Carpenter; Builder
Archimandrite Nikifor’s Biblical Encyclopedia
(Matt. 13:55; Mark 6:3)—a worker in wood or, more broadly, a building craftsman. The Greek tekton can include carpentry and other construction work. Joseph is called a carpenter in Matthew, and Jesus himself is called the carpenter in Mark. Saint Justin Martyr later wrote that Jesus made plows and yokes, a valuable early tradition but not a detail supplied by the Gospels. The biblical notices honor ordinary labor and show the incarnate Son sharing the work and conditions of human life without shame.