Emphasis Preaching Journal

The apostle Paul models an excellent work ethic through making tents. He was probably a skilled leather worker who specialized in tentmaking. He would have purchased his animal skins from a tanner, since tanning is a messy job, and the Jewish people believed that working with dead animals made them ceremonially unclean. Tentmakers needed few tools, so Paul's trade was easily portable. As an itinerant tentmaker, he would never have been able to build a clientele for repeat business in any one area.