Ben Hur, the novel, part 16

We’re in Book IV of Ben Hur. I have said that there’s no benefit to either Arrius or Judah for the one to adopt the other; it was a plot device to make Judah rich because it takes a rich man to work the un-Jewish vengeance that Wallace wants Judah to wreak on Messala.

Skipping chapter 2 and going to chapter 3. When a Jew holding the exclusive services contract on another Jew dies, the contract expires. Even if Simonides signed on for the extra term, he is not Judah’s slave. If he had been a non-Jew when he signed the contract, he would have received cash for agreeing to circumcision, making him nominally Jewish. If Judah is asking whether Simonides is still his slave, then Ithamar did not leave a will that bequeathed Simonides to Judah, who would have known it from the will. So Judah can’t demand all that Simonides owns.

In chapter 4 Simonides misrepresents his own status. No Jew can be bound to serve forever.

The important thing in this chapter is that we learn Ithamar died 10 years before Judah’s arrest. A guardian for the estate would have been named in the will, to cover the 2 years until Judah became bar mitsvah. This guardian would have seen to Judah’s education in both business and culture – and Simonides not being bequeathed to Judah (etc.), he became free at that moment.

Chapter 5 is a throw-away. In chapter 6 we get another misrepresentation. Being born in Jerusalem did not mean you were a Jew. You could be a Roman, a Greek, a Syrian, an Egyptian, an Arab, or any other nationality by parentage and they would raise you in their culture.

Chapters 7 through 17 bring together the characters Wallace needs for the rest of the book and now we are up to Book V.