SUBJECT:  Jesus Christ

QUESTION: Was Jesus ever a carpenter and do we have scriptures and other resources to prove this?

ANSWER:

Yes we do.

The following is an excerpt of chapter 4 of Mr. Armstrong's book, "The Real Jesus" which is posted here:

This has been taken by some to imply that Joseph and Mary were in a state of near poverty.  While obviously not "wealthy" by any standards, Joseph, however, was an industrious worker and a more than adequate provider. Remember, they had been forced to make an arduous journey at a critical time in Mary's pregnancy. No doubt, it required extra expense for proper animals and conveyances to insure Mary a comfortable trip. Further, there was the problem of taxation, of enforced payoffs to various petty officials, Roman soldiers or others along the route.

The family God selected to be the human guardian and physical mother of the very Son of God would have measured up to the strictest standards of God's own laws of Industry, labor, honesty and thrift.

God's laws established principles of hard work, and Joseph would have followed those principles diligently. There was no spiritual or biblical requirement that Joseph and his family be wealthy; but there is every reason to believe there was a strong requirement that he measure up to the biblical "work ethic" of the Old Testament.

The biblical principles demanded that a man be energetic and hard-working enough to lay up for "his children's children" indicating that each tradesman was fully expected according to God's Word to be successful enough that he would, at the end of his life, have provided a sufficient estate that even his grandchildren would be given a little head start in their own careers.

So, accepting the biblical account at face value, then, it is simply inconceivable that Joseph was anything less than moderately successful; not necessarily wealthy but certainly not poor. He would not have had a single child more than he could have afforded or provided for; and each of the children would have been partners with him as soon as his physical stature and grasp of the trade allowed.

The word "carpenter" relating to Joseph is very misleading in modern terminology, and is far better rendered "stone mason" or "artisan." The Greek word is tekton and most biblical authorities agree it had a far wider application than merely the term "carpenter" as it might be applied today. In our specialized societies, carpenters are thought of as those who work with sawn and hewn lumber, and primarily work only at pounding nails into boards.

Ask a modern carpenter if this is "all he does " and he will very likely give you a lengthy lecture about the many skills required to become a good carpenter.

However, during the day of Jesus Christ, "carpentry" included much more than just the fabrication of wooden dwellings. Most of the homes were a combination of stone, mud and clay, hewn beams and "lumber."

The city where Jesus spent much of His early ministry around the Galilean area was Capernaum.  I have been to Capernaum several times, and have seen the remnants of the porches, the arches, the mosaics, and the walls of the buildings which were there during the time of Christ.

Capernaum, at that time, was a beaming, modern, beautifully sculptured Grecian-type city. It was filled with beautiful multileveled homes which had large central gardens, mosaic walks, fountains and even, believe it or not, indoor bathrooms and steam baths!

The homes of the wealthier class at that time were marvels of architecture; and a far cry from the stone and adobe hovels imagined by many as being the general domicile of the time.

A "carpenter" would have to have a certain familiarity with mathematics, engineering principles (working with block and tackle, levers, and knowing how to construct arches and cantilever overhanging balconies, etc.) and especially would have to be skillful in finishing work, such as interior surfaces, mosaic hallways and walkways, and would even have to know a certain amount about plumbing.

For, during that period and in, the first two or three centuries thereafter, home, plumbing included indoor water, which was delivered via a system of pipes and could be cut off by valves just as in a modern home today.

From their earliest age Jesus and His brothers learned the skills of the trade, and Jesus, as the older brother, could well have been the one primarily concerned with keeping of family records, payment of bills, ordering of materials, the writing and signing of contracts, and the required barter, both in the marketplace and with passing caravans, for tools and building supplies.

From earliest moments of boyhood, Jesus, James, Joseph, and later little Simon would perhaps run down to the public market when they had heard the tinkling of the bells of a long heavily laden caravan coming through the area from the trade routes from the north and the east, realizing that it might be a timely opportunity to purchase some finely made tapestries, rugs, yardage of fine fabrics for Mary and the girls to make into clothing, or perhaps even some of the famous metal tools, adzes, drawknives, chisels and heavier quarrying tools produced by the nations to the east.

Probably by the time Jesus was in His late teens or early twenties, His legal guardian Joseph was dead. The family business passed into the hands of Jesus, His eldest son, together with the other brothers.

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The tradition of those days was that sons followed in the occupational steps of the father.  Joseph was a carpenter, but as Mr. Armstrong's book states, a carpenter in those days was more like a general contractor.

Matthew 13:55
Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brethren, James, and Joses, and Simon, and Judas?

 

Note:  In this verse, we clearly see that Joseph was a carpenter.  The question is, do we have a verse that clearly states that Jesus, Himself was a carpenter, like His physical father?

The answer is yes:

Mark 6:3
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.

 

We have more.  The Bible is full of models and types.  An example is the use of parables.  A parable has both a physical side and a spiritual side.  Without the Holy Spirit, one cannot know the spiritual side (1 Cor. 2:14).  However, even if one cannot know the spiritual elements, the physical elements must make sense and even parrot the spiritual.  In John 5, beginning in verse 19 Jesus talks about the Father and Son, speaking of Himself and God, the Father.  Notice what He says:

John 5:19-20
19 Then answered Jesus and said unto them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, The Son can do nothing of himself, but what he seeth the Father do: for what things soever he doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise.

20 For the Father loveth the Son, and sheweth him all things that himself doeth: and he will shew him greater works than these, that ye may marvel.

 

Note:  Whatever the father does, the son doeth likewise.  Jesus clearly did this in both the physical sense and in the spiritual sense.  He did the spiritual Work of His Father and He was a physical carpenter, like His physical father, Joseph.

We see this model or type continued when Jesus talks about building a house.  Clearly, many of those who knew or heard of Jesus knew that He was a carpenter and craftsman.

Matthew 7:24-29
24 Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock:

25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock.

26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the sand:

27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it.

28 And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine:

29 For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.

Note:  Jesus drew this analogy from His own experience as a general contractor.

We also have historical indication of Jesus being a woodworker.  This was found on the Internet.

Jesus, the Antique Tool User

In the New Testament, we find that the townspeople in Nazareth, the city in which He lived and practiced the craft of carpentry, were surprised when they learned that He claimed to be the Messiah. They knew Him as a carpenter, and the son of a carpenter. The question we ask today is, "how could the messiah have been a carpenter?" But the question they asked of Him during His day was, "how could this carpenter be the messiah?" The traditional view of Jesus performing His craft often has Him sitting on the floor with at best bronze tools, or at worst stone tools. But the state-of-the art at the time He lived on this earth was not this primitive. Goodman calls the Roman era a "Golden Age" of woodworking.

Evidence that Jesus was a carpenter: Modern scholarship debates whether Jesus was in fact a woodworker. However, the evidence overwhelmingly supports that He was. While the Greek word for "carpenter" is tekton and can mean a worker in any hard object including iron and stone, the common use is carpenter. Also, we have a historical source outside of the Bible to support this assertion. Justin Martyr, who was born in Samaria at about 103 AD, writes in "The Second Apology of Justin"; "And when Jesus came to the Jordan, He was considered to be the son of Joseph the carpenter; and He appeared without comeliness, as the Scriptures declared; and He was deemed a carpenter (for He was in the habit of working as a carpenter when among men, making ploughs and yokes; by which He taught the symbols of righteousness and an active life." Later, Justin's student Tatian confirmed the accuracy of the present Biblical text (Mark 6:3). Tatian produced a harmony of the Gospels called the Diatessaron in about 160 AD, and states that Jesus was a carpenter and a carpenter's son. Also, there were many writings by the "Gnostics" that almost always indicate Jesus was a worker in wood when His profession was referenced, although the stories themselves are incredulous.

Status of a carpenter: In antiquity, the artisan class was generally looked down on by the elite. However, within Jewish society, to work with one's hands in such a way was deemed to be a worthy profession. And it was essential that the father teach his son a trade. A rabbi taught that "whoever does not teach his son a trade it is as if he brought him up to be a robber" and from the Mishna, one must "teach son a trade." Further, it was common for religious leaders to also have a trade. For example, Hillel is reported to have been a woodcutter, and Shammai a carpenter, both leaders of two major schools of Jewish thought at the time.

His tools: The tools available at the time in which Jesus lived were much like those used by craftsmen a century ago. Tools that required an edge were made of iron, although steel was less plentiful and of somewhat lower quality. Planes were available, and some Roman planes had iron soles. Saws were available, both in the form of a bow saw (referred to by some as a "Jesus" saw) and a hand saw. The handsaw was shorter than today to compensate for lower quality steel, and had steep-angle teeth. The adze was a very popular tool in antiquity, with a horizontal blade that could accurately shape timber via a chopping-like motion. Adzes of all sizes were available in iron, although the traditional adze with a blade strapped to a handle taken from a tree/limb junction was popular for smaller applications. Iron claw hammers were common during the Roman era, and wood mallets for chisel work were also used. Chisels of the socketed variety were available, preferred today by traditional woodworkers. The lathe was highly utilized during the era. In fact, the quality of surviving examples of turned objects in Israel are superior to other wood working articles discovered. While it is unclear whether the brace was developed by this era, the bow drill was widely used.

His craft: As noted earlier, the era in which Jesus lived was a "Golden Age" of woodworking. All major joinery was developed by His time, including mortise and tennon, dovetail, etc. And as also mentioned above, the capability to turn objects on the lathe was well developed. A carpenter was needed to make items for all aspects of life, including framing for the roofs of house, doors and frames, tables, beds, objects for the culinary arts such as turned bowls and cups and other utensils. Objects for the farm were also needed, such as yokes and plows. And don't forget major building projects that were initiated by Herod the Great and later by his sons. In fact, Herod's son Antipas built the capital of Galilee just miles from Nazareth, called Sepphoris. Sepphoris was a completely Greco-Roman city, and would have required the services of carpenters. Some have speculated that Jesus and his stepfather Joseph may have worked there. The scarcity of timber in Israel and the few findings from antiquity have led many to believe that there was little need for a carpenter in Israel. However, it is clear the opposite was true. Jewish carpenters used both imported and local timbers to craft objects crucial to daily life.

In conclusion, Jesus was a carpenter, using tools similar to those in existence today, and making items essential to daily life. And He was such for the majority of His adult life.