The fixed dates in Jacob’s life

Isaac was sixty years old when Jacob and Esau were born. Jacob later told Pharaoh that he was 130 when he entered Egypt, and Genesis 47:28 says he lived seventeen more years and died at 147.

Joseph supplies another series of fixed dates. He was seventeen when sold into slavery, thirty when promoted by Pharaoh, about thirty-seven when the famine began, and about thirty-nine when Jacob arrived during the famine’s second year.

Jacob was about 91 when Joseph was born

Jacob was 130 when he entered Egypt and Joseph was about thirty-nine, making Jacob about ninety-one years older than Joseph. Joseph was therefore born when Jacob was approximately ninety-one.

Joseph’s birth also marked the close of Jacob’s fourteen years of service for Leah and Rachel. Jacob then remained with Laban for approximately six additional years tending the flocks, making him about ninety-seven when he departed from Padan-aram.

Jacob’s years with Laban

Working backward from Joseph’s birth places Jacob’s arrival in Haran at about age seventy-seven. He served seven years before marrying Leah and Rachel at about eighty-four, then served a further seven years before Joseph’s birth.

Genesis gives enough information to establish this broad chronology, but it does not supply exact birth dates for every one of Jacob’s children. Ages assigned to Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Benjamin, and the others should therefore be presented as estimates rather than explicit biblical statements.

Later events

Joseph was sold at seventeen, placing Jacob at about 108. Isaac died at 180; because Isaac was sixty when Jacob was born, Jacob was 120 when he and Esau buried their father.

Ten years later Jacob entered Egypt at 130 and was reunited with Joseph. He lived there for seventeen years, blessed Joseph’s sons and his own sons, and died at 147. Joseph had Jacob embalmed, and the family buried him in the cave of Machpelah.

Chronology at a glance

Age 0: Jacob and Esau are born to Isaac and Rebekah. About 77: Jacob arrives in Haran. About 84: he marries Leah and Rachel. About 91: Joseph is born. About 97: Jacob leaves Laban. About 108: Joseph is sold into slavery. Age 120: Isaac dies. Age 130: Jacob enters Egypt. Age 147: Jacob dies.