# Jesus was a CARPENTER? Cite? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 25, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156 "2024-12-25T21:18:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/1 "2024-12-25T21:18:46Z")
Where is the scriptural evidence that Jesus was a carpenter? Or for that matter, that Joseph was? I suppose I could look it up, but as an atheist, I’m not _that_ invested in proving the assertion(s). ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/2 "2024-12-25T21:24:26Z")
Mark 6:3 and Matthew 13:55 ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_waldo_pepper/32/12370_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Waldo_Pepper)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/3 "2024-12-25T21:28:45Z")
This has [come up before](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jewish-carpenters/960631) on the SDMB: > [@](#): > > There are references to Jesus as a carpenter (“Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary and brother of James and Joses and Judas and Simon?”, Mark 6:3) and as the son of a carpenter (“Is not this the carpenter’s son?”, Matthew 15:55), but as far as I know, there is nothing in the Christian canon about what, if anything, he did as a carpenter. So, anything else would be pure speculation. > > Also, this article notes that the word which is typically translated as “carpenter” in English could also be translated as “laborer” or “builder,” ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/4 "2024-12-25T21:29:25Z")
Of course, then there’s the question of translation. As I understand it, the Greek word used, “tekton”, is more precisely translated as “builder”: That is, Joseph would have been making buildings, possibly out of wood, possibly out of stone or other materials, possibly a combination of materials, but probably would not have been making cabinetry and furniture. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/5 "2024-12-25T21:42:54Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Of course, then there’s the question of translation. As I understand it, the Greek word used, “tekton”, is more precisely translated as “builder”: Context. Like the word used in the OT that is translated as “virgin” is more like “maiden”. Still, the tradition and the context indicates carpenter, and indeed a “tekton” could be a carpenter. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/6 "2024-12-25T21:50:25Z")
What context indicates carpenter? Nothing is said about Joseph’s work, beyond that one word. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/7 "2024-12-25T21:56:00Z")
Tradition outside the Gospels that dates back to about 200 ad or so. Also, here- > **[Jesus The Carpenter, And The Search For Biblical Words](https://www.patheos.com/blogs/anxiousbench/2022/11/jesus-the-carpenter-and-the-search-for-biblical-words/)** > > If you are a serious qualified scholar of the New Testament, you can ignore this post. If, though, you are a regular non-specialist citizen interested in _In [Isaiah 41.7](https://www.blueletterbible.org/lxx/isa/41/1/s_720001), a carpenter is distinguished from a goldsmith, and again, the carpenter is the tekton , but this time, not qualified by any other word._ _If we pursue that method with a couple of other passages, an interesting pattern emerges, and quite consistently. The Old Testament has quite a few references to “masons and carpenters,” for instance in building the Temple. It was quite a common pairing, and in each case, the Septuagint renders carpenter either as tekton, or specifically as artisans in wood, tektonas xylon (1 Chron.14.1). On the other hand, “masons” is translated by some word not involving tekton, such as toichon (1 Chron. 14.1) or latomous (2 Chron. 24.12; Ezra 3.7). In Ezra 3.7, for instance, they give money to the masons and the carpenters, the latomois and the tektosin, τοῗς λατόμοις καὶ τοῗς τέκτοσιν. In 2 Kings 22.6, we read about “the carpenters, the builders, and the masons”: tois tektosin kai tois oikodomois kai tois teichistais. Logically, then, a tekton must be distinct from a mason._ _The Septuagint clearly suggests that early Christians would have called a carpenter a tekton, and that this was the word’s obvious meaning. If they meant mason, they would have used another word._ ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/8 "2024-12-25T22:08:14Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Waldo\_Pepper](#): > > Also, this article notes that the word which is typically translated as “carpenter” in English could also be translated as “laborer” or “builder,” It should be noted that “carpenter” is not the same thing as “cabinetmaker” or “woodworker”. They all involve wood, but that’s about it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/9 "2024-12-25T22:11:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > It should be noted that “carpenter” is not the same thing as “cabinetmaker” or “woodworker”. They all involve wood, but that’s about it. What were the Greek words for cabinetmaker back in the day? I dont think they actually had a word just for that. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/10 "2024-12-25T22:14:26Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > What were the Greek words for cabinetmaker back in the day? I dont think they actually had a word just for that. Perhaps not. I’m just pointing out that translating the word to “carpenter” and then assuming that he was a cabinetmaker is a bit of a leap for both. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/11 "2024-12-25T22:16:37Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Perhaps not. I’m just pointing out that translating the word to “carpenter” and then assuming that he was a cabinetmaker is a bit of a leap for both. Sure. We can assume from how the word was used He was some sort of carpenter- houses? Furniture? Both? But you cant assume cabinetmaker. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/12 "2024-12-25T22:24:39Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Sure. We can assume from how the word was used He was some sort of carpenter- houses? Furniture? Both? But you cant assume cabinetmaker. Yeah, it’s nitpicking at its worst, but I’m bored. Also, a carpenter doesn’t usually build furniture; they’re more in the vertical construction trade. Furniture making is a whole other skill. My great grandfather was a wagonmaker, but I wouldn’t call him a carpenter. Okay, I’ll stop now. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Drake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ad7895/32.png) [@Dr.Drake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Drake)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 11:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/13 "2024-12-25T23:40:09Z")
Don’t stop: look at the etymology of ‘carpenter’: [carpenter - Wiktionary, the free dictionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/carpenter) ---
**Author:** ![Horatius](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/horatius/32/3572_2.png) [@Horatius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatius)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 11:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/14 "2024-12-25T23:47:56Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > My great grandfather was a wagonmaker, but I wouldn’t call him a carpenter. Okay, I’ll stop now. My grandfather was a carpenter, and he made all sorts of stuff. Mostly it was buildings, but when he was part of building a church, he also made the pews (at least) for the interior. He also made some furniture for my parents when they got married. My dad had a chunk of wood left over from making the pews, that that he held onto for about 50 years, until he used it to turn a pair of platters for my sister’s wedding. Carpenter is a general term! If you specialized in one or two things, you might call yourself a wagonmaker or cabinet maker, but they’re all carpenters. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2024, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/15 "2024-12-25T23:59:45Z")
> [@Horatius](#): > > If you specialized in one or two things, you might call yourself a wagonmaker or cabinet maker, but they’re all carpenters. Or perhaps craftsmen. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/16 "2024-12-26T00:37:59Z")
What does the Septuagint have to do with the New Testament? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/17 "2024-12-26T02:50:25Z")
You have to know how that word was actually used, and what it really meant. ---
**Author:** ![TokyoBayer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tokyobayer/32/13989_2.png) [@TokyoBayer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TokyoBayer)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 3:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/18 "2024-12-26T03:00:56Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Tradition outside the Gospels that dates back to about 200 ad or so. 200 years is far too long of a period to meaningful. One of the reasons that scholars study Mormonism is that there are contemporary records of the foundation of a major religion. Traditions and beliefs within a group of fervent believers can change within years or even months. This can also be seen by the various differences in the Gospels which were probably written over a period of four decades. > [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I suppose I could look it up, but as an atheist, I’m not _that_ invested in proving the assertion(s). I’m curious, what is the dispute? ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/19 "2024-12-26T03:08:12Z")
> [@TokyoBayer](#): > > 200 years is far too long of a period to meaningful. The Iliad and the Odyssey were passed down orally for about 4 centuries before being written down, yet experts think it was done some pretty faithfully. Not to mention from 30AD to 200 AD there were hundreds of other written records etc that didnt survive. Less than 5% of ancient writings have survived until this day. And even so, how **tekton** was actually used in context shows that it meant carpenter. ---
**Author:** ![Dallas\_Jones](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dallas_jones/32/3277_2.png) [@Dallas\_Jones](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dallas_Jones)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2024, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156/20 "2024-12-26T03:38:11Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > The Iliad and the Odyssey were passed down orally for about 4 centuries before being written down, yet experts think it was done some pretty faithfully. And although the Iliad and Odyssey are atributed to being written by Homer, Homer himself may not have even been a real person, he may not have even existed. Same goes for the author of Epic of Gilgamesh. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jesus-was-a-carpenter-cite/1012156.md?page=2)