An old jew, Isaac Laquedem, is condemned to roam the earth by Christ after he spat on Jesus on his road to Golgotha(and, in this film) refusing Him water. In this 13th-century myth(also called "The Eternal Jew"), he, a Jewish cobbler, walks, trips, gets up, falls, and then tries to sleep. In his dream, he relives the episode that sent him into exile. After successively meeting the devil and an angel he continues to walk throughout the earth in his eternal wandering(or until the Second Coming) with the elements raging around him. Méliès, know for his trick film pioneering cinema, show here that he master the effects and make full use of double exposure, stop motion, as well as background storm and lightning. It follows three tableaux, although the first contains two scenes. He also plays the role of the Jew himself.

A Jew who mocked Jesus on the cross is visited by a devil and an angel.