Moby-Dick Questions Ch. 71: Each of the other meetings with other ships

Each of the other meetings with other ships reflects in some way upon the situation aboard the Pequod, presenting either an alternative course of action, or an omen or foreshadowing.  Does the Jeroboam’s story offer a lesson for the Pequod?  Who was the biblical Jeroboam?  (See 1 Kings 11-14).  In Christianity, Gabriel is an archangel whose main function is to deliver messages from God.  What messages does Melville’s Gabriel deliver to Ahab?  How would you compare Gabriel to Elijah (from the beginning of the novel)?  What similar warning do both deliver?  And how would you compare Gabriel to Ahab, and why does Gabriel call Ahab’s quest “blasphemy,” echoing Starbuck’s using “blasphemy in ch. 36.  How does the nature of Macey’s death affect your understanding of Moby Dick?