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Old 10-28-2009, 09:04 AM
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Default Carpenter

carpenter


Craftsman, poet, songwriter, builder, artificer, carpenter

teknon (τεκνων)

The word appears only two times in the Bible, Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3. It is an ancient word, and comes from a root meaning "to skillfully produce." It's general meaning is simply "craftsman," and was applied to a wide variety of occupations in ancient Greek culture, including any kind of builder (carpenter, stone mason, etc.) as well as any person who crafts things in any field, including poetry, music, art, archetecture, ship building, etc.

So strickly speaking, the word simply means "craftsman," and gives us no information as to the TYPE of craftsman. However, there is some extra-biblical evidence that during the first century, this word had become somewhat more specialized in meaning, and was generally applied to carpenters alone, particularly since almost all other crafts had specialized Greek words to describe them, but carpentry did not (so if He WAS a carpenter, this was the ONLY word available to describe his occupation).

All we can say with absolute certainty, is that Jesus was a craftsman, the son of a craftsman. What we can say based on its usage in other documents from that era is that the MOST LIKELY craft that Jesus was involved in was carpentry. It is actually unlikely that Jesus was a stone mason because a different word was applied to them during the first century.

Personally, I think just calling Jesus a "craftsman" is kind of cool. Look what He continues to "craft" in all our lives! Truly that was the one trade that would fit what He would do for all of us for all time: craft us into the people we were meant to be.

Grace and peace,

Rhomphaia
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