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Sunday, April 25, 2021

Jesus' Career Reflected In His Teachings And Early Christianity

In a 2005 article ("What was Jesus' occupation?", Journal Of The Evangelical Theological Society, vol. 48, no. 3 [September 2005], 501-19), Ken Campbell argued that Jesus and Joseph should be thought of as builders rather than carpenters. They would have worked with wood, but mostly with other materials. What I want to highlight here, though, are some points Campbell makes about the characteristics of Jesus' teachings and how consistent they are with a traditional Christian view of Jesus' background. They're what you'd expect from somebody like Jesus. I wouldn't go as far as Campbell does (e.g., referring to his conclusion about Jesus' occupation as "incontrovertible"), but the information Campbell cites is useful. You'll have to read his entire article to get the full picture, but what's below is a portion of what he wrote. I'll follow his comments with some of my own:

It has already been noted that when Jesus described everyday life, he referred to four human activities: eating and drinking, commerce, agriculture, and building (οεκοδομόνεω, Luke 17:28). He also refers to different kinds of constructions: barns (αποθήκη, Luke 12:18), watch towers (πύργος, Matt 21:33; Luke 13:4; 14:28-30), vineyards (άμπελών, Matt 20:1), houses (οικία, Matt 7:24-27 par.; John 14:1-14), palaces (βασίλειον, Luke 7:25), inns (πανδοχεΐον, Luke 10:34), temples (ναός, Matt 23:35; John 2:21), embankments (χάραξ, Luke 19:43-44), and cities (πόλις, Matt 5:14). Further, he refers to parts of houses such as rooftops (δώμα, Matt 10:27; 24:17), the inner (private) room (ταμείον, Luke 12:3), storerooms (θησαυρός, Matt 13:52), upper-level rooms (άνάγαιον, Mark 14:15), guest rooms in large dwellings (κατάλυμα, Luke 22:11), wedding halls (νυμφών, Matt 22:10), and courtyards (αυλή, Matt 26:3; John 10:16). He also recognizes the importance of home security (Matt 12:29; 24:43).

More impressive still are his allusions to a variety of constructions, such as clay ovens (κλίβανος, Matt 6:30), kilns (κάμινος, Matt 13:42, 50), toilets (άφεδρών, Matt 15:17), tombs (τάφος, Matt 23:27-29), millstones (μύλος, Matt 18:6; Luke 17:1-2), barricades (χάραξ, Luke 19:43), fences (φραγμός, Matt 21:38), animal stalls (φάτνη, Luke 13:15), wells (φρέαρ, Luke 14:5), entrances (θύρα, John 10:9), gates (πύλη, Matt 7:13-14), threshing floors (αλων, Matt 3:12), wine presses (ληνός, Matt 21:33), and wine troughs (ύπολήνιον, Matt 12:1).

Most pointed are Jesus' references to the activity of construction and some of its aspects: the act of quarrying stone and selecting the crucial cornerstone in Matt 21:42-44 pars. (λίθ ον δνάπεδοκίμασαν oi οικοδόμουντες, ούτος έγε νήθηειςκεφαλήν γωνίας); the decoration of tombs (κονιάω, Matt 23:27-28; Luke 11:47); the most vital aspect of construction, building on a bedrock foundation (Matt 7:24-27: τεθεμελίωτο γαρ επί την πέτραν); and another vital aspect of construction, cost analysis prior to building (Luke 14:28-30). Other allusions are less impressive, but perhaps of interest: the making of clay (πηλός) to heal a blind man (John 9:6); the reference to the condition of timber—moist vs. dry (υγρός...ξύλον...ξηρός, Luke 23:31); the reference to digging deep in Matt 21:33; and the possible criticism of the construction quality of a wall in Luke 13:4. The allusion to moving a mountain by faith in Mark 11:22-23 could be an oblique appreciation of Herod's engineering achievement in moving one part of a hill to another location to construct the Herodion.

In light of all this knowledge of the building trade it is hard to resist the conclusion that Jesus was involved in construction. And it is significant that there are two clear references to wood: one, the famous reference to the wooden beam and the splinter in Matt 7:3-5, and the other being the reference to damp vs. dry wood in Luke 23:31 (there is also the mention of— possibly wooden—gates in Matt 7:13-14). These references to wood do not indicate the activity of a woodworker. Even they are aspects of the builder's trade; it is construction timber that is in view. In contrast with this paucity of allusions to wood is the huge variety of references and allusions to stone objects and buildings listed above.

Among the farming and domestic vocabulary mentioned above under Agrarian culture are some implements which were probably fashioned by the craftsman/builder when he had the time available, such as plows, sickles, yokes, winnowing forks, doors, and axes. A village craftsman in the first century had to be able to perform a variety of building tasks as required, and it would seem that Jesus (having been mentored by Joseph) was widely experienced in this trade. Moreover, building, like other trades, was then a family business, and when we add the considerable knowledge he displays of finance and management, it appears to be incontrovertible that this was the occupation of Jesus.

In fact, the popular perception that Jesus' teaching is drawn primarily from agriculture needs to be corrected: his allusions to finance and construction together are more numerous (and significant) than his allusions to agriculture. (517-19)


We need to keep in mind that people's interests are shaped by more than their career, so that it would be simplistic to think that Jesus' career must have been in a field closely related to whatever he talks about most. For example, a lawyer might go into that occupation because of a family tradition of working in that field and because of the money he can make there, yet be more interested in sports than in issues pertaining to being a lawyer. We shouldn't think that his being a lawyer would require that he discuss legal issues more than anything else. (And though his interest in sports doesn't prove he had a career in athletics, it does tell us some things about him.) So, our focus should be on whether the evidence suggests Jesus had an above average interest in and/or knowledge about building, especially building with stones. If he had shown more interest in shepherding, for example, than building (which I don't believe to be the case), it wouldn't follow that he was a shepherd, that he must not have been a builder, or that such interests have no relevance. Evidence that Jesus was a builder can be inconclusive when considered in isolation, yet add to a cumulative case.

As I said in my introductory comments, I suspect Campbell's conclusions go beyond what the evidence warrants. But I haven't studied the relevant evidence as much as he did, and I could easily be wrong. Having said that, I want to highlight a particular strand of the evidence that I find more persuasive.

Notice how often and how prominently Jesus refers to stones and building on or with them. He gives his foremost disciple a name designating him as a stone (John 1:42). Jesus refers to building his church on a rock in the context of addressing that disciple by that name (Matthew 16:18). The Sermon on the Mount not only refers to building on a rock (Matthew 7:24), but also does so in such a significant context. Not only is the subject Jesus is addressing in that passage highly important, but it's even what Matthew concludes his Sermon on the Mount material with, which underscores the importance of the passage about building on a rock. And Luke concludes his material that's similar to Matthew's Sermon on the Mount with those same themes about building on a rock (Luke 6:46-49). He repeats the concept of building on a foundation elsewhere (Luke 14:28-30). The theme of Jesus' being the chief cornerstone, alluding to Psalm 118:22, was popular among the early Christians, as were some variants of it (Acts 4:11, Romans 9:33, Ephesians 2:20, 1 Peter 2:4-8). And that theme was put forward by Jesus himself (Matthew 21:42, Mark 12:10, Luke 20:17). The influence of Jesus in this context helps explain why references to him as a rock and foundation were so widespread in early Christian sources (e.g., 1 Corinthians 3:11, 10:4).

And notice that the evidence comes from so many and such varied sources. The naming of Peter (as a stone) is referred to in one way or another in all of the gospels. Though Luke doesn't refer to Jesus or his father as a builder, he agrees with Matthew in putting Jesus' comments about building on a rock in a prominent position at the climax of his material that resembles Matthew's Sermon on the Mount. And so on. While the references to Jesus and his father as builders in Matthew and Mark are the best evidence we have on this subject, there's a substantial amount of further evidence for what Matthew and Mark report elsewhere in their gospels and in other early Christian sources. That evidence also suggests Jesus built with stones more than with wood.

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