Was Jesus Really a Carpenter?

The words "Jesus" and "carpenter" occur together very infrequently in the New Testament. In Mark 6:2-3, a story is told about Jesus preaching in the synagogue. Many of his former neighbors who were listening were astounded at how well he explained the text. They asked in wonder, "Where did this man get all this? ... Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary (other manuscripts translate it "son of the carpenter and of Mary")?

It seems the people were offended by Jesus acting as a rabbi (teacher of the law) when they believed him to be a carpenter. The Message version of the Bible translates it like this: "He's just a carpenter - Mary's boy. We've known him since he was a kid... Who does he think he is?"

They thought they knew him and they never got past that concept of him. No wonder a later passage tells us Jesus couldn't do many miracles in the town. In Nazareth he was always "the carpenter's son." But does that mean that Jesus actually was a carpenter? Let's examine the biblical evidence for and against this idea and see what we conclude.

Son of a Carpenter
Obviously, Jesus was raised as the son of Joseph, who definitely was a carpenter. It is reasonable to assume that Jesus would have worked in that business with his father. One of the chief jobs of a father in first century Israel was to bring his son up in some trade so he could later support himself and his family. As R. Judah put it, "Whosoever teacheth not his son to do some work, is as if he taught him robbery." So it's reasonable to assume Joseph instructed Jesus in the carpenter's trade.

During that century, carpenters took apprentices who learned the work as they rendered assistance to the master craftsman. As the town's carpenter, Joseph would surely have taken on such a helper-why not his adopted son?

Since Jesus was raised in the carpenter's home, and the home was the usual site for such a business venture, the people of the town had probably grown used to seeing the child Jesus in the carpenter's shop. It was a reasonable assumption that he had continued in that profession.

Matthew 13:55 calls him "the carpenter's son." It seems Joseph had died in the years preceding this (which is probably why his name is not mentioned here), and people assumed Jesus had carried on the business and was "the carpenter" of Nazareth. He certainly may have done so, for a time, to help support his mother and siblings.

Jesus the Rabbi
All Jewish boys learned to read and write in their own family, with the Old Testament as their textbook. They learned the history of their people by hearing rabbis preach commentaries on the texts each Sabbath in the synagogue. Jesus' childhood certainly conformed to this structure.

By the time Jesus began his public ministry, he had not only received the typical religious training for an average Jewish man of his day, but he had probably spent years studying with one of the rabbis in Galilee. This was how men became accepted teachers of the law. At that point in time, a rabbi was not a clergyman but rather a teacher of Jewish values and customs, able to serve as an authoritative judge or arbitrator.

Jesus appeared on the scene as an accepted rabbi, recognized as legitimate by his contemporaries. Obviously, the synagogue authorities had allowed Him to preach there, which means they considered him a rabbi, not a carpenter. In fact, it was common for their rabbis to begin life involved in some trade, probably so they understood the value of secular work. Thus, the title "carpenter" could have been part of his "work history."

The New Testament calls Jesus 'rabbi' about 13 times and 'teacher' about 47 times, terms which are basically synonymous. When the people of his day called Jesus "rabbi," he never corrected them. In fact, Jesus referred to himself as a teacher many times in the Bible; nowhere did he call himself a carpenter.

In the gospels, the story of his life, Jesus was never asked to make a chair or fix a cradle. Instead, strangers constantly approached him, asking him to cast out demons, heal them, settle arguments and other activities set apart as the job of rabbis. Carpenters don't do any of those things. Also, Jesus apparently dressed like a rabbi, not a carpenter, as he was instantly recognized as a teacher.

The Pharisees apparently perceived Jesus as a rabbi, because they kept asking him about his unusual teachings, and challenging his understanding of the law. Carpenters didn't teach the law, only rabbis did.

Finally, the term "rabbi" was applied to those teachers who were respected enough that disciples left home and family to follow them and learn at their feet. In the gospels we see that Jesus had many disciples... carpenters don't have disciples!

So, Was Jesus a Carpenter?
Just a brief look at the Bible seems to indicate that, in fact, Jesus was NOT a carpenter. In every aspect of the 2 professions we see that Jesus as a carpenter is not very well supported by the Bible, but Jesus as a rabbi certainly is.

References:
The Holy Bible, The Message translation

http://www.kencollins.com/jesus/jesus-35.htm

http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/john-darbys-synopsis-of-the-new-testament/mark/mark-6.html

http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/mark-6-3.html

http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/robertsons-word-pictures/mark/mark-6-3.html

http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/gills-exposition-of-the-bible/matthew-13-55.html

http://www.biblestudytools.com/commentaries/matthew-henry-concise/matthew/13.html?p=2

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/religion/jesus/rabbi.html#ixzz1Vxdqcjwr

http://www.followtherabbi.com/Brix?pageID=7834

http://www.christusrex.org/www1/ofm/mag/TSmgenB3.html

http://www.suite101.com/content/jesus-the-jewish-rabbi-a57593#ixzz1VxfiWeVx

http://www.jerusalemperspective.com/Default.aspx?tabid=27&ArticleID=1499

http://www.jesuscentral.com/ji/historical-jesus/jesus-firstcenturycontext.php

http://www.wildolive.co.uk/Rabbi%20Jesus.htm