We know from Acts 18:3 that Paul practised the trade of tentmaking, a trade that he shared with the couple Priscilla and Aquila. It was previously thought that tentmaking would involve working with leather, since military tents were made of leather.1,2 However, it is unlikely that small-scale craftsmen like Paul would have been employed by the Roman army; it is more probable that they would have manufactured the linen awnings that were used quite widely for shade in public places. What is important for us to note about practitioners of this craft is that their income was modest, enough to sustain them, but not far above the level of subsistence. The challenge of generating an adequate income would have been all the greater for a craftsman like Paul who came as an outsider into a city like Thessalonica; dedicated toil would have been required to support him and his companions.3
9 For you remember, brothers, our labor and toil: we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you, while we proclaimed to you the gospel of God.