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 (yorwb) , "tanner", (the same word here used, adopted into the Hebrew language,) died, and he had a brother a tanner F18''where the Gemara F19 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 F20,
``woe to him whose trade is a tanner:''
and further observe F21 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 (See Gill on Mark 6:3) and Simon the Athenian philosopher was (skutotomov) "a leather cutter" F23; and according to the Ethiopic version, this our Simon was a shoemaker; with him Peter chose to abide, and not with Dorcas.