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Wandering Jew, the
Wandering Jew, the, a Jew condemned to wander about the world until Christ's second coming because, according to the legend, as Christ bore the cross to Calvary the Jew chid him, and urged him to go faster.
A pamphlet was published in Leiden in 1602, relating that Paulus von Eizen, bishop of Schleswig, had in 1542 met a man named Ahasuerus, who declared that he was the Jew in question. The story, which had previously flourished in Spain and Italy, became popular, and many instances of the Wandering Jew are recorded from the 16th to the 19th cents. But a somewhat similar story is told much earlier by Roger of Wendover, in his Flores Historiarum. An Armenian archbishop visited England in 1228, and, while being entertained at St Albans, was asked if he had ever seen or heard of Joseph, who was present at the Crucifixion, and was said to be still alive, as a testimony to the Christian faith. The prelate replied that the man had recently dined at his own table. He had been Pontius Pilate's porter, by name Cartaphilus, who, when they were dragging Jesus from the Judgement Hall, had struck him on the back, saying, ‘Go faster, Jesus, why dost thou linger?’, to which Jesus replied, ‘I indeed am going, but thou shalt tarry till I come.’ This man had been converted soon after and named Joseph. He lived for ever, and was now a very grave and holy person. The legend of the Wandering Jew has been the subject of many German works; Goethe contemplated (but did not write) a poem on the subject of a meeting of Ahasuerus and Spinoza. There are elements of the story in Lewis's The Monk and Maturin's Melmoth the Wanderer, a ballad on the subject is in Percy's Reliques, and Croly wrote a version called Salathiel: A Story of the Past, the Present and the Future (1828), in which the Wanderer takes on a tragic nationalist grandeur. |
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MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Wandering Jew, the." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Wandering Jew, the." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-WanderingJewthe.html MARGARET DRABBLE and JENNY STRINGER. "Wandering Jew, the." The Concise Oxford Companion to English Literature. 2003. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O54-WanderingJewthe.html |
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The Wandering Jew
The Wandering JewA medieval German legend that takes several forms. Although writers and details differ, the essential features of the narratives that have been handed down to us are basically the same. The legend is that as Christ was being dragged on his way to Calvary, he passed the house of a Jew and stopped there, being weary under the weight of his cross. The Jew, however, inspired by the mob, would not allow him to rest there and drove him on. Jesus, looking at him, said, "I shall stand and rest, but thou shalt go till the last day." The Jew was compelled to wander over the Earth until this prophecy was fulfilled. The legend of the Wandering Jew is regarded as the epic of the Semite people in the Middle Ages. Unfortunately it has often become a vehicle for crude anti-Semitic propaganda and persecution. In some parts of Germany, the Wandering Jew theme has been identified with the wild huntsman myth, while in several French districts that mythical character is regarded as the wind of the night. This legend was treated in literary fashion by Eugène Sue in his novel Le Juif errant (10 vols., 1844-45) and by the British author George Croly in his novel Salathiel; A Story of the Past, The Present and The Future (1829). Something of the same atmosphere also pervades the legend of the Flying Dutchman. Sources:Barring-Gould, Sabine. Curious Myths of the Middle Ages. 1866-68. New Hyde Park, N.Y.: University Books, 1967. |
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"The Wandering Jew." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "The Wandering Jew." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403804777.html "The Wandering Jew." Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology. 2001. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1G2-3403804777.html |
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wandering Jew
wandering Jew a legendary person said to have been condemned by Christ to wander the earth until the second advent; according to a popular belief recorded from the 13th century and current at least until the 16th, he was said to have insulted Jesus on his way to the Cross. In the earliest versions of the story he is called Cartaphilus, but in the best-known modern version it is given as Ahasuerus.
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ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "wandering Jew." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "wandering Jew." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-wanderingJew.html ELIZABETH KNOWLES. "wandering Jew." The Oxford Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 2006. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O214-wanderingJew.html |
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Wandering Jew
Wandering Jew. Figure in a Christian legend of a Jew who, as a consequence of rejecting Jesus, is condemned never to die, but to wander homeless through the world until the Second Coming (Parousia) of Christ, or until his last descendant shall have died. When the last descendant dies, the Wandering Jew ‘attains the happiness of eternal sleep’.
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JOHN BOWKER. "Wandering Jew." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. JOHN BOWKER. "Wandering Jew." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-WanderingJew.html JOHN BOWKER. "Wandering Jew." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of World Religions. 1997. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O101-WanderingJew.html |
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Wandering Jew
Wandering Jew in literary and popular legend, a Jew who mocked or mistreated Jesus while he was on his way to the cross and who was condemned therefore to a life of wandering on earth until Judgment Day. The story of this wanderer was first recorded in the chronicles of Roger of Wendover and Matthew of Paris (13th cent.), but not until the early 17th cent. was he identified as a Jew. The story is common in Western Europe, but it presents marked national variations. Among the innumerable treatments of the subject is Shelley's Queen Mab. |
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"Wandering Jew." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. "Wandering Jew." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Wanderin.html "Wandering Jew." The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. 2011. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-Wanderin.html |
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Wandering Jew, the
Wandering Jew, the. A Jew who, according to legend, taunted Christ on His way to crucifixion and was doomed to wander over the earth until the Last Day. The legend appeared in a pamphlet published in 1602.
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E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Wandering Jew, the." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. 27 May. 2012 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>. E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Wandering Jew, the." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Encyclopedia.com. (May 27, 2012). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-WanderingJewthe.html E. A. LIVINGSTONE. "Wandering Jew, the." The Concise Oxford Dictionary of the Christian Church. 2000. Retrieved May 27, 2012 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O95-WanderingJewthe.html |
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