Tanner
Tanner (βυρσεύς, Hebraized in the Talmud as בורסי, also בורסקי), the occupation of Simon of Joppa (Ac 9:43; Ac 10:6,32). This trade, on account of the bad smell connected with it (comp. Schol. on Aristoph. Eq. 44; Petron. Sat. 11), was despised among the Jews (Kethuboth, 7:10; Megillah, 3, 2; see Schöttgen, Hor. Heb. i, 447; Wettstein, N.T. 2, 516). Those who followed it were called by the Greeks βυρσοδρέψαι, in Latin coriarii, subo7tarii (Guter, Inscript. p. 1548, No. 8). They usually had their work-place outside the cities (Artemid. 1, 51; Mishna, Baba Batihra, 2, 9), or on streams or the sea (Ac 10:6). See Walch, Dissert. in Act. Apost. 2, 101 sq. — Winer. SEE MECHANIC. The ancient Egyptians used the bark of various trees for tanning (Wilkinson, 2. 106). SEE LEATHER. The tanneries of Joppa are now on the shore south of the cit(Thomson, Land and Book, 2, 281). Several circumstances, however, confirm the tradition of the present "house of Simon" there (Stanley, Palest. p. 269). SEE SIMON.
