Reference: Handicraft
Fausets
(See CIVILIZATION; BRASS.) Jewish workmen, as distinguished from the pagan workmen in ancient times, were not slaves, nor were their trades hereditary. After the captivity it was deemed at once honourable and necessary for a father to teach his son a trade. (Mishna, Pirke, ab. 2:2). Hence, Joseph the carpenter taught the holy Jesus his trade; and many of His own country marveled that works so mighty should be wrought by one like themselves, an artisan: "is not this the carpenter?" (Mr 6:3).
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Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses and of Juda and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
Smith
Handicraft.
A trade was taught to ail the Jewish boys as a necessary part of their education. Even the greatest rabbis maintained themselves by trades (Delitzsch). Says Rabbi Jehuda, "He who does not teach his son a trade is much the same as if he taught him to be a thief". In the present article brief notice only can be given of such handicraft trades as are mentioned in Scripture.
1. Smiths or metal-workers. --The preparation of iron for use either in war, in agriculture or for domestic purposes was doubtless one of the earliest applications of labor; and together with iron, working in brass, or rather copper alloyed with tin (bronze), is mentioned as practiced in antediluvian times.
After the establishment of the Jews in Canaan, the occupation of a smith became recognized as a distinct employment-
The smith's work and its results are often mentioned in Scripture.
2Sa 12:31; 1Ki 6:7; 2Ch 26:14; Isa 44:12; 54:16
The worker in gold and silver must have found employment among both the Hebrews and the neighboring nations in very early times.
Various processes of the goldsmith's work are illustrated by Egyptian monuments. After the conquest frequent notices are found of both moulded and wrought metal, including soldering.
2. Carpenters are often mentioned in Scripture.
In the palace built by David for himself the workmen employed were chiefly foreigners.
That the Jewish carpenters must have been able to carve with some skill is evident from
In the New Testament the occupation of a carpenter is mentioned in connection with Joseph the husband of the Virgin Mary, and ascribed to our Lord himself.
The trade included our cabinet work as well as carpentering.
3. The masons employed by David and Solomon, at least the chief of them, were Phoenicians.
The large stones used in Solomon's temple are said by Josephus to have been fitted together exactly without either mortar or clamps, but the foundation stones to have been fastened with lead. For ordinary building mortar was used; sometimes, perhaps, bitumen, as was the case at Babylon.
The wall "daubed with untempered mortar" of
was perhaps a sort of cob-wall of mud or clay without lime, which would give way under heavy rain. The use of whitewash on tombs is remarked by our Lord.
4. Ship-building must have been exercised to some extent for the fishing-vessels on the Lake of Gennesaret.
Solomon built ships for his foreign trade.
1Ki 9:26-27; 22:48; 2Ch 20:36-37
5. Apothecaries or perfumers appear to have formed a guild or association.
Ex 30:25,35; 2Ch 16:14; Ne 3:8; Ec 7:1; 10:1
Ecclus 38:8.
6. Weavers. --The arts of spinning and weaving both wool and linen were carried on in early times, as they usually are still among the Bedouins, by women.
Ex 35:20,26; Le 19:19; De 22:11; 2Ki 23:7; Eze 16:16; Pr 31:13-14
The loom with its beam,
pin,
and shuttles
was perhaps introduced later, but as early as David's time.
7. Dyeing and dressing cloth were practiced in Palestine, as were also tanning and dressing leather.
Jos 2:15-18; 2Ki 1:8; Mt 3:4; Ac 9:43
8. Barbers.
9. Tentmakers are noticed in
10. Potters are frequently alluded to.
11. Bakers are noticed in Scripture,
and the well-known valley Tyropoeon probably derived its name from the occupation of the cheese-makers, its inhabitants.
12. Butchers, not Jewish, are spoken of
Shoemakers, tailors, glaziers and glass vessels painters and gold workers are mentioned in the Mishna. Chel. viii. 9; xxix. 3,4; xxx. 1.
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And Zillah also bore Tubalcain, an instructor of every artificer in brass and iron; and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
Make thee an ark of cedar trees; rooms shalt thou make in the ark and shalt reconcile it within and without covering it over with pitch.
And they said one to another, Go to, let us make brick and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick instead of stone and slime instead of mortar.
And it came to pass as the camels had finished drinking that the man took a golden pendant of half a shekel weight and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold
And the slave brought forth vessels of silver and vessels of gold and raiment and gave them to Rebekah; he also gave precious things to her brother and to her mother.
So they gave unto Jacob all the strange gods which were in their power and all their earrings which were in their ears, and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
Then he said, What pledge shall I give thee? And she said, Thy signet and thy mantel and thy staff that is in thine hand. And he gave them to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
and thou shalt make of it the oil of the holy anointing, a superior ointment, after the art of the apothecary, which shall be the oil of the holy anointing.
And thou shalt make it a perfume, a confection after the art of the apothecary, tempered together, pure and holy;
And all the congregation of the sons of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
And all the women whose heart lifted them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.
Ye shall keep my statutes. Thou shalt not let thy animal join with a diverse kind for mixtures; thou shalt not sow thy field with mixture, neither shalt thou wear garments of a mixture of different things.
All the days of the vow of their Nazariteship no razor shall come upon their head, until the days are fulfilled of their separation unto the LORD; they shall be holy and shall let the locks of the hair of their head grow.
Then the priest shall take the boiled shoulder of the ram and one unleavened cake out of the basket and one unleavened wafer and shall put them upon the hands of the Nazarite after their Nazariteship is shaven;
Thou shalt not wear a garment of mixture, as of woolen and linen together.
Then she let them down by a cord through the window; for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said unto them, Go to the mountain lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers have returned; and afterwards ye may go your way. read more. And the men said unto her, We will be exempted of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear in the following manner. Behold, when we come into the land, thou shall have bound this line of scarlet thread in the window which thou didst let us down by, and thou shall have brought thy father and thy mother and thy brethren and all thy father's household home unto thee.
And she fastened it with the stake and said unto him, The Philistines are upon thee, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep and went away with the stake of the loom and with the cloth.
Now there was no smith found throughout all the land of Israel, for the Philistines had said, Lest peradventure the Hebrews make swords or spears.
And the staff of his spear was like a weaver's beam, and his spear's head weighed six hundred shekels of iron, and one bearing a shield went before him.
And Hiram, king of Tyre, also sent messengers to David, and cedar trees and carpenters and masons, and they built David a house.
And he brought forth the people that were therein and put them under saws and under harrows of iron and under axes of iron and made them pass through the brickkiln, and thus did he unto all the cities of the sons of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders hewed them, and the stonesquarers; so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Eziongeber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his slaves, shipmen that had knowledge of the sea, with the slaves of Solomon.
Jehoshaphat had made ships in Tharshish to go to Ophir for gold, but they did not go, for the ships were broken at Eziongeber.
Next to them Uzziel, the son of Harhaiah, of the refiners restored. Next unto him Hananiah, the son of one of the apothecaries, also restored, and they fortified Jerusalem unto the broad wall.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle and are spent without hope.
Daleth She sought wool and flax and worked willingly with her hands. He She was like the merchants' ships; she brings her food from afar.
A good name is better than precious ointment and the day of death than the day of one's birth.
Dead flies cause the ointment of the apothecary to send forth a stinking savour: likewise a small act of folly unto him that is esteemed for wisdom and honour.
So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smooths with the hammer him that smote the anvil, saying, It is well joined and he strengthened it with nails, that it should not be moved.
The smith shall take the tongs; he shall work among the coals; he shall give it form with the hammers and bring forth in it the arm of his strength; though he is hungry and his strength fails: he shall not drink water, even if he faints. The carpenter stretches out his rule; he measures it with a line; he fits it with planes; he marks it out with the compass; he makes it after the form of a noble man, in the likeness of the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
The carpenter stretches out his rule; he measures it with a line; he fits it with planes; he marks it out with the compass; he makes it after the form of a noble man, in the likeness of the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
Behold, I have created the smith that blows the coals in the fire, and that brings forth the instrument for his work; and I have created the waster to destroy.
Arise and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house; and, behold, he wrought a work upon a wheel. read more. And the vessel that he made of clay was broken in the hand of the potter: so he made it again another vessel, as seemed good to the potter to make it. Then the word of the LORD came to me, saying, O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter? saith the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are ye in my hand, O house of Israel. In an instant I shall speak against Gentiles and against kingdoms, to pluck up and to pull down and to destroy. But if these Gentiles shall turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil that I thought to do unto them. And in an instant I shall speak concerning the nation and concerning the kingdom, to build and to plant it; but if it should do evil in my sight, not hearing my voice, then I will repent of the good that I had determined to do unto them. Now therefore, speak to every man of Judah and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus hath the LORD said: Behold, I ordain evil against you and devise plans against you; return ye now each one from his evil way, and better your ways and your doings. And they said, This is useless, for we must walk after our own devices, and we must each one do the imagination of his evil heart. Therefore thus hath the LORD said; Ask now among the Gentiles, who has heard such things: the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. Will anyone leave the snow of the rock of the field that flows from Lebanon? or shall they forsake the singular, cold, flowing waters? Because my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to vanity, and they have caused themselves to stumble in their ways, in the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not trodden; to make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; every one that passes thereby shall be astonished and wag his head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their perdition. Then they said, Come, and let us devise devices against Jeremiah; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not consider any of his words. Consider me, O LORD, and hear the voice of those that contend with me. Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee to speak good for them and to turn away thy wrath from them. Therefore deliver up their sons to the famine, and pour out their blood by the force of the sword; and let their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows; and let their men be put to death; let their young men be slain by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them; for they have dug a pit to take me and hid snares for my feet. Yet, LORD, thou dost know all their counsel against me to slay me; do not forgive their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before thee; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger.
Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the guard and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street until all the bread in the city was spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the guard.
Therefore and because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up the wall, and, behold, others plastered it with loose mud:
And of thy garments thou didst take and make altars of divers colours and play the harlot thereupon; the like shall not come again, neither shall it be so.
The elders of Gebal and the wise men thereof were in thee to repair thy breaches: all the galleys of the sea with their rowers were in thee to negotiate thy business dealings.
They are all adulterers as an oven heated by the baker who shall cease from waking after he has kneaded the dough until it is leavened.
And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair and a leathern girdle about his loins, and his food was locusts and wild honey.
And when he was entered into a ship, his disciples followed him.
And he entered into a ship and passed over and came into his own city.
Is not this the carpenter's son? is not his mother called Mary? and his brothers, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas?
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye are like unto whitewashed sepulchres, who indeed appear beautiful outside, but inside are full of dead men's bones and of all uncleanness.
Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James and Joses and of Juda and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they were offended at him.
Simon Peter said unto them, I am going fishing. They said unto him, Let us also go with thee. They went forth and entered into a ship immediately, and that night they caught nothing.
And the other disciples came in the little ship (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits), dragging the net with the fishes.
And it came to pass that he tarried many days in Joppa with one Simon a tanner.
And because he was of the same craft, he abode with them and worked, for by their occupation they were tentmakers.
whom he called together with the workmen of like occupation and said, Sirs, ye know that by this gain we have our wealth.
Whatever is sold in the market, that eat, asking no question for conscience sake;
And the voice of harpers and musicians and of pipers and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatever craft he is, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee;