When did Jacob and Joseph finally reunite after being separated? How old were Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim when they were blessed by their grandfather? The answer to these and other questions can be found in the below timeline!
1860
Abraham is 100 (Genesis 17:21, 24, 21:5).
Sarah is 91 years old (Genesis 17:21, 21:5).
Ishmael is 14 years old (Genesis 17:25).
Isaac is born (Genesis 21:1 - 3).
1820
Isaac is 40 years old.
Isaac marries Rebekah when he is 40 (Genesis 25:20).
1800
Isaac is 60 years old.
Jacob and Esau, twin boys, are born to Isaac and Rebekah (Genesis 25:24 - 26).
1760
Esau is 40 years old.
Esau marries his first two wives (Genesis 26:34).
1723
Jacob, Esau are 77 years old (Gen. 25:24 - 26).
Isaac is 137 years old.
Jacob pretends to be Esau in order to get Isaac's firstborn blessing (Genesis 27). Esau's understandable rage forces him to flee to Haran (Padanaram) to avoid his wrath (Genesis 27:41 - 28:5).
Esau, knowing his mother and father aided his brother after he stole his birthright, marries a third wife he knows his parents will dislike (Genesis 28:6 - 9).
When Jacob arrives in Haran, he meets his mother's brother named Laban. Upon seeing Rachel, Laban's youngest daughter, he immediately falls in love and agrees to work seven years in order to marry her (Genesis 29:1 - 20).
1716
Jacob is 84 years old.
Jacob is tricked by Laban into marrying Leah, his oldest daughter, instead of Rachel. Laban agrees to allow him, in a week, to marry Rachel as well but he must work another seven years for her (Genesis 29:20 - 30).
1716 - 1709
Jacob is between the ages of 84 and 91.
Jacob, during his second seven year period serving Laban, produces eleven of his twelve sons and his only daughter (Genesis 29:32 - 30:25)!
Jacob's children born during this time, in chronological order, are Reuben, Simeon, Levi and Judah through Leah (Genesis 29:32 - 35). He next sired Dan and Naphtali through Rachel's handmaid Bilhah (30:1 - 8). He then fathered Gad and Asher through Leah's handmaid Zilpah (9 - 13). Leah then produced Issachar, Zebulun and Dinah (17 - 21). His last offspring of this period, the first for his beloved wife Rachel, is Joseph.
1709
Jacob is 91 years old.
Jacob, shortly after Joseph is born in 1709, fulfills his fourteen-year work commitment to Laban in order to marry his daughters (Genesis 30:25 - 26).
Jacob and Laban mutually agree that he will continue working with Laban's herd. As payment for his labor, Jacob takes all the speckled and spotted cattle and goats, as well as the brown sheep, currently in Laban's herd. He will also take for himself all such animals that are born as a continuing payment of wages. He ends up working for Laban an additional six years (Genesis 30:27 - 43, 31:38).
1703
Jacob is 97 years old.
Joseph is 6 years old.
Jacob's children are between 6 and 13.
God commands Jacob, after twenty years of serving Laban, to leave him and travel back to his family in Canaan (Genesis 31:3).
1703 - 1692
Jacob is between 97 and 108 years old.
Joseph is between 6 and 17 years old.
Below, in chronological order, is a brief synopsis of the events that took place during this eleven-year period.
Jacob, at Penuel, wrestles with "a man" all night long who is Jesus Christ manifested in the flesh. After his struggle He is renamed Israel (Genesis 32:24 - 30).
Jacob, for the first time after leaving Canaan, meets Esau. The two brothers have a peaceful reunion (Genesis 33:1 - 16).
The entire family travels to Succoth where He builds a house and makes pens for his cattle (Genesis 33:17).
The family travels to Shalem (an area outside the city of Shechem). Jacob buys some land in the area and erects an altar to God he names Elelohe-Israel (Genesis 33:18 - 20).
Dinah is raped by a man from Shechem. Two of Jacob's sons take revenge for the heinous act by killing all the males in the city. Afterwards, all of the sons spoil the city (Genesis 34:1 - 31).
God commands Jacob to journey to Bethel (Genesis 35:1). Once he arrives in the area, the Lord blesses him and reiterates his new name is Israel (verses 9 - 15).
The family leaves Bethel for Bethlehem with the goal of reaching Hebron. On the outskirts of Bethlehem Rachel dies while giving birth to Benjamin, the last of Israel's twelve sons (Genesis 35:16 - 20).
Moses, who wrote Genesis, for the first time refers to Jacob as Israel (Genesis 35:21). Israel and his family then travel to the tower of Edar where they stay for an unknown time. Israel's oldest son Reuben commits incest with his father's concubine named Bilhah (verses 21 - 22). The family then travels the remaining roughly twenty miles to Mamre (Hebron) in order to be with Isaac (Rebekah, his wife, is likely dead at this time, verse 27).
1692
Jacob is 108 years old.
Isaac is 168.
Benjamin is possibly around one year old.
Joseph is 17 years old.
Jacob's other children are between 17 and 24.
The family arrives in Mamre (Hebron) where Isaac lives.
Joseph receives his coat of many colors. Soon after receiving this special garment, he is sold into slavery for twenty pieces of silver by his brothers (Genesis 37).
1692 - 1680
Jacob is 108 to 120 years old.
Isaac is 168 to 180 years old.
Jacob and his family live near Isaac in Mamre (Hebron) for a period of twelve years.
1680
Isaac is 180 years old.
Jacob is 120 years old.
Joseph is 29 and Benjamin is about 13.
Jacob's other children are between 29 and 36.
The patriarch Isaac dies at the age of 180 (Genesis 35:28 - 29).
1679
Joseph is 30.
Jacob is 121 years old.
Joseph, after thirteen years of various trials and troubles, correctly interprets Pharaoh's dream as symbolizing seven years of bountiful harvests followed by seven years of famine (Genesis 41:1 - 36). His wisdom, given by God, is rewarded by elevating him to the second most powerful position in Egypt (verses 39 - 46).
1679 - 1672
Joseph is between 30 and 37 years old.
Joseph has his two sons, Manasseh and Ephraim, during the seven years of plenty that came upon the land before it experienced seven years of famine (Genesis 41:50 - 53).
1670
Jacob is 130 years old.
Joseph is 39 and Benjamin is about 23.
Jacob's other children are between 39 and 46.
Manasseh, Ephraim are between 2 and 9.
Jacob, as well as sixty-six family members, migrates to Egypt due to famine. He reunites with his son Joseph after twenty-two years. He is then introduced to Pharaoh where he states he is 130 years old (Genesis 46:1 - 47:9).
1670 - 1653
Jacob is between 130 and 147 years old.
Joseph is between 39 and 56 years old.
Jacob lives in Egypt for seventeen years after his arrival (Genesis 47:28).
1653
Jacob is 147 years old.
Joseph is 56 and Benjamin is about 40.
Jacob's other children are between 56 and 63.
Manasseh, Ephraim are between 19 and 26.
Jacob gives a special blessing to Joseph's sons Manasseh and Ephraim (Genesis 48). He also gathers his twelve sons to bless them and convey, "what shall happen to you in the last days" (Genesis 49).
Israel dies in Egypt at the age of 147. His body is embalmed and escorted by Joseph and the rest of the family to the cave of Machpelah near Hebron. He is buried is the same place as Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, Rebekah and Leah (Genesis 49:29 - 50:13).
Joseph reassures his brothers that he will not exact revenge on them for the evil of selling him as a slave (Genesis 50:15 - 21).
1599
Joseph is 110 years old.
Manasseh and Ephraim (if they are alive) are between the ages of 73 and 80.
Joseph serves 80 years as the second most powerful person in Egypt. He also lives long enough to witness the birth of his great-grandchildren's children.
Before his death Joseph makes his descendants promise to carry his bones into the Promised Land. After he dies, he is embalmed and put in a coffin (Genesis 50:22 - 26).