Joseph

Joseph, the human father of Jesus, was a Hebrew of the Hebrews, though he carried many non-Jewish racial strains added through the female lines of an ancestry that reached back through Abraham to the earlier Sumerian peoples (122:1.1). A mild-mannered, conscientious, and deeply spiritual man, he worked as a carpenter who became a contractor, building a shop in Nazareth where he made yokes, plows, and other woodwork while employing several mechanics (123:1.6). He spoke both Aramaic and Greek and personally taught the young Jesus (123:3.1). His link to the line of David came through adoption six generations back rather than blood descent (122:4.3).