Ishmael Ben Fabi
He is said to be the most ruthless master in the region: he oppresses his servants, has cruel demands, lends at usury, and loves only himself.
He drives out Mary and Matthias, young hungry orphans: "The street is the place for starving dogs" he shouts at them.[1] Jesus takes them in.[2] They are later adopted by Johanna of Chuza.[3]
He is "one of the leaders of the Pharisees", according to Luke,[4] at whose house Jesus goes to lunch near Maggedo.
In his fifties and rather short, Maria Valtorta describes him as a "Sadducee", a term here indicating his belonging to the chamber of the great priests. Like the guests Eleazar ben Boëthos and Hananiah, he sees in Jesus's growing reputation a way to conquer the royalty of Israel. Jesus corrects them, his kingdom is not of this world.[5]
In response to the title of "merciful" they attribute to one another, Jesus heals the dropsical man even though it is the Sabbath. The sanhedrists are outraged.[6]
Then Jesus says to Ishmael:"«[...] But you had two orphans who belonged to you. They were the children of two faithful servants of yours, who died working for you, the man with a sickle in his hand, the woman killed by too much work, because she had to serve you both for herself and for her husband, as you exacted from her, in order to keep her. In fact you said: “I made the agreement for the work of two people and if you want to stay here, I want your work and the work of your dead husband”. And she gave you that and died with the child she had conceived. Because that woman was a mother. And for her there was not even the compassion one feels for an animal about to give birth to its little one. Where are those two children now?»At the next Passover, with other enemies of the Lord, Ishmael protests his observance of the law.[9] In response, Jesus quotes Scripture to him:«I don’t know… They disappeared one day.»
«Do not tell lies now. It is enough to have been cruel. [...]
«I know. I found them one cold, wet, dark November evening. I found them starving and shivering, near a house, like two little dogs looking for a mouthful of bread…[7] Cursed and expelled by a man with the entrails of a dog, but who was worse than a dog, because a dog would have felt pity for those two little orphans. But you and that man did not feel any. Their parents were no longer of any use to you, is that right? They were dead. [...] Perhaps the girl might have been able to glean… And you drove them away and denied them also the few things, which belonged to their father and mother. They might have died of starvation and cold, like two dogs on a cart-road. They might have lived, becoming one a thief and the other a prostitute. Because starvation leads to sin. But what did it matter to you? [...]»"[8]
"The bread of the needy is the life of the poor, and he who takes it away from them is a murderer".[10]Ishmael is one of those with whom Judas conspires.[11] At the trial of Jesus, he brings the accusation: Jesus healed a sick person on a Sabbath day.[12]
His Name
Ismael (Ishmael) means "God hears". Historical reference: the son Abraham had with Hagar, the Egyptian servant. This Ishmael was supplanted by Isaac.
Where is he mentioned in the work?
GRM 298 GRM 299GRM 334 GRM 335 GRM 362 GRM 373
GRM 604
Learn More About This Character
Maggedo is known in the Apocalypse under the name Harmagedon, "the mountain of Megiddo".[13]
Ishmael, son of Phiabi, was high priest from 15 to 16, under Valerius Gratus[14] His son, Ishmael II, also was from 55 to 61.
According to the Talmud, his excessive penchant for effeminate luxury was the scandal of his time.[15]
Notes and references
- ↑ GRM 298.3
- ↑ GRM 298.2-6
- ↑ GRM 299.3-8
- ↑ Luc 14,1-6
- ↑ John 18,36
- ↑ GRM 335.12-13
- ↑ GRM 298.2
- ↑ GRM 335.14
- ↑ GRM 373.5
- ↑ Sirach 34,24-27
- ↑ GRM 423
- ↑ GRM 604.11
- ↑ Ap 16,16
- ↑ Flavius Josephus, Jewish Antiquities, 18.2.2, 34; 20,8 and 11.
- ↑ Babylonian Talmud, Passover feast, folio 57, verso.