The Wandering Jew is a figure from medieval Christian mythology whose legend began to spread in Europe in the 13th century.
The original legend concerns a Jew who taunted Jesus on the way to the Crucifixion and was then cursed to walk the earth until the Second Coming. The exact nature of the wanderer's indiscretion varies in different versions of the tale, as do aspects of his character; sometimes he is said to be a shoemaker or other tradesman, while sometimes he is the doorman at Pontius Pilate's estate.
Read more about Wandering Jew: Name, In Ideology (19c. and After), On Stage, and In Other Media
Famous quotes containing the words wandering and/or jew:
“Crazed through much child-bearing
The moon is staggering in the sky;
Moon-struck by the despairing
Glances of her wandering eye
We grope, and grope in vain,
For children born of her pain.”
—William Butler Yeats (1865–1939)
“From the outset, the Christian was the theorizing Jew, the Jew is therefore the practical Christian, and the practical Christian has become a Jew again.”
—Karl Marx (1818–1883)