Kurtze beſchreibung vnd Erzehlung /
von einem Juden / mit Namen Ahaſverus:by Anonymous

Image 7

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transcript

wann der Name Jeſus Chriſtus genenet wor⸗ den / hab er ſich geneigt / an ſeine Bruſt geſchla⸗ gen / vnd ſehr tieff geſeufftzet: vnd hab kein an⸗ dere Kleidung angehabt / in demſelbigen harten Winter / als ein par Hoſen / die an den Füſſen durch geweſen / ein Rock biß an die Knie: vnnd darüber ein Mantel / biß auff die Füß / ſonſten ſey er Alters halben anzuſehen geweſen / als ein Mann von 50. Jahren vngefährlich / als er nun ſich wegen ſeiner groſſen geſtalt / Kleydung vnd Geberden vber jhme verwundert: hab er nach jhme / wer er were / vnd was ſein gelegenheit ſeye / geforſchet / da hatt man jhn berichtet: Das der⸗ ſelbige ſich nun den Winter vber etliche Wochen lang daſelbſten auffgehalten: vnd von ſich auß⸗ geben das er ein geborner Jud von Jeruſalem / mit ſeinem Namen Ahaſverus vnd ſeines Handt⸗ wercks ein Schuhmacher / auch bey der Kreutzi⸗ gung Chriſti ſelbs Perſönlich geweſen / vnd ſeit hero im leben geblieben: vnd durch viel lender ge⸗ reiſet ſeie / wie er dann zu beſtetigung deſſen viel vmbſtändt / ſo ſich mit CHRISTO nach dem er gefangen / vnd für Pilatum geführt / darnach für Herodẽ / auch biß er entlich gecreutziget wor⸗ den / zugetragen / von dem / weder die Evange⸗ liſten noch Hiſtoriſchreiber meldung thun: Deß⸗

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English
translation

—the name Jesus Christ was spoken: then he bowed, struck his breast, and sighed very deeply. In that same harsh winter he wore no other clothing than a pair of trousers worn through at the feet, a coat reaching to the knees, and over it a cloak reaching to his feet. From his appearance he seemed to be approximately fifty years old.

Because Eitzen wondered at his great stature, clothing, and behavior, he inquired who the man was and what his circumstances were. He was told that the man had been staying there for several weeks that winter and represented himself as a Jew born in Jerusalem, named Ahasuerus, a shoemaker by trade. He said that he had himself been personally present at Christ’s crucifixion, had remained alive ever since, and had traveled through many countries. To confirm this, he related many circumstances concerning what happened to CHRIST after he was captured and brought before Pilate, then before Herod, and finally crucified—matters mentioned by neither the evangelists nor the historians. Likewise—

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Analysis

The narrator reports that others identified the man as Ahasuerus, a Jew from ירושלים YERUŜALAYIM and a shoemaker. The story claims he saw Jesus’s crucifixion and knew details outside the Gospels. This is a Christian legend that makes an imagined Jew an eyewitness to Jesus’s death. It does not establish a Jewish participant or an unwritten history of the crucifixion. The last word continues through a catchword to image 8.