Wandering Jew
- noun
- /ˈwɒndərɪŋ dʒuː/
- Slur
:
Judío errante (término ofensivo)
- Hawthorne's depiction of the Model in The Marble Faun evokes one of the variations of the Wandering Jew.
Examples
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In many legends, the Wandering Jew is said to roam the Earth, searching for redemption after his actions during the Crucifixion.
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I am brother to the Wandering Jew, the Flying Dutchman, and Marley's Ghost.
Fiction book (2001) -
He's a Wandering Jew.
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The Wandering Jew was a figure, too, through which Hawthorne could link his work to the gothicists and the Romantics.
Academic text (2012) -
The theme of sexual thralldom that Hawthorne develops in this novel stems from his gothic figuring of the Wandering Jew.
Academic text (2012) -
The story of the Wandering Jew illustrates the consequences of mocking faith during pivotal moments in history.
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Throughout literature, the Wandering Jew symbolizes eternal wandering and the burden of unending life.
Surface Forms
Morphology
The components 'wandering' and 'Jew' transparently yield the literal idea of a Jewish person who wanders, so a B1 learner would grasp a basic sense of a wandering Jewish individual. However, the phrase refers to a specific Christian folklore figure with cultural and historical connotations (a cursed, eternally wandering person) that cannot be inferred from the words alone, so the full meaning requires prior cultural knowledge.
Etymology
Wandering Jew comes from an old Christian story. One popular story says a man insulted Jesus on the way to the cross and was cursed to walk the earth until the Second Coming. That's why the term brings to mind someone who 'never settles' and 'keeps wandering'.
