Now, back to business: Judas, according to legend, hung himself. In the first instance, Benjamin is a reference to the Wandering Jew:
Lurking in the background of this tale is the Medieval legend of the "Wandering Jew." According to this legend (unsupported by anything in the Bible, but widely told), when Christ was carrying his cross to the place of crucifixion, he paused to rest at the threshold of a house. Its owner roughly told him to move on. Jesus sadly replied, "You move on too, until I return." The householder was forced to wander about the earth, undying, regretting his cruelty to the Savior, until Christ should return at the last judgment. Although this mysterious figure shares certain features with the Wandering Jew, Miller is no antisemite. What qualities characterize this character?
wsu.edu:8080/~brians/science_fiction/canticle.html
However,the Wandering Jew legend conflated several legends:
Where and how did the legend originate?
This is actually a really interesting subject in and of itself. The first thing to know is that there are literally tons of literary precedents to the Wandering Jew. However, he seems to have mainly developed from the merging of two separate traditions. In one, immortality is a blessing and a reward, but in the other, it is a curse and punishment. The earlier of the two is the Christian story, Matthew 16:28, of the "disciple (traditionally John) to whom Jesus promised: 'There be some standing here, which shall not taste of death, till they see the Son of man coming in his kingdom" (Bushnell, pg. 452 of Studies in Philology, vol. 28, published 1931). The slightly later, but far more influential, parallel to the story is the legend of a Roman man, identified as Malchus, who struck Jesus in John 18:20-22 and thereafter received exactly the same gift, but as a curse. G. K. Anderson mentions that there is some question as to whether this is actually the same Malchus whose ear was cut off in John 18:4-10, but he declines to answer question positively. He does note, however, that "the inscrutable process, known to folklorists as the law of transposition, decreed that the two men should be identified as one" (Anderson, pg. 12 of The Legend of the Wandering Jew.)
These two myths fused with numerous other legends, such as the Biblical story of Cain and the Koran's tale of Sameri the Sameritan (if you haven't read the Koran or don't remember, Sameri is the one who was cursed by Moses to wander forever because he helped make the golden calf). When all these tales coalesced, a singularly enduring myth, that of the Wandering Jew, was formed.
One of the interpretations of the Biblical passage was that the one who would not taste death was Lazarus.
geocities.com
None of the common names for the Wandering Jew are used, but Eleazar, which is Hebrew for Lazarus, is:
What is his name?
The Wandering Jew goes by a bewilderingly wide assortment of names. The three most common appellations are Malchus, Cartaphilus and Ahasuerus (or Ahasverus).
geocities.com
"Come forth" Benjamin is referring to the story of Lazarus in John 11:1-44. What does he mean by alluding to this passage? Fiat Lux, chapter 16
Latzar shemi "My name is Lazarus" (Hebrew).Fiat Voluntas Tua, chapter 25
wsu.edu:8080/~brians/science_fiction/canticle.html
Also, as mentioned in an earlier post, there is a passage where some girls chant or sing about how Lazarus, having been raised from the dead, stays raised....... |
