In my previous post I tried to show why the evidence that Jesus was a carpenter before beginning his public ministry is thin at best. It is found only in Mark 6:3 (“isn’t this the carpenter?”), which is changed in Matthew (to “son of the carpenter”) and Luke (to “son of Joseph”). John doesn’t have the passage and doesn’t say anything about Jesus being a carpenter, nor do any of the other books of the New Testament, nor any other early Christian writing at all, apart from those that are getting it from Mark.
This raises three questions that may seem different (since they are) but are actually related: (1) Why did Matthew and Luke, and then later scribes of Mark, change it? (2) Is it true historically? (3) If not, can we think of a reason Mark may have invented it? I’ll take them in order. This will take three posts.
Why Did Matthew, Luke, and Later Scribes Change It?
With the change, Jesus is no longer said to be a carpenter. Later scribes may have
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