WAS YESHUA THE SON OF A CARPENTER?

The early scholars, known as the ‘Church Fathers’, agree that the book of Matthew was first written in Hebrew:
Papias (ca. 130 after Yeshua): “Matthew composed his work in the Hebrew dialect, and each translated as best they could.”
Irenaeus (ca.170 after Yeshua): “Matthew also issued a written Gospel among the Hebrews in their own dialect.”
Origen (ca. 200 after Yeshua): “The first [Gospel] is written according to Matthew, the same that was once a tax collector, but afterwards an emissary of Yeshua the Messiah, who having published it for his believers, wrote it in Hebrew.”


The words that Yeshua said in Hebrew were perfectly understood by his listeners. But once they were written they became unclear and vague because the vowels were not recorded along with the consonants in the Even Bojan Hebrew Matthew.

The Greek text of the Nazarene Writings (known as the New Testament) describes Yeshua as the son of a «tekton»

Greek Matthew 13:55 
Is not this the son of the τέκτων (tektōn)?

This verse tells us that the profession of Yoseph (Joseph) was a τέκτων (tektōn).
In another verse we learn about Yeshua’s profession 

Greek Mark 6:3
3 Is this not the - τέκτων (tektōn), the son of Miryam, the brother of Ya`aqov, and Yoseph, and of Yehudah, and Shim`on?

So Yeshua was a τέκτων (tektōn) as well as his father Yoseph . But what does έκτων (tektōn) mean? For centuries and up to the present, the word τέκτων (tektōn) has been understood and translated as ‘carpenter’ but in the first century of our era the word also had another meaning.
τέκτων (tektōn) could mean ‘blacksmith’ or ‘smith’.
τέκτων (tektōn) is an ambiguous word, a word of uncertain meaning.
Basically, τέκτων (tektōn) is someone who works with hard materials such as metal, stone, wood, horns and ivory (Nineham 1963; page 165).
The Greek historian Plutach (46-119 after Yeshua) used the term arji-tektōn to describe a blacksmith (Septem Sapientum Convivium 156b)

In the Hebrew Matthew (Even Bojan) the word that is used in Matthew 13:55 is נפת (smith or blacksmith)

Hebrew Matthew 13:55 [Even Bojan] 
Is not this the son of the נפת{smith or blacksmith}?

נַפָּת (napach – smith/blacksmith) comes from the verb
נָפַת (nafach – to blow or exhale with force).

In the Tanach (known as the Old Testament) ַנׄפֵת is used to describe the action of blowing to make a fire burn more vigorously,

Isaiah 54:16 - See, I Myself have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire
Job 20:26 - A fire not blown consumes him, it destroys what remains in his tent.

If smith or blacksmith is Yeshua’s true profession then certain verses become livelier and more real as far as Yeshua’s life is concerned. For example Yeshua said

Luke 12:49 
 “I came to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled!

And Yohanan the Immerser (John the Baptist) said

Matthew 3:10-11
10 “And the axe is already laid to the root of the trees. Every tree, then, which does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
11 “I indeed immerse you in water unto repentance, but He who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to bear. He shall immerse you in the Set-apart Spirit and fire.

Yeshua tells his disciples

Matthew 5:14 ...16
You are the light of the world...“Let your light so shine before men, so that they see your good works and praise your Father who is in the heavens. 

In antiquity light came from fire. In like manner, Yeshua, who is described as a blacksmith that needs fire to produce a good product, lit a fire in his disciples’ hearts.
Main source: Avdiel Ben-Oved; translated by Nazarene Notes

 

NAZARENE NOTES