Joseph son of Jacob {AM 2854 - 2916} (jan 1, 1696 BC – jan 1, 1634 BC)

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According to the biblical account, Joseph was the son of Jacob by Rachel, the patriarch's favorite wife (Gen. 30:23, 24), who, on the occasion of Joseph's birth, said, "The Lord shall add [Heb. yosef] to me another son." (Gen. 30:24) He was born in Padan-aram when Jacob was about 90 years old. Joseph would have been approximately six years old when his family returned from Haran to Canaan. He was present at Jacob's famous reconciliation with his brother Esau. Soon, the family took up residence in the town of Bethel and later moved to Hebron. In the interim, Joseph's mother died giving birth to his brother, Benjamin.

The Bible doesn't say specifically when he died. He was 17 when sold into slavery, was in Potiphar's household long enough to make it prosperous, and then spent a couple of years in prison, so he was most likely at least 25-30 when he was made second ruler of Egypt. He was in the post for the seven good years. It was probably a couple of years into the famine before the other sons came down, and Jacob lived in Egypt for 17 years after that. Just adding up the time stated definitely, he couldn't possibly have been less than in his mid-40s, and 50 or even 60 isn't entirely unreasonable.

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