H5470 H5470
Prison, round house; the specific Egyptian-style prison where Joseph was confined.
A noun occurring exclusively in the Joseph narrative (Gen 39-40) to designate the prison where Joseph was incarcerated after being falsely accused by Potiphar's wife. The full expression is bet ha-sohar ('house of the sohar'), possibly derived from an Egyptian loanword meaning 'round house' or 'enclosure.' Every occurrence falls within the tight narrative span of Genesis 39:20-40:5, and the multilingual translations are perfectly uniform -- Spanish la-prision, French la-prison, German des-Gefangnisses -- confirming a single, unambiguous referent.
Senses
1. sense 1 — The prison or round house where Joseph was confined in Egypt, used only in the compound expression bet ha-sohar ('house of the sohar'). All eight occurrences cluster in Genesis 39:20-40:5, describing the place where Potiphar put Joseph, where YHWH showed him steadfast love, and where the chief cupbearer and baker were later confined alongside him. The term may reflect an Egyptian architectural loanword Hebraized into the narrative. The complete uniformity of translations across languages (la-prision, la-prison, des-Gefangnisses) confirms this is a single concrete referent with no metaphorical extension. 8×
AR["الْ-سِّجْنِ"]·ben["কারাগারের"]·DE["des-Gefängnisses"]·EN["the-prison"]·FR["la-prison"]·heb["ה-סהר"]·HI["बंदीगृह-का", "बंदीगृह-के"]·ID["penjara"]·IT["il-prison"]·jav["pakunjaran-punika"]·KO["감옥의"]·PT["a-prisão"]·RU["темницы"]·ES["la-prisión"]·SW["-gereza", "kuona", "mtaka-mkono-wa", "wanafanya", "ya-gerezani"]·TR["-zindanın"]·urd["قید-کے", "قید-کے-تھے"]
Related Senses
H1129 1. Qal: build, construct (316×)H2691a 1. court, courtyard, enclosure (142×)G4864 1. synagogue, place of Jewish assembly (56×)G5438 1. prison, place of confinement (41×)H4013 1. fortress, stronghold (37×)H0875 1. well, cistern (dug water source) (35×)H0352b 1. pillar or jamb of gateway (32×)H2474 1. window, opening in wall (32×)H1406 1. roof / rooftop (31×)H4609b 1. steps, stairs, stairway (31×)H1129 2. Nifal: be built, be established (30×)H0361 1. portico, porch (architectural structure) (27×)H1129 3. Qal participle: builder (27×)H1219 1. fortified, inaccessible (25×)H4581 1. fortress, stronghold (25×)H3805 1. capital of a pillar (24×)H4350 1. stand, base, pedestal (24×)H0759 1. palace, royal residence (21×)H4692 1. siege, besiegement (20×)G3618 1. build or construct physically (19×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† סֹ֫הַר n.[m.] roundness (?);—only in בֵּית הַסּ׳ Gn 39:20(×2), 21, 22, 23 (all J), 40:3, 5 (RJ), the round house (name of a prison: but ס׳ perhaps an Egyptian word Hebraized, cf. Dr in HastingsDB ii. 768 n. and EbÄgM 318f.).