The Greek scriptures do not say carpenter specifically, but ‘tekton’, which means ‘builder’, “stone mason”. The Aramaic equivalent to ‘tekton’ also means ‘SCHOLAR’, which jibes well with the indications in the gospels and elsewhere that Jesus had been a Pharisee before the start of his ministry.”
“According to more and more scholars, the trusty King James Version got it wrong — again. When Jesus goes back to Nazareth and the people say, “Is this not the carpenter, the son of Mary,” the text should really read, “Is this not the STONE MASON, the son of Mary.” Jesus, scholars say, was a mason. He worked in stone, not wood. Instead of saws and nails he handled squares and compasses, chisels and hammers. And he would have been built, himself, like a block of granite. For now, I’m waiting for more evidence to roll in. But it’s interesting how that one little adjustment — from seeing Jesus as a carpenter to seeing him as a mason — sends a ripple through all the gospels.” http://www.bordeglobal.com/foruminv/index.php?act=ST&f=187&t=18793&”
“Jesus Christ: A Carpenter of Nazareth?” investigates by using the Bible and other sources to answer important questions: Was Jesus a carpenter? If not, Sunny George’s book asks how did he acquire enough resources to launch a widespread public ministry? Was he really a poor young man, or did he have greater amounts of WEALTH than is commonly believed?” http://www.reuters.com/article/pressRelease/idUS132164+23-Jan-2009+PRN20090123
“More accurately, (a tekton was) an artificer who could work in wood, fabric, masonry, sort of a general contractor or BUILDER. Certainly carpentry would have been the most common undertaking. …. There is no actual reference to Jesus himself as a carpenter and the earliest papyri refer to him as the Carpenter’s son.” “Some scholars suggest that Jesus was not a carpenter himself but was, in fact, a MAGICIAN, having learned magic in Egypt.” http://www.historian.net/NTHX.html
“…tekton, a Greek word that meant not merely a carpenter skilled in making cabinets or furniture but a designer, construction engineer, or ARCHITECT. A tekton could build a house, construct a bridge, or design a temple.” “It is highly unlikely that Jesus was a carpenter. If we examine the 48 parables that occur in the Gospels, not a single one draws upon the experiences of a carpenter.” http://www.jesuspolice.com/common_error.php?id=6
“We assume that because the people of Nazareth said it in the bible it must be true, even if it was an argument against who Jesus actually was. Regardless of whether or not Jesus was a carpenter there is a point that this raises that is much more than an assumption” . http://himalayan.us/blog/?p=21
“Jesus was teaching in the synagogue on the Sabbath; in other words, He was preaching the sermon. Since they thought He was a carpenter usurping the role of a RABBI, they understandably took offense. If He were a carpenter, as they wondered, His ability to preach would be quite amazing. However, the only people who thought this situation was remarkable and offensive were the people who were mistaken. Obviously, the synagogue authorities had allowed Him to preach, which means they knew that He was not a carpenter.” http://www.kencollins.com/jesus-35.htm
“In the gospels, total strangers walk up to Jesus and ask Him cast out demons, heal the sick, settle disputes, and probate wills. Carpenters don’t have that job description, but rabbis do. This also means, incidentally, that Jesus had to have been dressed like a RABBI; otherwise, the people wouldn’t know to ask. So it is very romantic to think of Jesus as a carpenter, but not very scriptural.” http://www.kencollins.com/jesus-35.htm
“Later in his career, (Morton Smith, professor of ancient history at Columbia University,) would develop the larger thesis that Jesus had been a practicing MAGICIAN, and that his revelations were steeped in widely attested magical techniques and beliefs.” Smith was the discoverer of a letter contining a portion of “The Secret Gospel of Mark.” http://www.thenation.com/doc/20090126/grafton
“… if this conclusion be correct, all proof of the fact that Jesus was a carpenter would disappear from the Gospels.” “Justin Martyr, who lived in the second century, refers … to the trade of Jesus. “And when Jesus came to the Jordan.” he says, “he was considered to be the son of Joseph the carpenter, . . . and he was deemed a CARPENTER (for he was in the habit of working as a carpenter… making ploughs and yokes; by which he taught the symbols of righteousness and an active life).” http://www.archive.org/stream/craftsman05newyuoft/craftsman05newyuoft_djvu.txt
The book, Genesis of the Grail Kings: “JOSEPH, the father of Jesus, was not a carpenter, but a trained ALCHEMICAL METALLURGIST of the highest order. These and other revelatory facts are disclosed for the first time in this remarkable study of the early Pendragons – the unique royal ancestors of King David and Jesus. http://www.randomhouse.ca/catalog/display.pperl?isbn=9780553817744
Jesus in India? “The Bible says nothing about Jesus’ life from the age of 12 until he was 30. Therefore, the theory goes, he must have spent that time in India STUDYING BUDDHISM.” http://buddhism.about.com/b/2009/08/20/jesus-in-india.htm
“We could agree it’s likely that Joseph’s family was low on the social scale. Joseph is called a tekton in Greek which is usually translated as “carpenter.” However,” according to a documentary on the Jesus (for) the National Geographic Channel a tekton is simply a person who works with his hands. While Joseph and Jesus may at times have worked with wood, they more likely…to have shaped stone, repaired houses, or even WORKED IN THE FIELDS.” http://lutheranscience.org/2008-NationalGeorgraphicJesus.html
Jesus Before Christ TV documentary transcript: “Jesus grew up in Galilee and it is likely that he was born in Nazareth (the census requiring Mary and Joseph to travel to Bethlehem is unhistorical). Joseph was probably not a carpenter, but a PROSPEROUS man. The Aramaic word “nagar,” which is translated in the Greek bible as “tektar” (craftsman) can also mean a LEARNED MAN.” http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~slocks/asym/jesusbeforechrist.html
Young Jesus book: “* His father Joseph was not a carpenter, but a FARMER who most likely lost his land to forfeiture, crushed by a triple yoke of priestly, Roman and Herodian taxes.
* Joseph and his son Joseph were then conscripted to work in the rebuilding of Herod Antipas’ new capital, the city of Sepphoris, located a scant 4 miles from Nazareth.
• Joseph very likely died in a construction accident while at Sepphoris. http://jpisbouts.com/Young_Jesus_Book.html
“Dan Brown’s blockbuster novel, The DaVinci Code,” …”which could be dismissed as the most ludicrous rubbish,” says, “Jesus… was not a carpenter and itinerant preacher of the Kingdom but a WEALTHY RELIGIOUS INTELLECTUAL with aspirations to David’s throne. His well-heeled and royally inclined lover, Mary Magdalene, is the ‘holy grail,’ because she held within herself the blood of Jesus while bearing his children…” http://www.eppc.org/news/newsID.1622/news_detail.asp
In the Fellowship of Christian MAGICIANs, “Nobody wants to be accused of stealing the spotlight from Jesus. Not that He wasn’t something of a showman: Turning water into wine, walking on water, producing loaves and fishes to feed the multitude—the Son of Man certainly knew how to bring the wow factor. In his book, What a Fellowship, one of the FCM’s founders observes that “the surprise ending in magic is indeed very much like the effect that Jesus’s parables had on His audience.” The fellowship’s Christian Conjurer magazine recently ran a cover article titled “Jesus—Magician or God?” http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2008/08/jesus-magic
Upon this Rock Ministries 