Zedekiah—as a traitor—was kept in prison in Babylon until his death (Jer 52:11). But, unless a prisoner was politically significant, it would be a waste of the king's resources to keep him alive for long. Most prisons in ancient societies, however, served a different purpose, such as reflected both in the Old and New Testament. Prisons served simply to keep a hold on the person accused until a judgment upon him could be made, whereupon he was either released, if found innocent of the charge, or dealt with according to the provisions of the law if found guilty. In times of war, enemy citizens were often taken prisoners but then sold off or redeemed (if they had someone who could afford to do so, though for the poor this is unimaginable). For a prisoner to be set free is, therefore, equivalent to being vindicated, in the first case, or being redeemed in the latter. Within this context, prisoners in Scriptures are, therefore, not to be understood to imply criminality. There is also another class of persons who often end up in prison; those who could not pay their debts. This is mentioned explicitly in Jesus's parable of the unforgiving servant (Matt 18:30) but was probably the background behind 5:25f ("Settle matters quickly with your adversary who is taking you to court. Do it while you are still with him on the way, or he may hand you over to the judge, and the judge may hand you over to the officer, and you may be thrown into prison. I tell you the truth, you will not get out until you have paid the last penny") and "Matt 25:36 ("I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me"). To be freed from prison in such a case was, therefore, to be relieved of an enormous burden.
All in, the words 'prison/s' and 'prisoner/s' occur about 120x in the Bible. Given the nature and function of the prison then, it is not surprising that many people got sent there on false charges. Joseph ended in prison because of his mistress's frayed temper at being rejected (Gen 39:20), Macaiah was thrown into prison for prophesying the truth about King Ahab (1 Ki 22:27), Jeremiah for his oracles that did not go well with the king (Jer 37:15), John the Baptist for condemning Herod Antipas's unlawful marriage (Matt 14:3), Peter for preaching the gospel (Acts 12:4) are just some examples of the fate of those who would speak the truth.
©ALBERITH
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