“O Rabbi, good Rabbi Joseph!” cried a woman, running to him. “Here is a prisoner; come ask the soldiers about him, that we may know who he is, and what he has done, and what they are going to do with him.”
The rabbi’s face remained stolid; he glanced at the prisoner, however, and presently went to the officer.
“The peace of the Lord be with you!” he said, with unbending gravity.
“And that of the gods with you,” the decurion replied.
“Are you from Jerusalem?”
“Yes.”
“Your prisoner is young.”
“In years, yes.”
“May I ask what he has done?”
“He is an assassin.”