forced to work at hard labor, such as grinding. (Judg. 16:21; 2 Ki. 17:4; Ps. 105:17, 18; Jer. 52:11) In Egypt, a trusted prisoner (as was Joseph) might be placed in charge of other inmates and assigned to wait upon those who had held prominent positions before their confinement.—Gen. 39:21–40:4.

Prisons date back at least to the eighteenth century B.C.E., for it was then that Joseph was wrongly confined to the jail that was connected to the “house of the chief of the bodyguard.” (Gen. 39:20; 40:3; 41:10) This Egyptian jail apparently had a dungeon or hole shaped like a cistern, where some prisoners were kept.—Gen. 40:15; 41:14; compare Isaiah 24:22.

The Mosaic law did not provide for prisons as a form of punishment. Since justice was to be executed swiftly (Josh. 7:20, 22-25), only in cases requiring divine clarification do we read in the Pentateuch of individuals being committed into custody. (Lev. 24:12; Num. 15:34) Eventually, however, places of imprisonment came to be used by the Israelites. The prophet Jeremiah, for example, was held in the “house of fetters, in the house of Jehonathan.” This place of confinement had “vaulted rooms,” perhaps dungeon cells. Conditions were so bad there that Jeremiah feared for his life. (Jer. 37:15-20) Subsequently he was transferred to the “Courtyard of the Guard,” where he got a daily allowance of bread, could receive visitors and was able to conduct business transactions.—Jer. 32:2, 8, 12; 37:21; see also 1 Kings 22:27; 2 Chronicles 16:10; Hebrews 11:36.

In the first century C.E., according to Roman custom, the jailers or guards were held personally accountable for prisoners. (Acts 12:19) Therefore, the jailer in Philippi, believing that his prisoners had escaped, was ready to commit suicide. (Acts 16:27) For security measures guards were often stationed at prison doors, and prisoners might have their feet put in stocks or have their hands chained to those guarding them. (Acts 5:23; 12:6-10; 16:22-24) Some prisoners were allowed visitors.—Matt. 25:36; Acts 23:35; 24:23, 27; 28:16-31; see BOND; JAILER.

As foretold by Christ Jesus, many of his followers experienced imprisonment. (Luke 21:12; Acts 26:10; Rom. 16:7; Col. 4:10; Heb. 10:34; 13:3) The apostle John, himself a prisoner on the isle of Patmos, wrote that imprisonment would continue to be a form of persecution of Christians.—Rev. 2:10.

FIGURATIVE USE

In a figurative sense, “prison” can refer to a land of exile (as was Babylon) or to a state of spiritual bondage or confinement. (Isa. 42:6, 7; 48:20; 49:5, 8, 9; 61:1; Matt. 12:15-21; Luke 4:17-21; 2 Cor. 6:1, 2) Though the spirit creatures who were disobedient in Noah’s day do not have physical bodies that can be held by material restraints, they have been limited in their activities and are in a state of dense darkness with reference to Jehovah God, as if in a prison. (1 Pet. 3:19; Jude 6; see TARTARUS.) Also, the abyss in which Satan will be shut up for a thousand years is a “prison,” a place of deathlike restraint or confinement.—Rev. 20:1-3, 7.

PROCHORUS

(Prochʹo·rus) [leader of a chorus].

One of the seven certified men full of spirit and wisdom appointed to assure equal treatment in the daily distribution of food in the first-century Christian congregation at Jerusalem.—Acts 6:1-6.

PROCONSUL

In 27 B.C.E., Emperor Augustus of Rome took charge of all provinces requiring the presence of military forces, leaving ten others as senatorial provinces. The administration of the latter was carried out through proconsuls. The proconsuls were of two classes: Ex-consuls (those who had already attained the rank of consul), who were sent to the provinces of Asia and Africa (where a legionary force was maintained), and ex-praetors, sent to the other senatorial provinces.

It was the proconsul’s responsibility to direct the civil affairs of the province, make judicial decisions and maintain law and order. His jurisdiction was supreme in the province, although his actions were subject to review by the Roman senate. The collection of revenues was under a quaestor. The proconsul did not wear military dress or carry a sword.

The proconsul Sergius Paulus is mentioned at Acts 13:7, 12 as one who became a Christian. He was the proconsul of Cyprus. At Acts 18:12, Gallio is mentioned as being proconsul of the province of Achaia. Luke is accurate in using the term “proconsul” in these cases, for Achaia had been constituted a senatorial province in 16 C.E., and Cyprus by Emperor Claudius, who ruled 41-54 C.E. A Cyprian coin has been found with the head and title of Claudius (in Latin) on the obverse side and “Under Arminius Proclus, Proconsul of the Cyprians” (in Greek) on the reverse side.

PROPHECY

An inspired message; a revelation of divine will and purpose or the proclamation thereof. Prophecy may be inspired moral teaching, an expression of a divine command or judgment, or a declaration of something to come. As shown under PROPHET, prediction or foretelling is not the basic thought conveyed by the root verbs in the original languages (Heb., na·vaʼʹ [perhaps from na·vaʽʹ]; Gr., pro·phe·teuʹo); yet it forms an outstanding feature of Bible prophecy.

Illustrating the sense of the original words are these examples: When Ezekiel in a vision was told to “prophesy to the wind,” he simply expressed God’s command to the wind. (Ezek. 37:9, 10) When individuals at Jesus’ trial covered him, slapped him and then said, “Prophesy to us, you Christ. Who is it that struck you?” they were not calling for prediction but for Jesus to identify the slappers by divine revelation. (Matt. 26:67, 68; Luke 22:63, 64) The Samaritan woman at the well recognized Jesus as “a prophet” because he revealed things about her past that he could not have known except by divine power. (John 4:17-19; compare Luke 7:39.) So, too, such Scriptural portions as Jesus’ ‘sermon on the mount’ and his denunciation of the scribes and Pharisees (Matt. 23:1-36) may properly be defined as prophecy, for these were an inspired ‘telling forth’ of God’s mind on matters, even as were the pronouncements by Isaiah, Jeremiah and other earlier prophets.—Compare Isaiah 65:13-16 and Luke 6:20-25.

Examples of foretelling or prediction are, of course, very numerous throughout the entire Bible, some earlier examples being found at Genesis 3:14-19; 9:24-27; 27:27-40; 49:1-28; Deuteronomy 18:15-19.

The Source of all true prophecy is Jehovah God. He transmits it by means of his holy spirit or, occasionally, by spirit-directed angelic messengers. (2 Pet. 1:20, 21; Heb. 2:1, 2) The Hebrew prophecies frequently begin, “Hear the word of Jehovah” (Isa. 1:10; Jer. 2:4), and by the expression “the word” is often meant an inspired message or prophecy.—Isa. 44:26; Jer. 21:1; Ezek. 33:30-33; compare Isaiah 24:3.

BEARING WITNESS TO JESUS INSPIRES PROPHESYING

In the apostle John’s vision he was told by an angel that “the bearing witness to Jesus is what inspires [literally, “is the spirit of”] prophesying.” (Rev. 19:10) The apostle Paul calls Christ the “sacred secret of God” and says that “carefully concealed in him are all the treasures of wisdom and of knowledge.” (Col. 2:2, 3) This is because Jehovah God assigned to his Son the key role in the outworking of God’s grand purpose to sanctify His name and restore earth and its inhabitants to their proper place in His arrangement of things, doing this by means of “an administration at the full limit of the appointed times, namely, to gather all things together again in the Christ, the things in the heavens and the things on the earth.” (Eph. 1:9, 10; compare 1 Corinthians 15:24, 25.) Since the fulfillment of God’s great purpose