What were the conditions like in the prison where Paul and Silas were held?
They were placed in the inner prison, a dungeon below ground level, with their feet fastened in stocks. The place was wet, dank, and cold, with rats running everywhere. Their backs were like hamburger from many stripes, with no antibiotics or soothing salve.
After being beaten with many stripes—thirty-nine—each likely involving eight or nine leather thongs with bits of metal on the ends, Paul and Silas were cast into prison. Les explains that the jailer, charged to keep them safely, did not leave them on the ground floor but put them down in the dungeon, the inner prison below ground level, and made their feet fast in the stocks. Les describes the place as not very pretty, with rats running everywhere, wet and dank and cold; their backs were like hamburger, with no antibiotics and no soothing salve. Yet Paul and Silas sang in spite of their circumstances, which Les says is hard to comprehend but evidently is the grace of God.
Who, having received such a charge, thrust them into the inner prison, and made their feet fast in the stocks.
More Questions
Why did the jailer put Paul and Silas in the dungeon?
The jailer put Paul and Silas in the dungeon instead of the ground floor because he needed to keep them safely.