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Why does Joseph hold a staff in most nativity scenes?

December 14th, 2014

Gina Cook
December 13, 2014 · Edited

This has nothing to do with GQ questions but trying to answer why in most nativity scenes it shows Joseph holding a staff/stick. It makes him look like a shepherd but he wasn’t. Not sure how to answer this. Any ideas?

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  • Seen by 35
    Ed Chait likes this.
  • Vincent Trigili Because they are wrong is the correct answer , but you could say a staff was a common means of defense while traveling.
    Yesterday at 11:56am · Like · 1
  • Robert Lowry Maybe it was a staff he made in his carpentry shop for one of his shepherd customers? …. Just kidding, I have no idea.
    Yesterday at 12:08pm · Like · 2
  • Vincent Trigili Remember he just walked there from another town, it is very conceivable he would have had a walking stick at least.
    Yesterday at 12:09pm · Like · 1
  • Dwight Payne Hiking staff/weapon…….remember, they had to walk everywhere. I’m betting that most people would have carried a staff.
    Yesterday at 12:09pm · Like · 1
  • Ed Chait This is copied from:

    http://www.bible-history.com/links.php?cat=39&sub=742…

    ” As a rule, Jewish men did not indulge in extravagances of dress, and there was little ornamentation among them. They often carried a cane or staff, which would be ornamented at the top, but it served the useful purpose of protecting them from half-wild dogs that abounded in the country, and was not much of an ornament.”
    Yesterday at 12:16pm · Like · 2
  • Sarah Van Baale Same reason the nativity shows 3 wise men who weren’t there at Jesus’ birth and probably weren’t 3 in number either! But I’d prefer he be holding a staff than a hammer – because that would just seem weird!
    Yesterday at 12:19pm · Like · 3
  • Ed Chait Weird yes, but Joseph could then have said, “it’s hammer time!”
    Yesterday at 12:22pm · Like · 3
  • Robert Pristoop He should have been holding a potato latke!
    Yesterday at 1:20pm · Like · 4
  • Ed Chait mmmmmmm, latkes!
    Yesterday at 2:55pm · Like · 1
  • Joe Maxey Not any stranger than having the Magi at the manger!
    23 hrs · Like · 2
  • Tim White He was modeling staffs from his carpenter shop. Advertising, man, advertising.
    23 hrs · Like · 4
  • Wendyl Leslie You’re a wild man, Tim White.
    22 hrs · Like · 1
  • Gina Cook LOL, great responses! I will pass these on And I had no idea of the staff being used as protection – thanks guys, thanks Ed for the link.

    I agree, the reason is probably the same reason the wise men are always at the scene~ yet why a staff is so prevalent in so many nativity scenes, when it’s not mentioned in scripture Joseph having one, I just couldn’t figure out where people got this. Thanks everyone!
    21 hrs · Like · 1
  • Marc Weiss I concur with the others – he probably had a staff, but it is not explicitly stated (and I surmise probably not more than a big stick he carved). An area that is mostly Biblical, but commercialized. Like Tim said….
    20 hrs · Like · 1
  • Sarah Van Baale FYI – I just checked my wood cutout nativity scene in the front yard and Joseph doesn’t have a staff in it. Instead, he’s praying. I went around looking at all the other nativity scenes we have in various places (like ornaments, pictures, etc.) and in only half of them is he holding a staff. As someone implied earlier, it is just commercialized stereotype – much like a blonde hair blue eyed American Jesus!
    19 hrs · Like · 2
  • Marc Weiss Oh yes, the blonde hair, blue eyed Jesus annoys me. I can handle Joseph’s staff with ease, and the happy animals, but………. yeah…
    19 hrs · Like · 2
  • Marc Weiss I know this is unimportant really, but I sat here and thought about it. If I were a carpenter, and i lived in a time where it was wise to carry a stick, I would carve myself a mac daddy stick. Therefore, and this is only a guess, Joseph having a nice staff to carry could indeed be real. Just thinking about it. I have no real ability with my hands (I cannot play sports, or build anything that will stay up, etc.) but if I did, I know I would make myself something nice as I would want it to last.
    18 hrs · Like · 2
  • Gina Cook Yeah, the blonde hair and blue eyed Jesus irks me too. I had looked around my neighborhood and on Pintrest and maybe 50-60% of the Josephs I looked at had a staff. The ones he isn’t holding a staff in he is praying. I had never really paid attention to that before. Having a staff makes sense though after knowing what I know now but I agree it is probably just commercialized stereotype.
    18 hrs · Like · 2
  • Sarah Van Baale More realistically, Joseph should be holding the baby, or at least tending to him, because Mary had to have been absolutely exhausted. After a long trip, a physically demanding delivery, and then all of the strangers (aka shepherds) stopping by for a visit, I’m pretty sure she needed a nap and Dad was on duty!
    18 hrs · Like · 4
  • Wendyl Leslie Ha! Isn’t it amazing how our imaginations soar even with the story of Jesus’ birth. It’s no small wonder then that we have so many fanciful twists and turns of the actual Words of God.
    18 hrs · Like · 2
  • Gina Cook Oh no doubt about it Sarah!
    18 hrs · Like · 1
  • Ed Chait Yep, I guess fighting off all the half-wild dogs with his staff doesn’t count
    17 hrs · Like · 2
  • Marc Weiss Wendyl – at least this one is a minor point. LOL
    17 hrs · Like · 2
  • Marc Weiss Ed, I would have carved myself a shield and staff for the dogs now. I won’t lie. If I was skilled, I would have built my own house. As luck would have it, I screwed up replacing PVC piping.
    17 hrs · Edited · Like · 2
  • Marc Weiss True Conversation in 1994 at the Military Entrance Processing Station while looking at my ASVAB scores, which include mechanics:

    Counselor (C): What do you want to do [in the Navy]?
    Me: What can I do?
    C: Your scores are great, you can do anything you want …… but I would not let you touch my car.

    So much for building anything.

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