The New Student's Reference Work/Wandering Jew

Wan′dering Jew, the name given to the hero of a popular legend. In one story he belonged to the tribe of Naphtali and went with the three wise men from the east to Bethlehem and his stories of the adoration of the infant were the cause of Herod's slaying the children of that region. As a carpenter, he was making the cross for Christ, when He passed on His way to Calvary, and refused Him rest. Christ bade him wander through the earth, without rest, till His second coming, which he has done ever since, seeking death in vain—so runs the legend. In another form of the story, he was a shoemaker at his bench, whereon he refused the Saviour permission to rest. The legend appeared first in the Chronicle of Matthew of Paris, and many poems and novels have been based on it, notably The Wandering Jew by Eugene Sue. It has also been the subject of illustrations, among the finest being those by Gustave Doré.