Schreiben eines reisenden Juden aus der Vorzeit (a letter from a certain travelling Jew in ancient times) is a German-language pseudo-history featuring Jesus of Nazareth, written by Johann Heinrich Jung-Stilling, perhaps first published in the Taschenbuch für Freunde des Christenthums, 3 (1807), 126-60. It appeared again soon after in Stilling's 1814 Erzählungen.Heinrich Jung, genannt Stilling, Erzählungen, 2 vols (Frankfurt am Mein: Hermann, 1814). The text circulated widely in chapbooks in translation into other Germanic languages.P. O. Bäckström, folkböcker: Sagor, legender och äfventyr, efter äldre upplagor och andra källor utgifne jemte öfversigt af svensk folkläsning från äldre till närvarande t id, 2 vols (Stockholm: Bohlin, 1845-48), II, 'Öfversigt af svenska folk-literaturen', p. 104.
Summary
The text purports to be a letter from a travelling Jew to his rabbi, Aaron, written during the life of Jesus of Nazareth. The traveller meets various characters from the Gospels and is an eyewitness to a number of Jesus's miracles and crucifixion. He enthuses about Jesus and his teachings.
Translations Dutch A complete translation of Stilling's Erzählungen, including Schreiben eines reisenden Juden aus der Vorzeit, was published in Dutch in 1816.Heinrich Jung, genoemd Stilling, 'Brief van eenen reizenden jood uit vroegeren tijd', in Verhalen (Dordrecht: Blusse & Zoon, 1816), pp. 186-211.
Danish and Norwegian The Danish text was printed as Et brev fra en reisende Jøde i Fortiden, da Christus omvandrede her paa Jorden, i hvilket han underretter sin Mester i Nederlandene om sin inderlige Længsel, samt om de vigtigste Tildragelser paa hans Reiser, og skildrer sin Glæde over at have seet og talt med Messias, sammenlignet med det hele sammentagne Guds Ord. Efter et gammelt Manuskript ('a letter from a travelling Jew in ancient times, when Christ wandered here on the Earth, in which he informs his master in the Netherlands about his inner yearning, along with the principal incidents of his journeys, and describes his joy at having seen and talked with the Messiah, as compared with the whole, collected Word of God. According to an old manuscript') in Copenhagen by Ditlewsen in 1833.Almindeligt Dansk-Norsk forlagscatalog / Catalogus Librorum in Dania & Norvegia (Kjøbenhavn: Forlagsforeningen, 1841), p. 22.P. O. Bäckström, folkböcker: Sagor, legender och äfventyr, efter äldre upplagor och andra källor utgifne jemte öfversigt af svensk folkläsning från äldre till närvarande t id, 2 vols (Stockholm: Bohlin, 1845-48), II, 'Öfversigt af svenska folk-literaturen', p. 104. A second edition was published by the same press in 1850.https://archive.org/details/etbrevskrevetfra00jung.
A reprint of the Danish text was published in Stavanger in 1874 by S. Asbjørnsen.
Swedish A Swedish translation was printed as En resande Judes Bref från forntiden. Öfwersättning ('a travelling Jew's letter from ancient times. A translation'; Linköping, 1836), followed by an 1844 edition from Ekesjö, printed by A. Nilsson, entitled Ett märkwärdigt Bref om Jesus af Nazareth, skrifwet af en resande Jude till en af hans wänner, i den tid Frälsaren wandrade i Judiska landet till menniskoslägtets omwändelse ('a remarkable letter about Jesus of Nazareth, written by a travelling Jew to one of his friends, in the time when the Saviour wandered in the Jewish land for the conversion of the human race).P. O. Bäckström, Svenska folkböcker: Sagor, legender och äfventyr, efter äldre upplagor och andra källor utgifne jemte öfversigt af svensk folkläsning från äldre till närvarande tid, 2 vols (Stockholm: Bohlin, 1845-48), II, 'Öfversigt af svenska folk-literaturen', p. 104. A version with the 1836 title was reprinted in Köping in 1876.
Icelandic
The Icelandic version survives in manuscript form, usually under the title Sendibréf frá einum reisandi Gyðingi í fornöld.The following list is based on the indices to Páll Eggert Ólason and others, Handritasafn Landsbókasafns, 7 vols (Reykjavík: Félagsprentsmiðjun/Landsbókasafn Íslands, 1947-1996), vol. 3.2 p. 365 and aukabindi 3, p. 183 (where it appears under §III, 'Guðfræði'). These do not, however, identify all examples of the text in the manuscripts catalogued, and the list also includes examples identified using handrit.is and A Catalogue of the Icelandic Collection (Leeds: The Library, 1978).
+PlaceCall noSole text in MS?MS place (if known)MS date (if known)Scribe(s) of MSCatalogue link (if available)Reykjavík, National Library of IcelandÍB 202 8voyes?Syðra-Laugaland, Öngulstaðahreppur, Eyjafjarðarsýsla c. 1840Ólafur Eyjólfssonhttps://handrit.is/en/manuscript/view/is/IB08-0202ÍB 235 8vonoC18-19various handshttps://handrit.is/is/manuscript/view/IB08-0235Lbs 141 8vonoc. 1830-40two handsSee previously Skrá yfir prentaðir íslenzkar bækur og handrit í stiptisbókasafninu í Reykjavík (Reykjavík: Einar Þórðarson, 1874), p. 186.Lbs 582 8voyes1852one handLbs 981 8voyes?Syðra-Laugaland, Öngulstaðahreppur, Eyjafjarðarsýsla c. 1840Ólafur EyjólfssonLbs 1391 8vonoC19two handsLbs 1668 8voyes?Syðra-Laugaland, Öngulstaðahreppur, Eyjafjarðarsýsla c. 1830Ólafur EyjólfssonLbs 2402 8vonoSelland, Hálshreppur, Suður-Þingeyjarsýsla1852-Bjarni Jóhannesarson á SellandiLbs 3436 8vonoC19various handsLeeds, Brotherton LibraryGeneral Manuscripts, Special Collections, MS 859yesUppsalir, Öngulsstaðahreppur, Eyjafjarðarsýslac. 1830Ólafur Eyjólfssonhttps://explore.library.leeds.ac.uk/special-collections-explore/5835
See also Mehnert, Gottfried, 'Juden in Jung-Stillings Leben und literarischem Werk', in Jahrbuch der Hessischen Kirchengeschichtlichen Vereinigung, 64 (2013), 208-36.
References
External links Digitised text of the 1816 Dutch translation of the Erzählen Digitised text of the second Danish edition of 1850