ἴσχυσεν ἀνὴρ τέκτων καὶ χαλκεὺς τύπτων σφύρῃ ἅμα ἐλαύνων ποτὲ μὲν ἐρεῖ σύμβλημα καλόν ἐστιν ἰσχύρωσαν αὐτὰ ἐν ἥλοις θήσουσιν αὐτὰ καὶ οὐ κινηθήσονται
In English:
So the craftsman encourages the smelter, And he who smooths metal with the hammer encourages him who beats the anvil, Saying of the soldering, "It is good"; And he fastens it with nails, So that it will not totter.
Tradition translates τέκτων as carpenter. Matthew 13 informs us that when Jesus was teaching in the Nazareth synagogue, the crowd asks, “Is not this the carpenter’s son? Is not his mother called Mary?” (v. 55). The Greek word τέκτων (tekton) translated here as carpenter is more accurately rendered as craftsman, or builder, or artisan.
Today's Israel imports most of its timber from abroad. Israel's trees are fruit producing. More than forty types of fruit are grown in Israel. In addition to citrus, these include avocados, bananas, apples, cherries, plums, nectarines, grapes, dates, strawberries, prickly pear (tzabbar), persimmon, loquat (shesek) and pomegranates.
Two thousand years ago timber was a luxury for the ordinary person. Tables, and chairs were not part of the furniture. Most people sat on carpets to eat food; and slept on carpets.
This does not mean that Jesus never worked with wood. While we can’t say conclusively one way or the other, we can speculate that a man attempting to make a living as a wood carpenter would have had a challenging time because trees used exclusively for timber were, and remain scarce in Israel.
A further reason why it is most likely that Jesus and Joseph worked with stone and not wood is because Nazareth was only three miles from the newly developing town of Sepphoris. During the first century Sepphoris was growing at a rapid rate under the reign of Herod Antipas furthering his dream to build a luxury complex demonstrating his power.
Halfway between Nazareth and Sepphoris (also known as Zippori) was an enormous rock quarry where Joseph would have found employment, and likely that Jesus would have been trained by his dad in the same trade...as a stone mason.
Scripture often provides us with examples of Jesus as a builder. After the chief priests, scribes, and elders questioned Jesus’ authority in the temple Jesus illustrated his wisdom with the parable of the wicked tenants. Upon completion, He looked directly at them and said, ‘What then is this that is written: “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone? ~Luke 20:17–18; & Psalm 118:22.
Those of us who accept Our Father's welcome into His life sense the loving embrace of a master craftsman clutching us in his arms as He moulds, and shapes us into the image of His much beloved child.
On a point of pedantry it really does not matter whether Jesus was a carpenter, fisherman, potter, or stonemason for scripture metaphor provides the reader with an understanding that we place ourselves in the tender, loving care of The Saviour when we freely choose to let Him construct our life's story.
10 By the grace God has given me, I laid a foundation as a wise builder, and someone else is building on it. But each one should build with care. 11 For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ.~ 1 Corinthians 3
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