Joseph, husband of Mary
b. c. 30 BCE · Nazareth
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Joseph was the husband of Mary and, in the Gospels, the man who raised Jesus as his son. Matthew and Luke both present him as a descendant of King David (Matthew 1:16, 1:20; Luke 1:27, 2:4). Matthew tells that when he found Mary pregnant during their betrothal, he planned to end the engagement quietly. A dream then moved him to take her as his wife (Matthew 1:18-25). He went with her to Bethlehem for the birth (Luke 2:4-7). According to Matthew, he took the family to Egypt to escape Herod and later settled in Nazareth (Matthew 2:13-23). Luke shows him taking the twelve-year-old Jesus to Jerusalem for Passover (Luke 2:41-51). Neighbours call Jesus 'the carpenter's son' (Matthew 13:55); the Greek word, tekton, means a builder or craftsman. Joseph does not appear in accounts of Jesus's adult ministry, and the Gospels never record his death. Later writings, such as the 2nd-century Protoevangelium of James, describe him as an elderly widower. That is tradition, not Gospel testimony. He is widely honoured as a saint, especially in Catholic and Orthodox devotion.
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NazarethIsrael
What they did here
Luke says Joseph went up to Bethlehem from Nazareth (Luke 2:4) and returned there afterwards (Luke 2:39). Matthew has him settle in Nazareth only after the return from Egypt (Matthew 2:22-23). Townspeople speak of Jesus as 'the carpenter's son' (Matthew 13:55).
About Nazareth
Nazareth, in the Lower Galilee, is the largest city of Israel's Northern District and a predominantly Arab city, roughly two-thirds Muslim and one-third Christian. Archaeology shows that it was a small Jewish village in the Roman and Byzantine periods. The Gospels make it the childhood home of Jesus, called 'Jesus of Nazareth', and of his family, and Catholic tradition places the Annunciation there; the modern Basilica of the Annunciation is among the largest churches in the Middle East. Under Ottoman rule the town grew in the eighteenth century, and churches, schools and monasteries were built in the late nineteenth. It came under British control at the end of the First World War and surrendered to Israeli forces in July 1948.
In Nazareth at the same time
In the same place & time
Sages whose lives overlapped with Joseph, husband of Mary’s in the same cities, drawn from their recorded journeys.
Across the traditions
In the same tradition
Mary, mother of Jesus, Jesus of Nazareth, James the Just, Stephen the Protomartyr
The world in their lifetime
Thinkers, teachers, and rulers whose lives overlapped with Joseph, husband of Mary’s — a glimpse of the wider world they lived in. Drawn from recorded birth and death years (reign years for rulers whose lives are undated); where only one end of a life is known, a span of about 70 years is assumed.
Christian world
- Joseph of Arimathea· b. 20 BCE
- Nicodemus· b. 20 BCE
- John the Baptist· 5 BCE–29 CE
- James, son of Zebedee· 1 CE–44 CE
- Peter the Apostle· 1 CE–64 CE
- Mary Magdalene· b. 1 CE
- Andrew the Apostle· b. 1 CE
- Barnabas· b. 1 CE
- Bartholomew the Apostle· b. 1 CE
- Cornelius the Centurion· b. 1 CE
- Lazarus of Bethany· b. 1 CE
- Martha of Bethany· b. 1 CE
- Matthias the Apostle· b. 1 CE
- Philip the Apostle· b. 1 CE
- Thomas the Apostle· b. 1 CE
- Paul the Apostle· 5 CE–67 CE
- Lydia of Thyatira· b. 10 CE
- Aquila· b. 10 CE
- Priscilla· b. 10 CE
- Silas· b. 10 CE
- Judas Iscariot· d. 30 CE
- Mark the Evangelist· d. 68 CE
- Matthew the Apostle· d. 80 CE
- Luke the Evangelist· d. 84 CE
Graeco-Roman world
Jewish world
Egyptian world
Works
No works attributed in the corpus yet.