Was thinking of offering to God my ability to work with MS Visio to come up with charts. Which is a skill of an IT Project Proposal Writer and a Ex Project Manager.
Initially this started out as an innocent assignment to prove to a friend that Joseph did not turn from a slave to the Prime minister of Egypt over night… But slowly, as I was charting it out.. the chart had more and more items added then I realised that its possible to guess the age of Isaac since Isaac was 60 years old before Jacob was born.. I remembered vaguely that it is possible to make an educated guess of Jacobs age when he fled from Canaan to his uncle Laban.
So I started to work back wards based on the fact that Israel went to Egypt at the age of 130 and he died at 147.
If we add 60 years to it, Isaac would have been 190 year old (he died at 180)
Give an estimate of 10 years (7 years of abundance and 3 years of famine before Jacobs food ran out)
We know that Joseph was made the prime minister at the age of 30, and he was sold off to Egypt at the age of 17.
And when I realised its meaningless to chart out Jacobs life without reference to the life of Isaac, I decided to insert the time line fo the 3 patriarchs side by side.
I wanted to insert Abraham’s life, but I feel that the chart will be too wordy and messy if I inserted Abraham’s life timechart is included.
Gradually my curiosity got the better of me and I charted out this entire chart. Then I was thinking.. rather than just presenting the chart a few people, I might as well post it up my blog at the same time.
One of the interesting fact I learnt was that, we tend to imagine Jacob as a scheming young boy when he coveted the birthright and the blessing of Esau.. but the actual fact is, Jacob is already approximately 70 years old when he ran away from home.. technically that makes him a scheming old man..
Jacob never viewed the Lord God as his God, even though he saw the vision at Bethel.. He simply vowed, “If God protected and takes care of me, till I return to Bethel safely, then I would offer up my tithes and build a altar for God”. Even though God watched over him during his stay at Laban’s place, God was still known as ” God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac”.. God was still not his God, and Jacob was approximately 90 years old when he said that.
When he returned to Canaan he refused to return to Bethel.. and he when he finally got there.. he fulfilled is vow, and build an altar called “El Elohe Israel” (The Lord, God of Israel).. (He should be slightly older than 90 years old by then)…
Bearing in mind he died at 147, we can say that he only walked with God from 90 years old to 147 years old, a total of 57 years, which is not even half of his life… It was no wonder that when he blessed the Pharaoh, and when the Pharaoh asked for his age, he replied
“The years of my pilgrimage are a hundred and thirty. My years have been few and difficult, and they do not equal the years of the pilgrimage of my fathers.” (Gen 47:9)
Yet Jacob was well aware that, before he loved God, God has protected and taken care of him all the days of his life. Therefore before he made this beautiful declaration about God while he blessed the sons of Joseph prior to his death.
“May the God before whom my fathers
Abraham and Isaac walked,
the God who has been my shepherd
all my life to this day,
the Angel who has delivered me from all harm.
May He bless these boys…” (Gen 48:15-16)
And he died, worshiping God, holding on to his staff till his last breath.
Sometimes when I looked back at my life and wonder, if I can ever recount the number of times God has watched over and protected me in my life. I guess indeed everyone years have been few and difficult. I know that God is watching over me and I know for sure that this God who had been my shepherd all my life, and the Angel who has delivered me from all harm.
May we all learn to count the blessings that God has given us, and hold on to our faith till the end of our lives.
“The timeline of the lives of Isaac, Israel and Joseph”
The Hesitant Prize Fighter 
October 26, 2010 at 4:57 am
Thank you for your graphic.
I concur with your ages of the patriarchs.
You may be interested in the web link here.
Click to access Patriarchs.pdf
I use the same scriptural evidence.
You may not agree with the BC dating or other notations.
But that is based on another line of study.
Thanks again for your confirmation.
Jerry
October 28, 2010 at 12:24 pm
Hi Jerry,
I saw the link diagram, wow, it is very well drawn and it includes even to Noah… I did not dare to try that because that will make my notes a bit too much detailed for my friend who is begineer in his study of the bible. It will be a good summary for Gen 25 onwards.
It hink I can understand how the years are calculated, but personally I did not make attempts, as I understand the difficulty of pinpointing Joseph, and Moses in Egyptology as well as to pinpoint years using clues from the bible. I have read various arguments and the dates can be pretty different from either perspective.
Thats why I decided to remain neutral and just count the years instead 😉
Thank you so much for commenting and sharing with me the link. I hope to hear more from you soon.
September 17, 2011 at 5:29 am
I was preparing for a bible study that skims over Jacob’s life and thought I’d search up on his timeline, and came across here.
Thanks so much for the informative and easy-to-navigate diagram! Even more so it is true that even though Jacob knew God in a late age, God knew Jacob even before his birth. After reading your reflection, I ponder too, about how watchful God is to me even when I’m hostile towards Him, and how much grace He has given unbeknown to me.
William
September 27, 2011 at 10:07 pm
Hi William,
I am glad that the chart is able to aid you in your bible study. I do have other articles here and I will hope to hear from your comment.
Actually it surprised me very much when I did a count back and realize that Jacob was so “old” when he ran away from home… Its amazing how God still protects him despite the fact that he did not really believe in him. Sometimes it is so surprising that God love us so much but yet we still keep him far away from us.
HOpe to see you back here soon.. Immanuel
December 7, 2011 at 11:36 pm
Thank you. I am a teacher in a Christian school and am integrating the study of time lines with our study of Jacob. You just saved me hours of work! I have done similar time lines for other OT chronologies and the numbers fascinate me. So much for the thought that Jacob was a young dashing lad of about 20 when he met Rachel! It all helps us understand the Biblical story. Again, thank you for posting.
December 18, 2011 at 11:54 am
Hi Meredith
I am glad that it helped you, I will love to hear more from you on my blog as well.
Take care
April 12, 2012 at 7:30 am
Thanks for the timeline. You might be interested in the following chronology, from http://www.biblicalresearch.info/page1d.html – Chapter 2 Section 8. The main difference with yours is that it has Jacob leaving home at 77 years old (not 70), and Joseph being born 7 years after Jacob’s marriage, and 6 years before he returns to Canaan (not when he leaves for Canaan). Also, the year you assumed for Joseph to prepare infrastructure is not included in this chronology. (Personally, I would take the 7 years plenty to start immediately.) The quote is below.
Best regards,
Yvonne
“At this point we must work out the chronology in connection with Jacob’s life. He was born in the year 2168 A.H. and was 130 years old when he went down into Egypt; hence the date of the descent to Egypt was 2298 A.H. At that time Joseph was 39. This conclusion is arrived at by a simple mathematical deduction. In the second year of the Egyptian famine in the days of Joseph, Jacob and his family went into Egypt (Gen. 45:6-47:9). Preceding this period there were seven years of plenty (Gen. 41:25-27). Joseph was 30 years old when he was brought out of prison and given the place of food-dictator (Gen. 41:46). By simple addition then we see that Joseph was 30 plus 7 plus 2 in the second year of the famine, at which time his father was 130. By subtracting Joseph’s age from that of his father, we see that Jacob was 91 when Joseph was born; but he was born at the end of the 14th year of Jacob’s laboring for Leah and Rachel (Gen. 30:25). This becomes clear when we read the last citation in its connection, because, when Joseph was born, Jacob entered into a bargain with Laban to serve him for the ring-streaked and spotted among the sheep and goats. This was the third contract into which he entered with Laban, having fulfilled the two former ones, each of which was seven years, for his two wives. The last six years therefore he served for his livestock; hence Jacob was 91 when Joseph was born. Since he served Laban 14 years for his two daughters, by subtracting these years from 91, we arrive at 77, the age of Jacob when he fled from home and went to be with his uncle Laban. Hence he left Canaan and went to Paddan-Aram in the year 2245. At the expiration of the 6 years, during which he labored for his livestock, he returned to Canaan in 2265.
“Isaac died when he was 180 years old (Gen. 35:28), which was in 2288 A.H. As we shall see, Joseph was sold into Egypt in the year 2276; hence he had been there 12 years when his grandfather Isaac passed away.”
April 19, 2012 at 2:01 pm
Good Day Yvonne
Thank you for your sharing, it was indeed harder to plot the lives of Jacob and Joseph compared to Issac as the bible does not comment much about their age when events happens. The main purpose of doing the time line was to try to align the stories in Genesis in a chronlogical order and to give the users a slight idea of the age of the patriachs when the stories happen.
I have to admit that I added the one year to prepare the infrastructure due to the following reasons
1 . There is a huge amount of grain to be stored and perhaps the existing infrastructure in Eygpt needs to be upgraded before it can work, and having one year head start to it will have helped Joseph collect the grains more efficiently. As it needs planning and execution
2 . By making the age of joseph to be 40 when he reunites with his familys (Jacob is 130 years old) its easier to count backwards the age in the life of Jacob. Note that it will also make the event of the death of Issac to coincide with the year Joseph appear before the Pharoah.
But nonetheless, as there is a lack of infomation, you will notice that most the ages are marked as “Estimated Age”
Thank you for your interest in the charts, I will love see more of your comments in the future.
God Bless you
January 3, 2013 at 2:17 am
Thank you for doing the work and making this so user friendly. It has confirmed for me the dates and ages in a concise and colorful manner. So thankful for your help.
January 22, 2013 at 4:12 pm
Hi Heidi,
You are welcome, actually I did this as part of a lesson for my students. I am glad that you like it 🙂 Hope to hear more from you one day
July 16, 2013 at 7:39 pm
I am blessed by the text and the chart. -Pastor Shalem Arasavelli
January 2, 2014 at 3:38 pm
I am blessed with your visit. thank you for your comments. Hope to hear more from you soon
July 20, 2013 at 6:04 am
Thank you so much!! This is so helpful. Love the color for each person. Also, that it is so easy to print and keep on hand!! May God bless you!!
January 2, 2014 at 3:37 pm
Hi Joanna
thank you for your kind comments. Hope it helps you in your bible study.
December 4, 2014 at 6:16 am
This is just what I needed. I appreciate all the time and energy you put to present this. I wanted to ask your permission to give a slightly modified version of this chart to the people in my church. I will not sell this, not present it as my work but mentioned you as the original source of the chart. This is the only thing I will change. In Genesis 30:25, we read that Joseph is born after the first fourteen years of service, and that Laban and Jacob come to an arrangement for the next six years of service. Since we figure out the age of Jacob by the age of Joseph and the events that follow, I believe that Jacob wasn’t 70 years when he left Canaan and come back 20 years later, but 77 years. This changes the age of Israel for some of the events that follow. Somebody spent the energy and time to explain this in a lot more detail that I could ever do in their research paper. I believe that you can find it by Googling “The Chronology and birth of Jacob’s Children by Leah and her handmaid” by Charles L. Zimmerman.
I really do not want to come across as someone who “knows better” since I know that most of this dates are approximations, and I honestly appreciate the energy you put into this chart. I see your chart and I see that you put a great emphasis in the historical authenticity of the Bible and its accuracy; and that is they only reason I mentioned. If you send me an email and give me permission to print this and give it to my members, it could be a great blessing to some to see this as I preach through the book of Genesis.
December 4, 2014 at 10:21 am
Hi Victor
I will be glad and honored if you would use the diagram to help your church I wouldn’t mind the changes as well. Actually I am aware of the possibility of Jacob leaving Canaan at 77 year old too. But this is difficult to confirm because of the lack of information. All the confirmed information we know is
1. Joseph was 30 years old when he appeared before Pharoah (Gen 41:46)
2. There were 7 year of abundance 7 year of famine (which we do not know when it occured)
3. Israel was 130 years old when he arrive in Egypt (Gen 47:9)
4. Israel died at 147 years old (Gen 47:28)
5. Joseph died at 110 (Gen 50:22-25, Ex 13:19))
Personally as I read Genesis, sometimes I wonder how Sarah look like when Abimelech find her beautiful at the age of 60 ) and I also wonder how old was Rachel when she married Jacob.. Therefore I decided to find the “Youngest” possible date for my diagram. I guess perhaps they do not aged like we do in our modern era.
Thank you for your comments I hope to hear more from you one day.
December 5, 2014 at 1:43 am
Thanks so much for doing this! I was on Chabad.org and they said this:At long last Jacob reaches Hebron, and is reunited with his father. At this point the Torah also notes that Isaac dies at the age of 180 years, and is buried by “Esau and Jacob his sons.” (Chronologically, this places the death of Isaac 22 years hence, long after the events of the next parshah; indeed, in Genesis 37:3 we find Isaac weeping with Jacob over the apparent loss of Joseph.) My mind just could not wrap around this, so I needed a visual. Thanks for doing this!
December 6, 2014 at 9:27 am
Hi HandMaiden4him
I am glad and surprised to see your message. I am happy that your find the diagram useful in your study of the Torah
I was reading the point you are making Issac weeping with Jacob. I believe its Gen 37:35. On my bible it reads
“And all his sons and all his
daughters arose to comfort him;
but he refused to be comforted,
and he said, “For I shall go down
into the grave to my son in mourning.”
Thus his father wept for him.”
Are you saying that the word “His father” here in the original language implied that it was Issac mourning for Joseph? All along when i read it i was the verse refer to Jacob. (of course i think that it is natural for Issac to weep for his presumably dead grandson and I never doubt the fact that he weep) Just curious as I do not read Hebrew at all.
January 2, 2015 at 3:19 pm
Bless you for your hard work. This is a really helpful chart. Jacob was no spring chicken when he got married!
May I have permission to use it in my new ministry series on Jesus and Prophecy? (with acknowledgement).
Stay blessed, Mike
http://archive.org/search.php?query=mike%20winnett
January 3, 2015 at 11:55 pm
Hi Mike
Yes I would be glad to see the chart featured on your ministry series. Thank you for visiting my blog and hope to hear more from you one day.
God Bless You
The Prize Fighter
February 7, 2015 at 4:19 am
I would like to read your chart but it is so small and the resolution does not allow me to make it bigger. How can I actually read it?
February 7, 2015 at 9:19 am
Hi Mary,
if you were to click on a chart a enlarged version will be shown. That version had resolution enough for printing on a A4 Piece of Paper.
If you do not mind, I could email the chart over to you. You can use the “Contact Prize Fighter” link and let me know your email.
Thank you so much for your comment
May 19, 2015 at 9:02 am
some of the sons and daughters might have been twins since there were 11 sons and 4 daughters born to jacob between age 77 and 91. gen. 46:15
May 19, 2015 at 9:44 pm
Hi Roger
I do not think the sons and daughters might have been twins. I noticed you have quoted Gen 46:15. So i got curious and I tabled up all the names in that chapter.
“These were the sons of Leah, whom she bore to Jacob in
Padan Aram, with his daughter Dinah. All the persons,
his sons and his daughters, were thirty-three.” (Gen 46:15)
When Moses quoted 33 it included the grandchildren of the sons of Jacob and Vs 15 refer specifically to the children who were born to him by Leah
You can read the blog entry if you are interested. Here is the URL
August 14, 2015 at 11:55 am
I am a bit confused, Gen.35..23..24..25. Gives us the names of the son,s of Jacob.
Gen.28..29. Tell,s us that Isaac died,and yet Joseph is in Egypt when Isaac dies according to your chart, where as the Bible hasn’t said anything about Joseph being sold into slavery at this point.
It is obviouse that he would have been in Egypt at the time that Isaac died.
I am not critisising anything here, I thank you for all the work that you have put into this.
By the way, Rachell was 36 yr,s of age when she died giving birth to Benjamin. Just as well that Jacob had to work 7yr,s until he couldmarry her.
August 14, 2015 at 3:18 pm
Hi Michael
Thank you for your comments. I think you did raise a few good points. Indeed the life of Joseph is hard to plot becuase there are very little information linking his age to specific events
We only know the following confirmed facts
1. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore Jacob (Gen 25:26)
2. Isaac lived 180years (Gen 35:28) (Jacob is 120 years old when he died (180-60))
3. Jacob worked for Laban 20 years, 14 for his daughters 6 for his flock (Gen 31:41)
4. Jacob appeared before Pharaoh at 130 (Gen 47:9) (10 years after Isaac Died)
5. Joseph appeared before Pharaoh at 30 (Gen 41:46)
6. Joseph interpreted the dream for the cupbearer at 28 (Gen 41:1) (this is something new i just realised)
7. Benjamin was born in when Jacob was in Bethel (Gen 35) (meaning all his other children are born when he is in Laban)
8. Joseph was the last son recorded to be born of Jacob before he moved back to Canaan (Gen 30:25)
The bible is silent about when Joseph is born. They did not indicate Joseph age when he was sold as a slave or how long he lived in the house of Potiphar . Therefore in order to complete the chart, I have to make a few assumption
1. I assumed that Jacob fled to Laban at the age of 70 (some think 77)
2. He worked 20 years and return to Canaan at 90 (some think 97)
3. So I assume that Joseph is born to Jacob at the age of 90
4. Jacob became prime minister at 30, after that was 7 years of abundance and 7 years of famine
5. Therefore i assume that he need 1 year to build up Egypt to store grain, 7 years of abundance
6. I assumed that the grain in Canaan must have lasted for many years in the famine (2 years in my guess)
7. Therefore if Jacob entered Egypt at 130, therefore he must be 120 when Joseph is Premiere .
8. That year coincided with the death of Issac
But again. I marked those age as estimated for the 3 assumption can never be proven or disproven . I hope that explains my point further.
January 19, 2016 at 5:13 am
Your point #3 does not agree with Gen 30:25. The birth of Joseph precedes the 6 years of service prior to the return to Canaan.
Other variations to consider:
Was there a gap of time between Jacob’s arrival at Laban’s and the start of the first 7 year service?
Was there a completion of the 14 years of service (clearly evident that they are back-to-back 7 year periods) followed by an unmeasured period of time before Jacob contracts with Laban for the 6 year final period. Jacob complains about 10 changes to the working arrangements.
To summarize:
Is there evidence, or lack of connected events, to allow for space before the 14 year service, and is there evidence, or lack of connected events, to allow for the birth of all children from Reuben to Joseph to have happened from the 8th year of service through an past the 14th year, but before the 6 year final period.
January 20, 2016 at 12:31 pm
Hi Tim
Indeed, there is a lack of evidence and connected events especially when it comes to plotting the lives of Jacob during his stay in the house of Laban
As much as I tried the only thing we can be sure is
1. Esau was 40 year old when he married in (Gen 26) Jacob is same age as him
2. Jacob was 130 when he moved to Egypt (Gen 47:9)
3. Jacob said he worked for Laban 20 years (Gen 31:41-42) Which i beleive is in this order
a. 7 years for Rachel
b. 7 Years for Leah
c. 6 years for his flock
3. Jacob wanted to move back to Cannan shortly after Joseph is born (Gen 30:25)
Besides these all the ages are given as estimated guess. I beleive that Jacob stayed no more than 20 years at the house of Laban. It is probably in the order described above
On the side Note. The verse about the ten changes to working arrangments was recorded as change in wages. Gen 31:41. It is likely that it is not an extention of work duration.
“Thus I have been in your house twenty years;
I served you fourteen years for your two daughters,
and six years for your flock, and you have
changed my wages ten times” Gen 31:41
August 14, 2015 at 4:06 pm
I thank you so much for your coment, s I would go along with them.
I don’t wish to be a pest, but I was just wandering whether you could help me.
For so many year,s I have been hearing people say that mesiyah is God. I could not accept it because of the the many times in scripture he makes statement,s to his Father as another identity. Then I read somwhere that he was a diminished manefastation of the Father. That seemed to make sense to me. My belief from scripture, is that God is one. Yet in genesis God does say, let us make man in our image and in our likeness. God could not have been speaking to angel,s as he say, in our image and likeness….
Any help appreciated.
August 14, 2015 at 11:52 pm
Hi Michael
No you are not being a pest. I am very happy and very glad to see a response from you. Actually the concept of Godhead is one hard to just explain using one comment. Personally i do not do much doctrinal discussion on my Blog as I wanted to just share the words of God and notes taken from the sermon from my church. It is meant to just share on topics of Christian living. If you are interested to discuss further you could contact me via email. There is a button “Contact Prize Fighter” where you can send me a message. It would be easier for this discussion.
Before I continue, I must admit I am not a Theologian and I only understood the scriptures from what i read. I am no expert in greek, or hebrew, though I only had language expertise in English and Chinese.
But to answer your question, I decided to just give a simple answer to it.
Like you I believe that God is one, in the Shema Yisrael already read. “Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one!”
I personally believe that the “Us” in Gen 1:26 is written in the form of authority. Like the way the King would speak.
I believe that since the OT, God had been one. This God had made various prophecies about himself
1 He will come into the temple suddenly (Mal 3:1)
2. This same God promised to put his spirit into men (Eze 36:27-28)
3. He say he will sign a new covenant with Israel and forgive their sins (Jer 31:31-34）
All these prophecies were fulfilled in Jesus, John describes him as the Word (God ) became flesh and he dwelt among his people. (John 1:1,14) . He entered the temple twice to cleanse it, he died on the cross and his blood is now the blood that atone for our sins. He now dwells in the heart of the believers in Spirit. These are all things that the one God promised in the OT
It is no wonder when Isaiah talk about him, he had many names
“For unto us a Child is born,
Unto us a Son is given;
And the government will be upon His shoulder.
And His name will be called
Wonderful, Counselor, Mighty God,
Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” – Isaiah (Isaiah 9:6)
In the OT, he called himself “I am who I am” and from then on he is known as YHWH. When God was on earth, he revealed his name to Joseph, the husband of Mary (Matt 1:20-21). His name is above all name and the only name which can save man from sin (Acts 4:10-12) Today whoever who call upon his name will be saved.
John followed Jesus for 3 years. And he wrote 7 miracles in the gospel of John to prove that Jesus is none other than the OT God himself. I was writing about it on my Blog for a while
1. Jesus turning water into wine (Part 1, Part 2)
2. Jesus Healing The Nobleman’s son (Part 3, Part 4)
3. Jesus Healing By The Pool Of Bethesda (Part 5, Part 6)
4. Jesus feeding 5000 with 5 loaves and 2 Fishes (Part 7 , Part 8)
5. Jesus walking on water (Part 9)
In simple words, I believe that Jesus is that one God who became flesh and dwell among us. He is the same God of the Old Testament and he is also living in the heart as the believers as the Holy Spirit. This is possible because God is spirit and he is not confine to a particular place or time.
As the concept of Godhead is a very difficult topic to describe. I would just stop here. If you are interested you could contact me. I would love to understand more about you and what are your understanding about it. It would be interesting to share them with you if it is ok.
August 15, 2015 at 11:15 am
I have just completed Part 10 about Jesus walking on water
You can read of it here
October 23, 2016 at 11:12 pm
Hello,
This is very interesting discussion and I just wanted to add a nugget of truth concerning GOD being ONE. In Deuteronomy where it is said “the Lord our GOD is one (the one is PLURAL) Lord”. It is like saying YOU when talking to many people. Its PLURAL.
October 24, 2016 at 12:24 pm
Thank you Rudy
But i think in the English language here “You” could also be pointing at a singular entity. 🙂
September 28, 2017 at 11:54 pm
the plural in the phrasing you mention [@Rudy] is not on the “one” as translated into English from Hebrew {originally “echad”], the plural is instead on the name /office of G-d [“Elokim” – which you might read or have seen with an h where I put a “k” for respect for saying the name, hence the “-” that also stands in between the G and d for an “o”]. in “Elokim”, yes, the “-im” suffix denotes plural, so you might have a knee-jerk reaction and saw “whoa! plural divinities?! were they pagan?” but then again, that plural must be understood as it was used by the ancient Jews [and still today], that it is similar to the Queen of England saying “We” when everyone that hears her *knows* she means “I”… so this plural in this phrase on the name of G-d is for respect, like the “Royal WE…”
September 29, 2017 at 1:49 pm
Hi Moshe
Thank you for your comment. So that means that my understanding that the We in Genesis is a form of respect is correct
As quoted in the top of this discussion
“I personally believe that the “Us” in Gen 1:26 is written in the form of authority. Like the way the King would speak.”
January 12, 2016 at 12:22 am
Is it helpful to include Genesis 26:34, which notes Esau having married two wives at the age of 40? Seeing they were twins, this at least serves as proof that Jacob was at least 40 prior to the events that follow. Thanks for the beautiful chart!
-Christopher
January 17, 2016 at 3:58 pm
Hi Christopher
Thank you for that verse.. I missed it out when i did the chart. I have updated the chart accordingly. It seems to me that Esau likely despised his birthright before the age of 40
Thank you for your comments. Hope to hear more from you one day.
May 11, 2016 at 10:37 am
Just to let you know, you are still enlightening people in 2016.
May 19, 2016 at 10:59 am
Thank you for your kind workds Hope to hear more from you again
September 1, 2016 at 2:17 am
Genealogy to Moses -Exodus 1,365 BC
When calculating years to Moses
I get year 1,365 for the Exodus which lines up with archeology finds in Patterns of Evidence
Taking the year each patriarch was born
Brings me to Joseph at about 37 when son was born, off maybe by a few years, sons were born 1 year before famine, Joseph was 30 when preparing for famine for 7 years of storage
Then another scripture says Israel was in Egypt for 400 years.
2,635.
I started at 4000 years.
Adam had Seth at 130 years old
So from Adam at 0, then 1st son at 130
Then Joseph had sons 2235 from Adam at 0 years. Prior years in Eden, if any, not calculated. 0 to Adam at 130 yrs old – Seth born. Then added each born at what age each was born, and I get 2235 from Adam at 0. Plus 400 years Israel was in Egypt I end with 2635. From Adam at 0 for the Exodus, arriving at 1365 for the Exodus.
Am I missing something?
September 2, 2016 at 10:33 am
i think that is quite meticulous.. the purpose of my diagram is not to prove how many years had pass but to give the audience a general idea of how much time had pass… your calculation is quite interesting..
Here are 2 verse which you may want to consider
“Know certainly that your descendants
will be strangers in a land that is
not theirs, and will serve them, and
they will afflict them four hundred
years.”- YHWH (Gen 15:13)
“And it came to pass at the end of the
four hundred and thirty years—on that
very same day—it came to pass that all
the armies of the Lord went out from
the land of Egypt.”- Moses (Ex 12:14)
September 17, 2016 at 11:35 pm
Thanks for the chart. It was very helpful to me, and I will be using it to help teach my church. When reviewing your chart I noticed a typo. Your first scripture citation should be Genesis 21:5, not Genesis 21:25. God Bless.
September 29, 2016 at 10:47 am
Thank you for your comments, I will try my best to to update this soonest..
Unfortunately paternity and work had been taking out my time more than usual. But I will edit them soon
Thank you for pointing it out
September 21, 2016 at 5:26 am
This is a great article! This graphic has helped me a lot in my personal studying. Thank you for posting!
September 29, 2016 at 10:46 am
Hi Matthew, thank you for your comments, I am glad it had helped you in your study.
May God continue to guide you as you learn more and more about him
September 29, 2016 at 11:22 pm
I just updated the image.. thank you for spotting the error
January 15, 2017 at 2:15 pm
Thank you for your research and time taken to lay it out into an easy to read chart!
I couldn’t remember from my reading if Isaac yet lived
(it was a generation later that Isaac cried out with tears “Does my father Jacob yet live!?!”) when Jacob was greeted by Esau.
It always struck me, despite Jacob’s fears, how gracious Esau was, yet the “Reformed” want to elect him to hell.
Finally, one of my many favorite stories, one I have personalized, is Jacob wrestling with the Lord. I interpret that as, “the God Who Is in your face.”
January 15, 2017 at 2:17 pm
Oops! …that Joseph cried out with tears, “does my father Jacob yet live!?!”
January 17, 2017 at 12:21 am
Thank you for your precious comments
Indeed there was a lot of memorable stories that you have quoted.
Personally I do not think that Esau is not gracious. In fact I think the only problem Esau had is with God. Sadly he does not look up to his status as a firstborn and so God just give him up to what he desired.
I love the story behind “God who is in your face”.. But I always picture God and Jacob wrestling like a baby son trying to fight the father thinking he can win. The fact is that God would have overcome him easily but he choose to lower himself and allow Jacob to hold on to him.
May 6, 2017 at 9:40 pm
Hi. Thanks very much for your chart, which is very useful.
I started searching after seeing that CI Scofield in his bible had commented on how Isaac had gone on to live 43 years after Jacob’s deception.
Your post has been most helpful. Upon studying the text, I concluded that Joseph’s birth (Gen 30:25) was at the end of Jacob’s 14-year service, and that the 6 years to accumulate his flocks probably was the period during which Laban changed his wages ten times (Gen 30:37-43, 31:7-9).
It’s been an eye-opener. Imagine 76 (or 77)-year old Jacob so in love with Rachel that seven years of labour seemed like a few days!
Thanks for being a blessing
May 7, 2017 at 11:42 pm
Hi Michael
Thank you for your comment. Yes indeed when i was a kid i used to always picture a young Jacob falling in love with a young Rachel… that picture only changed when during a bible study i calculated the age of Jacob backwards.. hahaa it kind of change my perspective fully
Hey.. i am curious what CI Scofield comment about how Issac gone on to live 43 years.. for me when i read the story, I always think that Isaac was being dramatic in Gen 27:2-4. I am sure he was not dying when he asked Esau to hunt for game…. it was actually quite an unnecessary act on his end for we know he was alive way much later in the story..
May 7, 2017 at 11:42 pm
Hi Michael
Thank you for your comment. Yes indeed when i was a kid i used to always picture a young Jacob falling in love with a young Rachel… that picture only changed when during a bible study i calculated the age of Jacob backwards.. hahaa it kind of change my perspective fully
Hey.. i am curious what CI Scofield comment about how Issac gone on to live 43 years.. for me when i read the story, I always think that Isaac was being dramatic in Gen 27:2-4. I am sure he was not dying when he asked Esau to hunt for game…. it was actually quite an unnecessary act on his end for we know he was alive way much later in the story..
January 14, 2018 at 1:17 am
I have never left a comment on anything anywhere like this, but feel compelled to here. Thank you so much for putting together this resource and drawing our attention to the life of Jacob. It opened my eyes a bit more this morning to see a Jacob of 70ish in his stealing of the birthright and a Jacob of 90ish, no young pup, but an old man, finally and truly bowing to God as his God. Though I was raised in the church and “walked in the way” of God, I did not truly put away the idols of this world and bow my knee to the Creator of all things in heaven and on earth until I was 33. What a difference it makes to see Jacob having lived for so long, as I did, holding God at arms length until he/I could ensure his/my own hopes and dreams were fulfilled. To God be the glory for having given me the ability to see those dreams realized, only to find that they paled in comparison to the glory and majesty of His great and glorious love for me and any who would call upon His Name.
June 25, 2018 at 9:04 am
Hi Joel
Thank you for that delightful sharing.
Sometimes when we read the scriptures, we tend to just go over the verses without really picturing what it is implying. Which is the reason why i started to spend time to chart out the information.
June 16, 2018 at 6:49 pm
I suggest you re-look over the birth of Jacob’s 10 kids, for according to Gen 30:25&26 Joseph was born THEN Jacob worked six years for Laban’s flocks. That means those 11 sons were born between year 7 & 14 of Jacob marrying those two sisters.
June 25, 2018 at 12:32 am
Hi Randy
Thank you for your comment.
Initially I wanted to put the birth of 11 Sons between year 7-14. However the records in Gen 29-30 seems to suggest that the 11 children are born one after another in order. We know that Jacob married Leah and Rachel both on the 7th year of his stay with Laban. That means he had appropriately 13 years left to produce 11 children.
I am not here to discuss the flowers and the bees, but I am basing my guess on the fact that each pregnancy took about 10 months. 11 children requires at least 110 months which is less than 9.5 years. Most parents will tell you it is quite difficult to have the next baby immediately after giving birth to the previous.
Hence it would be quite difficult to produce 11 kids in 6 years all in succession. That is why I believe that the events from Gen 30:25-Gen 31:13 is perhaps shorter than 6 years. Perhaps Joseph was born somewhere in the middle of the 6 years and Jacob only discussed his wages with Laban after Joseph was born. But again, the real answer lies with Jacob whom I can only meet after I pass away. But when I know the answer it would be hard for me to fix my blog anymore. 😉
But again, maybe the more experience fathers and mothers can give their opinion about this.
November 22, 2020 at 10:39 pm
Dear Randy, thank you for the post. I was searching for ways to find out if Joseph was weaned or not. Hannah didn’t wean Shmuel/Samuel until he was 5 years old. If Joseph was not yet weaned when being introduced to Esav I wondered at the connotation of the blessings of Shad*dai being appropriated by the Shkinah/the Spirit of G*D. Joseph is the only son who was introduced by name to the progenitor of Rome. Yet Judah was not. This begs a study I think. Why did G*D choose to mention Joseph by name and not Judah? Why do we still compare our political system to date as democracy based upon those principals?
August 13, 2018 at 11:37 am
I just want to use a bit of logic here. The lifetime of people after the flood gradually decreased. Our average now is about 70 years. At 35 years, a man is in his prime. At 70, Jacob would have been in his prime, not an old man. The same with Sarah at 60 or even 90. Before the flood, a man would have been in his prime around 500 years. Noah was working hard building the ark at over 500 years old.
September 20, 2018 at 2:07 am
Hi Ray
I actually think that you are right. There is a part of me that thinks the people do not age the same way as we do in the ancient world.
Unfortunately that will be something that is hard to prove.
But considering the fact if Jacob life span.. 70 would have been counted as old 😉
November 22, 2020 at 10:28 pm
I think you left one point of Josephs life unturned and it would be interesting what you think. Your graph helps me too. How or about how old was Joseph when Jacob met Esav? I will go backwards to and count like you did and thank G*D for all your effort and thank you for posting it.
How old was Joseph when he was introduced by name to Esav?
December 31, 2020 at 2:49 pm
Hahaha I know what you mean. But seriously the bible was pretty silent about that unfortunately.
Guess I got a question for Joseph when I see him in the future.