Andrew Perriman has an interesting post about how the usual meaning of the term skēnopoios, translated in the English versions of the Acts of the Apostles as “tent-maker” (Acts 18:3), is a stagehand or maker of theatrical scenery.
If that were Paul’s profession, how might we think differently about him? How might it change the way we think about his activity of proclamation of the Christian message?
I’m particularly intrigued that this might connect with Paul’s statement in Galatians 3:1 that “Christ was publicly depicted as crucified” before them.
Of course, the abridged Liddell and Scott simply gives the meaning as “tent-maker” and that is, at least etymologically, the root of the term. Has anyone else looked into this term and its usage in and around the first century?
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