Joseph’s timeline and family tree

By Mark Morgan | Family trees

Nov 08

Abraham, Isaac, Jacob and then Joseph: here are Joseph’s timeline and family tree in multiple languages.

Joseph’s life – timeline

Joseph lived for 110 years – which seems like a long time to us, but was significantly shorter than the lives of his ancestors, including his father Jacob, who died at the age of 147.

Only a small part – just 11 years – of Joseph’s life was spent in the land of Canaan. About 93 years were spent in Egypt.

Joseph: timeline (English)

Some of the ages mentioned above are calculated from other details. For example, the age at which he left Paddan-aram, how old he was when he interpreted the dream for the butler and the baker, and his age when Jacob died.

The synchronisation of ages between Jacob and Joseph is found through computation, based on the following facts.

  1. We know Jacob’s age when he went to Egypt because in Genesis 47:9 he tells Pharaoh that he was 130 years old.
  2. Joseph’s age at that time is computed from:
    • Genesis 41:46 says that Joseph was 30 years old when he entered Pharaoh’s service. As soon as he did so, the time of plenty predicted by Pharaoh’s dreams began.
    • Genesis 41:47 and 53 tell us that 7 years of plenty came in Egypt, followed by famine.
    • Genesis 45:6 and 11 tell us that when Joseph sent his brothers back to Canaan to bring Jacob to Egypt, there had been two years of famine.

Thus we can say that Joseph was 39 years old when Jacob went to Egypt.

Timeline of Joseph's life (Spanish (ES))

Timeline of Joseph’s life (Spanish) contributed by Enrique Chi

Some of the ages mentioned above are calculated from other details. For example, the age at which he left Paddan-aram, how old he was when he interpreted the dream for the butler and the baker, and his age when Jacob died.

La sincronización entre las edades de Jacob y de José puede calcularse sobre la base de los hechos siguientes.

  1. Sabemos la edad de Jacob cuando fue a Egipto porque en Génesis 47.9 le dice a Faraón que tenía 130 años.
  2. La edad de José en ese momento se calcula de la siguiente manera:
    • Génesis 41.46 dice que José tenía 30 años cuando empezó a servir a Faraón. Tan pronto lo hizo, los años de abundancia vaticinados por los sueños de Faraón se iniciaron.
    • Génesis 41:47 y 53 nos dice que los 7 años de abundancia vinieron a Egipto, seguidos de una gran hambre.
    • Génesis 45.6 y 11 nos dice que cuando José envió a sus hermanos de regreso a Canaán para que trajeran a Jacob a Egipto, habían pasado dos años de hambre.

Luego, podemos concluir que José tenía 39 años cuando Jacob fue a Egipto.

Como dato interesante, esta sincronización también nos permite determinar que Jacob tenía 91 años cuando José nace.

This Spanish (ES) version of the timeline is also available in Powerpoint (with embedded fonts) or PDF (with embedded fonts).

Timeline of Joseph in Bengali (BN – Bangla)

Timeline of Joseph’s life (Bengali (BN)) contributed by Sourav Mondal

Some of the ages mentioned above are calculated from other details. For example, the age at which he left Paddan-aram, how old he was when he interpreted the dream for the butler and the baker, and his age when Jacob died.

The synchronisation of ages between Jacob and Joseph is found through computation, based on the following facts.

  1. We know Jacob’s age when he went to Egypt because in Genesis 47:9 he tells Pharaoh that he was 130 years old.
  2. Joseph’s age at that time is computed from:
    • Genesis 41:46 says that Joseph was 30 years old when he entered Pharaoh’s service. As soon as he did so, the time of plenty predicted by Pharaoh’s dreams began.
    • Genesis 41:47 and 53 tell us that 7 years of plenty came in Egypt, followed by famine.
    • Genesis 45:6 and 11 tell us that when Joseph sent his brothers back to Canaan to bring Jacob to Egypt, there had been two years of famine.

Thus we can say that Joseph was 39 years old when Jacob went to Egypt.

This Bengali/Bangla (BN) version of the timeline is also available in Powerpoint (with embedded fonts) or PDF (with embedded fonts).

If you are able and willing to translate the timeline of Joseph into another language and make your translation freely available for use on the Bible Tales website (www.bibletales.online), we very much appreciate your help. Please note that we are not asking for exclusive use in any way. You are free to use your translation on any other website you choose.

There are two options for providing your translation depending on the tools you have available.

1. Download the Joseph Timeline PowerPoint file in English.

PowerPoint: Joseph Timeline in English (with embedded fonts)

Using PowerPoint, replace the English text in each block with your translated version. If you are using a different script and require a different font from Roboto or Roboto Condensed, please choose a unicode font and make sure that it is not a font that does not require a paid licence. In particular, web fonts allow the fonts to be loaded easily for most users of the website. Many such fonts are available on Google fonts. In particular, we suggest that a consistent appearance can be achieved using Noto Sans, a large collection of fonts covering many different scripts.

When you have finished, please make sure that the font is embedded in the PowerPoint file, then forward your translated PowerPoint file to Bible Tales, including font details if necessary. We like to acknowledge contributors, so if you are happy with that, please let us know who you are.

2. If you don’t have access to PowerPoint, please download the text file below.

File with English text to translate : JosephTimelineTranslation-EN.txt

The file contains a list of the English text included in the Timeline of Joseph that requires translation. After each English line requiring translation, a line beginning with “trans> ” is included where the translated text should be provided.

Please forward the updated file for us to include it in a PowerPoint slide.

Please forward your file with translation to Bible Tales, including any font details that may help us to add the text to a PowerPoint slide. We like to acknowledge contributors, so if you are happy with that, please let us know who you are.

Note that this timeline (in English) is also available in Powerpoint (with embedded fonts), SVG, PDF (with embedded fonts) or in PNG format at other resolutions. If you would like to have any of these, just click on the link or contact me.

Interestingly, this synchronisation also allows us to work out that Jacob was 91 years old when Joseph was born.

Joseph’s life – family tree

Joseph's family tree

Note that this family tree in English is also available in Powerpoint (with embedded font), SVG, PDF (with embedded font) or in PNG format at other resolutions. If you would like to have any of these, just click on the link or contact me.

Joseph Family Tree (Bengali/Bangla/ বাংলা BN)

Note that this family tree is also available in Powerpoint (with embedded font), SVG, PDF (with embedded font) or in PNG format at other resolutions. If you would like to have any of these, just click on the link or contact me.

This family tree concentrates on Joseph and his family. As a result, Abraham’s brothers and Lot are excluded and Keturah’s children are not named with the exception of Midian whose descendants are mentioned in the sale of Joseph into slavery.

See also

If you are looking for maps from Joseph’s time, see our blog post “Joseph: maps”.

Joseph, Rachel’s son

This is one of a series of articles on Joseph published as back-up material for the Bible-based fiction novel Joseph, Rachel’s son.

A young boy with 11 brothers; favourite of his father; chosen of God.

Joseph, Rachel’s son, lived a privileged life in Canaan until his jealous brothers sold him into slavery in Egypt. There, the favourite son learned hardship and faced undeserved punishment.

Overcoming one trial after another, he finally faces the greatest test of all: power over his brothers. When they bow before him – as prophesied so many years before – will he take revenge, or show the forgiveness that comes from God?

Beloved son, envied brother, betrayed slave, hopeless prisoner, ruler of Egypt, but, above all, servant of God – this is Joseph’s story.

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