Paul, Tentmaker: I heard a Messianic teacher say that Paul was not a tentmaker, but instead fashioned tallits or prayer shawls. Is there any proof of this?
It was not uncommon at all for religious Jews in the First Century to have a trade in which they were actively involved, and Paul, in addition to his religious training, was likely trained in some kind of art. Jews who were mobile were often able to practice their trade in whatever community or city they stayed, so they could support themselves. The reference to Paul as a tentmaker appears in Acts 18:1-3: After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. Notice that the text describes Paul and the Roman Jews Priscilla and Acquila as tentmakers by trade (ESV). This indicates that to some degree the trade they practiced was one that could bring them a reasonable living. Would this livi
It was not uncommon at all for religious Jews in the First Century to have a trade in which they were actively involved, and Paul, in addition to his religious training, was likely trained in some kind of art. Jews who were mobile were often able to practice their trade in whatever community or city they stayed, so they could support themselves. The reference to Paul as a tentmaker appears in Acts 18:1-3: After these things he left Athens and went to Corinth. And he found a Jew named Aquila, a native of Pontus, having recently come from Italy with his wife Priscilla, because Claudius had commanded all the Jews to leave Rome. He came to them, and because he was of the same trade, he stayed with them and they were working, for by trade they were tent-makers. Notice that the text describes Paul and the Roman Jews Priscilla and Acquila as tentmakers by trade (ESV). This indicates that to some degree the trade they practiced was one that could bring them a reasonable living. Would this livi
