Doras, the cruel master
"He owns the best fields in Israel… but I can assure You: they are fertilised by the blood and tears of his servants."[2]However, Jesus blesses his lands to spare the peasants from heavy labors.[3] The harvests are then abundant. Despite this, Doras beats his servants because the harvests of previous years were not as good. This cruel man causes his servant Jonah to become his slave, as well as many of his other servants, through subtle and dishonest tricks:
"«Doras, and he is not the only one in Israel, is used to doing this: when he sees a good servant, he makes him a slave by subtle cunning. He debits him with false amounts of money, which the poor man cannot pay, and when the sum is sufficient he says: 'You are my slave by debt'.»«Oh! What a shame! And he is a Pharisee!»
«Yes, as long as Jonah had some savings, he was able to pay… then… one year there was a hailstorm, the next year a drought. Corn and vineyards yielded little and Doras multiplied the damage tenfold, and tenfold again… Then Jonah was taken ill through excessive fatigue. And Doras lent him the money for the cure, but he multiplied repayment twelve to one, and as Jonah could not pay, he added it to the rest. In short: after a few years there was a debt that made him a slave. And he will not let him go… He will always find other excuses and other debts…»"[4]
Despite his abundant harvests following Jesus’s blessing, Doras knowingly deceives him when he comes to redeem old Jonah.[5] After several serious lies, including one in the name of God (perjury), his lands are then cursed by Jesus.
Doras goes to the Baptist to have the anathema removed. He is harshly rejected and sent back to Jesus, then at the "Clear Water"."Now if He cures me and withdraws His anathema from my land, which armies of moles, worms and cricket-moles are digging up like war machines, eating the seed and gnawing away at the roots of fruit trees and vines, and nothing can destroy them, I will become His friend. Otherwise… woe to Him!"[6]Doras will publicly die under dramatic circumstances at Clear Water,[7] "struck down, like Nadab and Abihu, by the fire of divine wrath".[8]
Character and Appearance
"Mocking, cruel, impious jackal", says Lazarus, forced to negotiate Jonah's freedom.[9]"An old man with the hard profile of a rapacious person. Ironic eyes, a serpent’s mouth wriggling a false smile in a beard more white than black. [...] small, slightly bent [...], wrinkled in a garment strikingly wide and rich in fringes."[10]
Apostolic Journey
Jesus gives a spiritual portrait of him during his preaching the day after his violent death, on the theme "Do not put the Lord your God to the test".[11] The dramatic circumstances of his death stir up the fear and resentment of the Pharisees.[12] This will cause the first proscription against Jesus, who will expel him from Clear Water after his first year of public life.[13] His son Doras will take up his father’s implacable hatred for Jesus.
Where is he mentioned in the work?
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