PRISCA, PRISCILLA

taskmaster (Ex 1"), of the prince of the eunuchs (Dn 1'). It came later to be applied to the guardian angels of the nations (Dn 10"- ^o. 21), to Michael the archangel (Dn 12'). It is the most general term for prince, and occurs in the fem, form sarah, ' princess,' used of the wives of Solomon (1 K 11^), and also of Jerusalem ' princess among the provinces' (La 1'), and it is translated 'ladies' in Jg S^' and 'queens' in Is 49^.

2. nagld, 'one who is high, conspicuous, outstand-ing.' It is applied to the governor of the palace (2 Ch 28'), the keeper of the treasury (1 Ch 26*'), the chief of the Temple (1 Ch 9", 2 Ch Sl's); also to the chief of a tribe (2 Ch 19"), the son of a king (2 Ch \V^), the king himself (1 S 25™), the high priest (Du 9^5), and is occasionally in AV translated 'captain.'

3. nasi', 'one lifted up,' is applied to chiefs of tribes, princes of Ishmael (Gn 17""), to Abraham (23"), to Shechem (34"), to Sheshbazzar (Ezr l'). It is often used of the heads of the Israelitic tribes, and translated 'ruler' in AV. The word is frequently in Ezekiel used of kings of Judah and foreign princes, and is also applied to the future head of the ideal State (34'" etc.).

4. nadXb, 'willing,' 'a volunteer,' 'generous,' 'noble,' generally found in plur. and often translated 'nobles,' used of those of noble or princely birth (1 S 2», Ps 47" 107" etc.).

Other less frequent terms are mSsSfc 'installed,' pariemlm 'leading men,' qatmn 'judge,' shallsh 'officer,' 'captain,' aegcinlm 'deputies.' In Dn S"- 3. h g"- «• '■ the 'princes' of AV are Persian satraps, while in the names Rabshakeh, Rabsaris the prefix rab signifies 'chief,' as also tlie proper name Rezon (1 K 11"'), which occurs as a common noun (razSn) in Pr 14"'. We may also note that in Job 12i9 the word 'priests' (kshanlm) is wrongly rendered 'princes,' and in Ps 68" the word translated ' princes ' is not found in any other passage, the text being likely corrupt.

The NT terms are 1. archlgos, applied to Christ 'the Prince (author) of life' (Ac 3"), 'Prince and Saviour' (Ac 6"); so in He 2"' Jesus is 'the author (AV 'captain') of salvation' and in He 12" the 'author and finisher of our faith.' 2. archSn, used of Beelzebub (Mt %^ 12"*, iVIk 3""), of the princes of the Gentiles (Mt 20"S), the princes of this world (1 Co 2s- '), prince of the power of the air (Eph 2"), the Prince of the kings of the earth (Rev 1'). 3. hSgemSn, used of Bethlehem, 'not least among the princes of Judah' (Mt 2»).

W. F. Boyd.

FBISCA, PRISCILLA.— See Aquila and Priscilla.

PRISON. — Imprisonment, in the modern sense of strict confinement under guard, had no recognized place as a punishment for criminals under the older Hebrew legislation (see Crimes and Punishments, § 9). The first mention of such, with apparently legal sanction, is in the post-exilic passage Ezr 7"*. A prison, however, figures at an early period in the story of Joseph's fortunes in Egypt, and is denoted by an obscure expression, found only in this connexion, which means ' the Round House' (Gn 39"»- "« 40'- '). Some take the expression to signify a round tower used as a prison, others consider it ' the Hebraized form of an Egyptian word ' (see Driver, Com. in loc). Joseph had already found that a disused cistern was a convenient place of detention (Gn 37"^; see Pit). The same word (65r) is found in Ex 12"» and Jer 37" in the expression rendered by AV ' dungeon' and 'dungeon house' respectively; also alone in 38«, Zee 9".

The story of Jeremiah introduces us to a variety of other places of detention, no fewer than tour being named in 37"-", although one, and perhaps two, of these are later glosses. Rigorous imprisonment is implied by all the four. The first 'prison' of v." EV denotes literally 'the house of bonds,' almost identical with the Philistine 'prison house,' in which Samson was bound 'with fetters of brass' (Jg 16"'- ""). The second

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PROMISE

word rendered 'prison' in Jer 37>5 (also vv.*- " 52" and elsewhere) is a synonym meaning 'house of restraint.' The third is the 'dungeon house' above mentioned, while the fourth is a difficult term, rendered 'cabins' by AV, ' cells' by RV. It is regarded by textual students, however, as a gloss on the third term, as the first is on the second.

Jeremiah had already had experience of an irksome form of detention, when placed in the stocks (20"; cf. Ac 16"*), an instrument which, as the etymology shows, compelled the prisoner to sit in a crooked posture. 2 Ch 16'° mentions a ' house of the stocks ' (RVm ; EV 'prison house'), while Jer 29"' associates with the stocks (so RV for AV 'prison') an obscure instrument of punishment, variously rendered 'shackles' (RV), 'pillory' (Oa:/. Heb. Lex.), and 'collar' (Driver). The last of these is a favourite Chinese form of punishment.

In NT times Jewish prisons doubtless followed the Greek and Roman models. The prison into which John the Baptist was thrown (itft 14'- ") is said by Josephus to have been in the castle of MachEerus. The prison in which Peter and John were put by the Jewish authorities (Ac 4' AV 'hold,' RV 'ward') was doubtless the same as 'the public ward' of 5" RV (AV 'common prison'). St. Paul's experience of prisons was even more extensive than Jeremiah's (2 Co 6»), varying from the mild form of restraint implied in Ac 28", at Rome, to the severity of 'the inner prison' at Philippi (16"*), and the final horrors of the Mamertine dungeon.

For the crux interpretum, 1 P 3", see art. Descent INTO Hades. A. R. S. Kennedt.

PRIZE.— See Games.

PROCHORUS .—One of the ' Seven ' appointed (Ac 6=) .

PROCONSUL. — This was originally two words — pro consule, meaning a magistrate with the insignia and powers of a consul. When the kingship was abolished In Rome it gave place to a rule of two men, not called by the now detested name, but named prmtores ('generals') or consules ('colleagues'). As the Roman territory increased, men of praetorian or consular rank were required to govern the provinces (wh. see). During the Empire all governors of senatorial provinces were called proconsuls, whether they were ex-consuls and governed important provinces like Asia and Africa, or merely ex-praetors, like Gallio (Ac 18'" AV deputy), who governed a less important province, Achaia.

A. SOUTER.

PROCURATOR. — Originally a procurator was a steward of private property, who had charge of the slaves and his master's financial affairs. His im-portance depended on that of his master. Thus the Emperor's stewards were persons of consequence, and were sometimes trusted with the government of some less important Imperial provinces as well as with the Emperor's financial affairs in all provinces. They were of equestrian rank, like Theophilus, to whom the Third Gospel and Acts are addressed. The following were at different times procurators of Judasa: Pontius Pilate, Felix, and Pestus, called in NT by the compre-hensive term 'governors.' A. Souteb.

PROFANE. — 'To profane' is 'to make ceremonially unclean,' 'to make unholy.' And so a 'profane person' (He 12") is an 'ungodly person,' a person of common, coarse life, not merely of speech.

PROGNOSTICATOB.— See Magic Divination and Sorcery, and Stars.

PROMISE.— Although the OT is the record of God's promises to lowly saints and to anointed kings, to patriarchs and to prophets, to the nation of His choice and to the world at large, the word itself is rarely used in the EV, and less frequently in the RV than in the AV. The Heb. noun dabhar is generally rendered 'word,' but 'promise' is found in 1 K 8»», Neh 6'"'.