Erfurt Jew oath

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The Erfurt Jewish Oath is a so-called cleansing oath (cleansing from the charge of guilt), which was given to the Jews by the Archbishop of Mainz Konrad († 1200) as city lord of Erfurt . The Jewish oath from the end of the 12th century was sealed by the Erfurt council. The Erfurt Jewish Oath is the oldest demonstrable such oath in the German language.

Facsimile of the Erfurt Jewish Oath, Old Synagogue, Erfurt

Original text and transcription

(1) Des dich dirre sculdegit des bistur vnschuldic. (You are innocent of whom he accuses you.)

(2) So help you. The god of heaven vnde erdin gescuf loub, flowers and grass, des da uore nine was. (So ​​help you God. The God of heaven and earth created leaves, flowers and grass that were not before)

(3) Vnde whether thou wrong sweris. daz dich earth virslinde: di datan vnde abiron uirslant. (And if you swear wrongly that the earth will devour you: that devoured Datan and Abiram . [See Korach ])

(4) Vnde whether you are unjust sweris, that you are addicted to musel, marveled at naamannen liz vnde iezi. (And if you swear wrongly, you will be affected by misel addiction , which left Naamann and fell upon Gehazi .)

(5) Vnde whether you have unrighteous sweris, that the e uirtlige di got moisy gave you, in the mountains synay, di got the same writes with his lower ones on the stone table. (And if you swear wrongly that the lawfulness that God gave to Moses on Mount Sinai , which God himself wrote with his fingers on the stone tablet , will destroy you .)

(6) Vnde whether you have unjustified sweris, daz di uellin alle di scrift, di scribed sint to the uunf book moisy. (And if you swear wrongly, cut down all the scriptures that are written in the five books of Moses.)

(7) This is the Jewish community that di biscof cùnrat dirre stat has given. (This is the Jewish oath that Bishop Konrad gave to this city.)

See also

literature

  • Gerhard Herz: The Erfurt Jewish Oath at the end of the 12th century . In: City and History eV (Ed.): City and History. Journal for Erfurt , special issue No. 8 / March 2008, pp. 13-14.
  • Ruth Schmidt-Wiegand: Erfurt Jews Eid. In: Author's Lexicon, Volume 2, 1978/79, Sp. 574-576.
  • Antje Bauer: Saint Martin is upside down. Erfurt Jewish Oath (between 1183 and 1200) . In: Antje Bauer (Ed.): Erfurt. Pictures and stories ( = publications of the city archive, 4). Erfurt 2017, pp. 26–29.
  • Christine Magin: So God help you. The Erfurt Jew oath . In: City and History. Magazine for Erfurt. , Special Issue No. 19 / October 2019, pp. 9–10.

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