And it came to pass,.... Or so it was;
that he tarried many days in Joppa; conversing with the saints, confirming the disciples, and preaching the Gospel, to the conversion of sinners; and his abode
was with one Simon a tanner; it seems as if persons of this trade used to dwell in towns near the sea, as fit for their business; so we read of some at Sidon, a city on the sea coast, as Joppa was;
"it happened at Sidon that a certain בורסי, "tanner", (the same word here used, adopted into the Hebrew language,) died, and he had a brother a tanner, c. r''
where the Gemara s distinguishes between a great tanner and a little tanner the latter, the gloss says, is one that is poor and has but few skins: which of these Simon was, cannot be said. This business was very contemptible with the Jews; they say t,
"woe to him whose trade is a tanner:''
and further observe u that they never make one a king, nor a high priest: but their doctors many of them were of as mean trades, as shoemakers, skinners, c. Mark 6:3 and Simon the Athenian philosopher was σκυτοτομος "a leather cutter" w and according to the Ethiopic version, this our Simon was a shoemaker; with him Peter chose to abide, and not with Dorcas.
r Misn. Cetubot, c. 7. sect. 10. s T. Bab. Cetubot, fol. 77. 1. t T. Bab. Kiddushin, fol. 82. 2. & Bava Bathra, fol. 16. 2. u Kiddush, fol. 82. 1. w Laert. in Vit. Simon