Carpenter

Carpenter - (Easton's Bible Dictionary)

An artificer in stone, iron, and copper, as well as in wood (2 Sam. 5:11; 1 Chr. 14:1; Mark 6:3). The tools used by carpenters are mentioned in 1 Sam. 13:19, 20; Judg. 4:21; Isa. 10:15; 44:13. It was said of our Lord, "Is not this the carpenter's son?" (Matt. 13:55); also, "Is not this the carpenter?" (Mark 6:3). Every Jew, even the rabbis, learned some handicraft: Paul was a tentmaker. "In the cities the carpenters would be Greeks, and skilled workmen; the carpenter of a provincial village could only have held a very humble position, and secured a very moderate competence."

Carpenter - (Webster's 1828 Dictionary)

CARPENTER, n. An artificer who works in timber; a framer and builder of houses, and of ships. Those who build houses are called house-carpenters, and those who build ships are called ship-carpenters.

In New England, a distinction is often made between the man who frames, and the man who executes the interior wood-work of a house. The framer is the carpenter, and the finisher is called joiner. This distinction is noticed by Johnson, and seems to be a genuine English distinction. But in some other parts of America, as in New-York, the term carpenter includes both the framer and the joiner; and in truth both branches of business are often performed by the same person. The word is never applied, as in Italy and Spain, to a coach-maker.

kar'-pen-ter (charash; tekton): This word, which is a general word for graver or craftsman, is translated "carpenter" in 2Ki 22:6; 2Ch 24:12; Ezr 3:7; Isa 41:7. The same word is rendered "craftsman" in the American Standard Revised Version of Jer 24:1 and Jer 29:2 and "smith" in the American Standard Revised Version of Zec 1:20. In 2Sa 5:11; 2Ki 12:11; 1Ch 14:1; and Isa 44:13, charash occurs with `ets (wood), and is more exactly translated "carpenter" or "worker in wood." Tekton, the corresponding Greek word for artificer, is translated "carpenter" in Mt 13:55 and Mr 6:3.

See CARVING; CRAFTS.