[Robe]

I disagree that they were “Poor’.. Joseph was a carpenter.. in a age where everything from the table you sat at to the utensils you used, the carpenter in a village was a very crucial and well off individual. and provided for his family well.

Flame away

[goldendelicious]

No flaming, don't worry. I'm saying they were poor based solely upon this verse, speaking of when Mary went to the Temple on baby Jesus' behalf-- Luke 2:24 "..and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.”

Which is an order given by God in this verse--Leviticus 12:8--'But if she cannot afford a lamb, then she shall take two turtledoves or two young pigeons, the one for a burnt offering and the other for a sin offering; and the priest shall make atonement for her, and she will be clean.'"

Since Mary and Joseph went the "2-dove route," I assume from the above verse in Leviticus, that they couldn't afford a lamb.

[Mrs. Don-o]

Joseph was a tekton (Gr.)

I’ve seen various explanations for what that means, but the bottom line seems to be a man who didn’t have any land of his own -— at a time and place when land-owning was the basis of all wealth-— and lived by his labor in a town so small and poor, it wasn’t even reachable by a Roman road until the following century.

So it’s not like he was a bigtime artisan doing fine craftsmanship for wealthy Roman patrons.

It’s more like he was a guy with small-time woodworking shop, making doors, donkey-carts, and yokes for oxen.

This would explain why they gave the poor peoples’ offering at the temple -— a pair of turtledoves-— instead of a middle-class lamb.