Craftsman

(חָרָשׁ, charash', De 27:25; 2Ki 24:16; Ho 13:2; elsewhere "engraver," "workman," etc.; חֶרֶשׁ, che'resh, Ne 11:35; "cunning," Isa 3:3; "secretly," Jos 2:1; "Charashim," 1Ch 4:14; both from חָרֵשׁ, charash', to carve in stone, hence to be an artificer in general; τεχνίτης, Ac 19:24,38; Revelations 18:22; "builder," Heb 11:10; an artisan), a workman at any mechanical employment requiring skill. SEE MECHANIC. Persons of this class professionally (for every Jew was required to learn some manual trade, to fall back upon in case of want) seem to have congregated in a special street or bazaar (q.v.) in the environs of Jerusalem (1Ch 4:14, where it is called a valley), or rather in the vicinity of Lod (Ne 11:35); regarded by Dr. Robinson (Phys. Geogr. of Palest. p. 113) as the plain of Beit Nuba, or rather a side valley opening into it. SEE CHARASHIM.