Genesis 39:20

39:20 Joseph’s master took him and threw him into the prison, ¹  the place where the king’s prisoners were confined. So he was there in the prison. ² 

Genesis 40:15

40:15 for I really was kidnapped ³  from the land of the Hebrews and I have done nothing wrong here for which they should put me in a dungeon.”

Acts 16:24

16:24 Receiving such orders, he threw them in the inner cell ⁴  and fastened their feet in the stocks. ⁵ 

[39:20]  ¹ tn Heb “the house of roundness,” suggesting that the prison might have been a fortress or citadel.

[39:20]  ² sn The story of Joseph is filled with cycles and repetition: He has two dreams (chap. 37), he interprets two dreams in prison (chap. 40) and the two dreams of Pharaoh (chap. 41), his brothers make two trips to see him (chaps. 42-43), and here, for the second time (see 37:24), he is imprisoned for no good reason, with only his coat being used as evidence. For further discussion see H. Jacobsen, “A Legal Note on Potiphar’s Wife,” HTR 69 (1976): 177.

[40:15]  ³ tn The verb גָּנַב (ganav) means “to steal,” but in the Piel/Pual stem “to steal away.” The idea of “kidnap” would be closer to the sense, meaning he was stolen and carried off. The preceding infinitive absolute underscores the point Joseph is making.

[16:24]  ⁴ tn Or “prison.”

[16:24]  ⁵ tn L&N 6.21 has “stocks” for εἰς τὸ ξύλον (ei" to xulon) here, as does BDAG 685 s.v. ξύλον 2.b. However, it is also possible (as mentioned in L&N 18.12) that this does not mean “stocks” but a block of wood (a log or wooden column) in the prison to which prisoners’ feet were chained or tied. Such a possibility is suggested by v. 26, where the “bonds” (“chains”?) of the prisoners loosened.