Jesus: Carpenter or Construction Worker?

[Hamalas]

Like most people I've always grown up hearing Jesus being called a carpenter. Again, like many, this always conjured up in me images of a skilled craftsman lovingly shaping furniture etc... in some idyllic workshop (don't worry, when I say "conjuring up images" I don't mean images of Christ). However, I've heard several preachers say recently that the word used for Christ's earthly occupation actually refers to a more blue collar kind of job than the carpenter title might suggest. Hence my question: was Christ a craftsman carpenter (as we might envision) or more of a construction worker/laborer?

 

[ReformedChristian]

I would say he was more of a Mason Builder.

 

[puritanpilgrim]

I thought he was a stone mason.

 

[MarieP]

I always thought of the more construction-worker type job. But that may be because my dad is a building contractor, so carpenter to me means that type of work.

At least He wasn't a roofer- they wouldn't be able to tell which Jesus was being spoken to

 

[Mushroom]

The Septuagint uses the Greek term τέκτων in the list of craftsmen who built or repaired the temple. Same term used in the 2 references to Joseph being a carpenter in the NT, so it would appear to be more along the lines of construction worker rather than crafter of fine furniture and cabinetry. But I could be wrong.

 

[ReformedChristian]

So like a stone mason

 

[Unoriginalname]

I was under the impression that the word used to describe Jesus as a carpenter denoted a unskilled or semiskilled laborer. So someone in that position would be considered poor as opposed to a skilled artisan (which we think or as carpenters today).

 

[Mushroom]

So like a stone mason

The definitions I read of τέκτων indicate working with wood.

 

[Bill The Baptist]

Didn't you people watch the Passion of the Christ? Jesus was a carpenter who invented the modern table

 

[JimmyH]

My father was a crackerjack carpenter, which means he could cut a roof from lengths of wood with a saw and a framing square, build a wooden staircase, frame a house, or build cabinets and install finish paneling in an interior room. In other words,, he could do it all. I'm sure in the day and time of our Lord a carpenter would fall into the same category. In my humble opinion.

 

[ReformedChristian]

Didn't you people watch the Passion of the Christ? Jesus was a carpenter who invented the modern table