6:3: Is this not the carpenter?
Praise for the handiwork.
Tosefta Qiddušin 1.11 (336): What is the father’s duty to his son? He
is obligated to circumcise him, to redeem him (as the firstborn), to teach him
the Torah, to teach him a trade אוּמָּנוּת,
and to acquire a wife for him. Others add, to teach him how to swim in the
river. R. Judah (ca. 150) said, “Whoever does not teach his son a trade,
teaches him to be a robber (trains up disorderly people).” Rabban Gamaliel (ca.
90) said, “Whoever has a trade, with what can he be compared? To a vineyard
that is surrounded by a wall and to a garden (?) surrounded by a fence.” R.
Yose (ca. 150) said in the name of Rabban Gamaliel, “Whoever has a trade, with
what can he be compared? With a woman who has a husband. Whether she makes
herself pretty or not, nobody looks at her. But if she does not make herself
pretty, then he curses her. And whoever does not have a trade, with what can he
be compared? With a woman who does not have a husband. Whether she makes herself
pretty or not, everyone looks at her. And if she makes herself pretty, then he
curses her.”—R. Eleazar b. Zadok (probably the II [ca. 150]) said in the name
of Rabban Gamaliel, “Whoever has a trade, with what can he be compared? With a
walled vineyard into which cattle and beasts cannot enter, and the passers-by
do not eat of what is in it, and do not see what is in it. Whoever does not
have a trade, with what can he be compared? With a vineyard lying open into
which cattle and wild animals can enter, and the passers-by eat what is in it,
and see everything that is inside.”—Other individual examples can also be found
in y. Qidd. 1.61A.16; b. Qidd. 29A, 30B. ‖ Mishnah Qiddušin 4.14: “A man should
not teach his son a trade that he has to practice among women.” R. Meir (ca.
150) said, “A man should always teach his son a clean and easy trade. And let
him pray to him to whom wealth and fortune belong. For there is no trade in
which there is no poverty or wealth. For neither poverty nor wealth depend on
the trade, but rather all depends on the man’s worthiness זכותי.” ‖ Babylonian Talmud Berakot 8A: R. Hiyya (ca. 280) said in
the name of R. Ulla (ca. 280), “The one who enjoys his work (feeds himself on
it) is greater than the one who fears God. For behold, it is written of the
God-fearing, ‘Blessed is the man who fears Yahweh’ (Ps 112:1). And behold, it
is written of the man who enjoys his work, ‘From the work of your hands you
will indeed nourish yourself; you will be happy, and it will be well with you’
(Ps 128:2). ‘Well with you’ in this world and ‘it will be well with you’ in the
world to come. But with respect to the one who fears God, it is not written ‘it
will be well with you.’ ” ‖ Mishnah Ketubbot 5.5: R. Eliezer said, “Even
if the woman brought her husband 100 slave girls (as a wedding gift), he can force
her to work in wool because idleness leads to fornication.”—For more on this,
see the comments at § Acts 18:3. (Hermann L. Strack and Paul
Billerbeck, A Commentary on the New Testament from the Talmud and Midrash,
ed. Jacob N. Cerone, 4 vols. [trans. Andrew Bowden and Joseph Longarino;
Bellingham, Wash.: Lexham Press, 2022], 2:12-13)
