Jesus the tinker

John 1:14 says Jesus “made his home among us”, literally “tented with us” ie. “was tabernacled” among us. His human existence was distinctly nomadic in nature. In all of his 33 years Jesus never once owned a house or land. At no point in the circular travel with his disciples did he say "Let's go back to my place now".

On the contrary, when one of his followers asked about his home Jesus said:

Luke 9:58 But Jesus replied, “Foxes have dens to live in, and birds have nests, but the Son of Man has no place even to lay his head.”

Jesus was trained in the same trade as his Dad Joseph. He was a tekton. (Greek τέκτων) This word is almost always translated into English as "carpenter". Which is fine, I'm not making a point for bad translation here. I am not a greek scholar and I won't pretend I am. It's just that the word has more meaning in it than we associate with the word carpenter, and some of it means nomad. Let me show you.

First, it was an artistic trade, not a purely manual one. The Septuagint distinguishes tekton from regular workmen, listing it instead along side metal worker and stone mason. An occupation which required a good eye and some skill, not something that anyone could do. But also not something that there was always a great call for it depended on people having some disposable income left for decorations.

But yet, to be called a tekton was in some way belittling.

Mark 6:2-3 The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?” Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him.

The implication here is that Jesus should not have the wisdom of a philosopher or teacher or the social or medical skills of an educated physician. He was JUST a tekton. A occupation of obviously low status.

I will add one more thing. In the city an craftsman may be able to find enough work for full time occupation. Perhaps even open a shop. But not out in the sticks. Jesus was not a city boy. It is likely that to find enough work Joseph and his son after him would have had to travel to any town where a civic building was going up and take contract work for the duration of the project.

This type of work, artisan crafts, physical skill, apprenticeship learning, low status work that might be irregular or require movement to be viable; it reminds me of something. Commercial nomadism. The kind of worker who does beautiful art but people can't wait for them to move on.

Maybe "carpenter" means something more like "tinker".