Biblical Chronology: Abram, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph

The genealogies of the Hebrew Patriarchs are scattered throughout the remainder of the book of Genesis, but the appropriate scriptures are listed in the last column of the table.

The result of reading those passages gives us this information:

We don't have straightforward information on Joseph's birth, but we are able to use several scriptures to derive what we need.

• Genesis 41:46 Joseph was 30 when he stood before Pharaoh at the beginning of the 7 years of plenty.
• Genesis 45:6,9 Joseph reveals himself to his brothers two years into the famine and urges his family to come to Egypt without delay.
• Genesis 47:9 On Jacob's entry into Egypt, he tells Pharaoh that he is 130 years old.

You remember the Bible story...Joseph interpret's Pharaoh's dream as 7 years of plenty followed by 7 years of famine.  At that time Joseph was 30 years old.  Two years into the famine, Joseph's family is there for food (for the second time) and Joseph reveals himself to his brothers.  At this time Joseph is 39 years old (7 years of plenty and 2 of famine).  We will assume that the family did as directed by Joseph and came to Egypt "without delay".  Joseph immediately took them to Pharaoh where, upon being asked, Jacob says that his years are 130. 

Simple subtraction tells us that Jacob was 91 when Joseph was born.  I imagine you weren't thinking that Jacob was that old at Joseph's birth.  I wasn't!

So, if you fill in the rest of the chart, this is what you have:

This is the end of the genealogies with dates and ages that are recorded in scripture. From this point forward, we will be looking for other kinds of details to establish connections to later events and happenings. But that's for next week!