The people repeated the word in astonishment, but Rabbi Joseph pursued his inquest.
“Is he a son of Israel?”
“He is a Jew,” said the Roman, dryly.
The wavering pity of the bystanders came back.
“I know nothing of your tribes, but can speak of his family,” the speaker continued. “You may have heard of a prince of Jerusalem named Hur—Ben-Hur, they called him. He lived in Herod’s day.”
“I have seen him,” Joseph said.
“Well, this is his son.”
Exclamations became general, and the decurion hastened to stop them.
“In the streets of Jerusalem, day before yesterday, he nearly killed the noble Gratus by flinging a tile upon his head from the roof of a palace—his father’s, I believe.”
There was a pause in the conversation during which the Nazarenes gazed at the young Ben-Hur as at a wild beast.