Shalem
This grandson of Nahoum, the trusted man of the high priest, was born deformed. His father, Anna, chases him away along with his mother, who dies from it. She was the one who gave him the nickname Shalem, an affectionate diminutive of Methuselah, but also a play on the word shalem (shalom), Peace.
Shalem cannot stay with the steward John and Mary, with whom he found refuge, and who die in turn. Despite the affection of their servants, Michel, Isaac, Esther, and Judith, he is forced to return to his father, who has remarried in the meantime.
Anna, who does not want to hear about this deformed son, entrusts him to Josias, a steward from the surroundings of Jerusalem, who mistreats him.
Shalem comes to see Jesus to ask him to die.[1] He will take him in and heal him by giving this gesture a dimension of teaching. Indeed, this child is the rejected son of one of his Enemies and this miracle will make him even more hateful (as emphasized by Judas). Jesus explains:
"True justice acts neither by vengeance nor with partiality."[2]"I do not perform miracles to make friends, but out of pity for the creatures and to give honor to my Father. I do not make distinctions nor calculations, ever, when I stoop with pity over a misery human. I do not avenge myself on the one who persecutes me..."[3]
Character and Appearance
This child in torn clothes is rachitic: a deformed body, one shoulder higher than the other, a prominent chest. His head is sunk into his shoulders due to the beginning of a hump (gibbosity), and his legs are splayed in an unsteady gait. His pale face is sickly and uneven, where only bright and lively eyes shine. He may be older (ten years) than his size suggests, which is that of a child about six years old, while his small face is already that of a man, somewhat faded, with a prominent chin, almost the face of a little old man.
His sole charm is his hazel, large, intelligent eyes.
Apostolic Journey
Witness of Jesus' resurrection.[4]
His Name
Methuselah, Matusalem, Metuschélah, Métusélah, Methushélah, Metushèlah, Metoushèlah. Either the Greek form of the Hebrew Mathouchélah, "the man of Chelah," or a name meaning "man of the javelin." Historical reference: a patriarch, son of Enoch who would have reached an Age unmatched by any other.
Where is he mentioned in the Work?
EMV 583 EMV 584 EMV 586
EMV 636