Jesus the Stonemason?

Jesus the Stonemason? November 29, 2018

As a tekton, what was Jesus’ vocation? In most translations of Mk. 6.3 (cf. Mt. 13.55; Gos. Jas. 9.3; Justin, Dial. Tryph. 88) it is usually assumed that he was a carpenter, making ploughs and yokes according to Justin. However, the word has a fairly broad meaning and it can denote a general “craftsman” a “builder” or most often I find a “stonemason”.

Unfortunately due to a history of translation, not to mention the near-canonical status of Josh McDowell’s book More than a Carpenter in evangelical circles – the notion that Jesus was a carpenter is a translation rarely challenged. I touched on this topic a bit in parts of my doctoral thesis that did not get included in the final revision. I thought it more likely that Jesus was stonemason given the meaning of the word tekton in some strands of Greek literature and he and Joseph probably assisted in the rebuilding of Sepphoris a few miles away from Nazareth after its destruction by Varus’ troops (Jos. War 3.31-32; Life 347-48). This has been successfully argued by Ken M. Campbell, “What was Jesus’ Occupation?” JETS 48.3 (2005): 501-20. This is probably the best review of the evidence I’ve seen to date.

Dio Chrysostom: “Someone affected by riches and fame ‘goes about as neither farmer nor trader nor soldier nor general, nor as shoemaker or builder (TEKTON) or physician or orator'” (Orat. 80.1.5).

Epictetus: “The builder (TEKTON) does not come forward and say, ‘Listen to me deliver a discourse about the art of building” (TEKTONIKON); but he takes a contract for a house, builds it, and thereby proves that he possesses the art. (Diss. 3.21.4.1).

Josephus: “Josephus … summoned masons (TEKTONAS) and directed them to increase the height of the wall” (War 3.171 and see 3.173).

See also Richard A. Batey, “Is not this the Carpenter?” NTS 30 (1984): 249-58 and John P. Meier, A Marginal Jew, 1.278-85.


Browse Our Archives