WANDERING JEW. I am so well persuaded, that every thing that is reported of the Wandering Jew is fabulous, that I should not think him worth speaking of in this place, if I did not know, that there were still some people so simple as to believe something of the story. The example of Enoch and Elijah, who are still living, and are thought to dwell in some private place on earth; the persuasion of the Jews, who believe the Prophet Elijah to be invisibly present at the ceremony of circumcising Modena, part. 4. c. 8.their children; the words of Jesus Christ in the Gospel, who speaking to St. John the Evangelist, says, If I will Joh. xvi. 21,22,23.that he stay till I come, what is that to thee, follow thou me; which many of the Ancients and some Moderns have understood, as if our Saviour had promised this Apostle, that he should not die till the day of Judgment: these several considerations induce them to believe that there really is D’Herbelot, Bibl. Orient. p. 932. Zerid.a Wandering Jew.
They call the Mahometan Authors to their assistance, who relate, that in the sixteenth year of the Hegira, a Captain, named Fadhila, who commanded three hundred horse, being arrived with his Troop about the close of day between two Mountains, and having began evening prayer in a loud voice with these words, God is Great, he heard a voice repeating the same words, and continuing to pronounce the whole prayer with him to the end. Fadhila at first suspected that this was an echo, but observing that the voice repeated distinctly and intirely all his words, he said, O Thou who answerest me, if thou art of the Order of Angels, the power of God be with thee; if thou art of another kind of Spirits, well and good; if thou art a man as I am, appear before my eyes. He had no sooner ended these words, than an old man with a bald head and a staff in his hand, having the air of a Dervise, immediately presented himself before him.
After they had saluted one another civilly, Fadhila asked the old man who he was: he answered, that he was called Zerib, son to the son of Elijah; and added, I am here by order from Jesus Christ, who left me in this world, that I might live there till he came a second time on earth. I wait therefore for this Lord who is the source of all happiness, and I dwell, according to his directions, behind this Mountain. Fadhila asked him at what time the Lord Jesus was to appear: he answered, at the end of the world, and at the day of Judgement. And what are the marks, said he again, of the near approach of this day? Zerib then told him with the tone of a Prophet, that when men and women should couple together without distinction of sex; when the abundance of provisions should not lessen the price of them; when the blood of the innocent should be shed, and the poor should beg alms without receiving any; when charity should be extinct, the Scripture should be turned into ballads, the Churches dedicated to the true God be filled with idols; then know that the day of Judgement will be near. He had no sooner ended these words, but he disappeared.
But let us come to the Wandering Jew. The story of him is related with some diversity. Matthew Paris, under the year 1229, tells us, that an Armenian Prelate came at that time into England with letters of recommendation from the Pope, wherein he desired the Prelates to let this foreign Archbishop see the principal relicks of the country, and to shew him in what manner God was served in the Churches of England. Paris, who was then living, says, that many persons upon several occasions examined this Archbishop, and asked him news of the Wandering Jew, who was in the East, and proposed divers questions to him with relation to this man; as whether he were still living, who he was, and what he said of himself.
The Prelate affirmed, that this Jew was in Armenia; and one of the Officers of his retinue said, that he was Pilate’s porter, named Cataphilus, who seeing Jesus Christ dragg’d out of the Judgement-hall, gave him a blow with his fist upon the back, in order to push him out the quicker; where upon Jesus Christ said to him, The Son of Man is going, but thou shalt wait till he come. The porter was converted, and baptized by Ananias, and called Joseph; that he had lived ever since, and that when he came to the age of an hundred, he fell sick, and into a swoon, during which he grew young again, and returned to thirty years of age, he being just so old when Jesus Christ died.
This Officer farther assured them, that Joseph was known to his master, that he had seen him eat at his table a little before he came away: that he answered with great gravity and without a smile, as often as he was asked concerning ancient facts; for example, concerning the resurrection of those dead persons, who rose out of their graves when Jesus Christ was crucified; concerning the history of the Apostles, and other holy persons of antiquity. He was always afraid of Jesus Christ’s coming to judge the world, because then he was to die. The fault which he committed in striking Jesus made him tremble; nevertheless he hoped continually for pardon, because he sinned through ignorance1. There have appeared from time to time such impostors, who taking the advantage of, or rather abusing the credulity of the people, have given themselves out to be the Wandering Jew, and with the benefit of some knowledge in ancient History, and the oriental Languages, have persuaded the simple, that they really were this pretended person. There was one appeared at Hamburg in 15472. A certain Christian affirms that he saw him there, and saw him preach in a church of that city: he seemed to be a man of about fifty years of age, of an advantageous stature, wearing long hair spread over his shoulders: he often sighed, which was imputed to his grief for the fault he had committed. He said that at the time of our Saviour’s Passion, he was a shoemaker at Jerusalem, and dwelt near the gate through which Jesus Christ was to pass in his way to Calvary. He was a Jew, and called Ahasuerus; Jesus finding himself fatigued, would have rested upon his stall, but Ahasuerus struck him, whereupon he said, I will rest me here, but thou shalt run up and down till I come. Accordingly he began to run from that moment, followed Jesus Christ, and has wandered ever since.
There was another appeared in England not many years ago. I have a manuscript letter written from London by Madam de Mazarin to Madam de Bouillon, wherein we read, that there is a man in this country who pretends to have lived above seventeen hundred years. He affirms that he was an Officer of the Divan in Jerusalem at the time of Jesus Christ’s being condemned by Pontius Pilate: that he thrust our Saviour rudely out of the Judge-ment-hall, with these words, Go, get you gone out; why dost thou stay here? that Jesus Christ answered him, I am going; but thou shalt walk up and down till my coming. He remembers that he had seen all the Apostles, and has not forgotten the features of their faces, their hair, and dress. He has travelled into all the countries in the world, and must wander up and down till the consummation of ages: he boasts of curing the sick by touching them; he speaks several languages; he gives such an exact account of every thing that has passed in all ages, that they who hear him, don’t know what to think of him. The two Universities have sent their Doctors to converse with him; but with all their learning, they have not been able to surprize him in any contradictions.
A Gentleman of great learning talked to him in Arabic, whom he answered immediately in the same language, telling him, that there was scarce any one history in the world true. The Gentleman asked him what he thought of Mahomet. I knew his father, said he to him, very particularly at Ormus in Persia; and for Mahomet, he was a man of very good understanding, but nevertheless liable to mistakes, like other men; and one of his principal errors is his denying Jesus Christ to have been crucified; for I was by, said he, and with my own eyes saw him nailed to the cross. He told this Gentleman, that he was at Rome when Nero ordered it to be burnt; that he likewise saw Saladin at his return from his conquests in the Levant; he mentioned abundance of particulars about Soliman the Magnificent. He was likewise acquainted with Tamerlane, Bajazet, Eterlan, and is very particular in his account of the wars in the Holy Land. He gives out, that he will be in a few days at London; where he will satisfy the curiosity of those who shall apply to him.
This is the import of the letter whereof I have been speaking. It says farther, that common people, and some other weak persons, believe him to have wrought many miracles, but that men of sense look upon him as an impostor: and this without doubt is the judgement we should make of him, and of all others who shall have the same presumption.
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