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 Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense 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, she also bore Tubalcain, an instructor of every forger in bronze and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.
Make you an ark of gopher wood; rooms shall you make in the ark, and shall pitch it inside and outside with pitch.
And they said one to another, Come, let us make brick, and burn them thoroughly. And they had brick for stone, and bitumen had they for mortar.
And it came to pass, as the camels had finished drinking, that the man took a golden earring of half a shekel weight, and two bracelets for her hands of ten shekels weight of gold;
And the servant brought forth jewels of silver, and jewels of gold, and clothing, and gave them to Rebekah: he gave also to her brother and to her mother precious things.
And they gave unto Jacob all the foreign gods which were in their hand, and all their earrings which were in their ears; and Jacob hid them under the oak which was by Shechem.
And he said, What pledge shall I give you? And she said, Your signet, and your bracelets, and your staff that is in your hand. And he gave it to her, and came in unto her, and she conceived by him.
And you shall make it an oil of holy anointing, an ointment compounded after the art of the perfumer: it shall be a holy anointing oil.
And you shall make it an incense, a compound after the art of the perfumer, mixed together, pure and holy:
And all the congregation of the children of Israel departed from the presence of Moses.
And all the women whose heart stirred them up in wisdom spun goats' hair.
You shall keep my statutes. You shall not let your cattle breed with another kind: you shall not sow your field with mixed seed: neither shall a garment of mixed linen and wool come upon you.
All the days of the vow of his separation there shall no razor come upon his head: until the days be fulfilled, in which he separates himself unto the LORD, he shall be holy, and shall let the locks of the hair of his head grow.
And 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 the hair of his separation is shaven:
You shall not wear a garment of different sorts, as of woolen and linen together.
Then she let them down by a rope through the window: for her house was upon the town wall, and she dwelt upon the wall. And she said unto them, Get you to the mountain, lest the pursuers meet you; and hide yourselves there three days, until the pursuers be returned: and afterward may you go your way. read more. And the men said unto her, We will be guiltless concerning this your oath which you have made us swear. Behold, when we come into the land, you shall bind this line of scarlet thread in the window which you did let us down by: and you shall bring your father, and your mother, and your brethren, and all your father's household, home unto you.
And she fastened it with the pin, and said unto him, The Philistines be upon you, Samson. And he awaked out of his sleep, and went away with the pin of the beam, and with the web.
Now there was no blacksmith found throughout all the land of Israel: for the Philistines said, Lest the Hebrews make them 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 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 to work with saws, and with picks of iron, and with axes of iron, and made them toil at the brick kilns: and thus did he unto all the cities of the children of Ammon. So David and all the people returned unto Jerusalem.
And Solomon's builders and Hiram's builders did hew them, and the men of Gebal: so they prepared timber and stones to build the house.
And king Solomon made a navy of ships in Ezion-geber, which is beside Eloth, on the shore of the Red sea, in the land of Edom. And Hiram sent in the navy his servants, seaman that had knowledge of the sea, with the servants of Solomon.
Jehoshaphat made ships of Tarshish to go to Ophir for gold: but they went not; for the ships were broken at Ezion-geber.
Next unto him repaired Uzziel the son of Harhaiah, of the goldsmiths. Next unto him also repaired Hananiah the son of one of the perfumers, and they restored Jerusalem unto the broad wall.
My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.
She seeks wool, and flax, and works willingly with her hands. She is 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 perfumer to send forth a foul odor: so does a little folly to him that is respected for wisdom and honor.
So the carpenter encouraged the goldsmith, and he that smoothes with the hammer him that struck the anvil, saying, It is ready for the soldering: and he fastened it with pegs, that it should not be moved.
The blacksmith with the tongs works in the coals, and fashions it with hammers, and works it with the strength of his arms: yea, he is hungry, and his strength fails: he drinks no water, and is faint. The carpenter stretches out his rule; he marks it out with a line; he fashions it with planes, and he marks it out with the compass, and makes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
The carpenter stretches out his rule; he marks it out with a line; he fashions it with planes, and he marks it out with the compass, and makes it after the figure of a man, according to the beauty of a man; that it may remain in the house.
Behold, I have created the blacksmith that blows the coals in the fire, and that brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the destroyer to destroy.
Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will cause you to hear my words. Then I went down to the potter's house, and, behold, he worked a work on the wheels. read more. And the vessel that he made of clay was marred 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, cannot I do with you as this potter? says the LORD. Behold, as the clay is in the potter's hand, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, and to destroy it; If that nation, against whom I have spoken, turn from their evil, I will change from the evil that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, to build and to plant it; If it does evil in my sight, that it obeys not my voice, then I will change from the good, with which I said I would benefit them. Now therefore go, speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Thus says the LORD; Behold, I am shaping evil against you, and devise a plan against you: return you now everyone from his evil way, and make your ways and your doings good. And they said, There is no hope: but we will walk after our own plans, and we will everyone do the imagination of his evil heart. Therefore thus says the LORD; Ask you now among the nations, who has heard such things: the virgin of Israel has done a very horrible thing. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which comes from the rock of the field? or shall the cold flowing waters that come from another place be forsaken? Because my people have forgotten me, they have burned incense to worthless idols, and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from the ancient paths, to walk in pathways, and not on a highway; To make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing; everyone that passes by it shall be astonished, and shake 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 calamity. Then said they, Come, and let us devise plots 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 attack him with the tongue, and let us not give heed to any of his words. Give heed to me, O LORD, and listen to the voice of them that contend with me. Shall evil be recompensed for good? for they have dug a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before you to speak good for them, and to turn away your wrath from them. Therefore deliver up their children 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 you shall bring a troop suddenly upon them: for they have dug a pit to take me, and hid snares for my feet. Yet, LORD, you know all their counsel against me to slay me: forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out their sin from your sight, but let them be overthrown before you; deal thus with them in the time of your anger.
Then Zedekiah the king commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the city was gone. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of the prison.
Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered mortar:
And of your garments you did take, and adorned your high places with various colors, and played the harlot on them: the like things have never been, neither shall be.
The elders of Gebal and its wise men were in you as your caulkers: all the ships of the sea with their oarsmen were in you to market your merchandise.
They are all adulterers, as an oven heated by the baker, who ceases to stir the fire after he has kneaded the dough, until it is leavened.
And the same John had his clothing of camel's hair, and a leather belt about his waist; 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 Joses, and Simon, and Judas?
Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you are like unto whitewashed sepulchers, which indeed appear beautiful outwardly but are within 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 Judas, and Simon? and are not his sisters here with us? And they took offense at him.
Simon Peter said unto them, I am going fishing. They said unto him, We also will go with you. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.
And the other disciples came in a little ship; (for they were not far from land, but as it were two hundred cubits,) dragging the net with fish.
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, you know that by this craft we have our wealth.
Whatsoever is sold in the meat market, that eat, asking no question for conscience's sake:
And the voice of harpers, and musicians, and of flutists, and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in you; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he may be, shall be found any more in you; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in you;