# Who was Joseph, the husband of Mary?

Joseph was a builder in Nazareth, from the family of King David, engaged to Mary. When he learned she was pregnant, he planned to end it quietly, until an angel told him in a dream that the child was from God. He married her, named the boy Jesus, took the family to Egypt to escape Herod, and raised Jesus in Nazareth.

- When: Jesus was born about 6 to 4 BC. Joseph is last seen when Jesus is 12.
- Read: Matthew 1–2, Luke 2. Start with [Matthew 1](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/1).

Source: https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/joseph-of-nazareth. Scripture quotations are from the Lumin Translation.

## Joseph of Nazareth’s life, in order

1. **The dream** ([Matthew 1:18-25](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/1#18-25)). Joseph means to divorce Mary quietly. An angel tells him not to be afraid to take her as his wife. Map: [Nazareth](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#nazareth).
2. **To Bethlehem** ([Luke 2:1-7](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#1-7)). A Roman census sends him to Bethlehem, the town of David, with Mary. Map: [Bethlehem](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#bethlehem).
3. **To Egypt by night** ([Matthew 2:13-15](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/2#13-15)). Warned that Herod wants the child dead, Joseph gets up in the night and takes them to Egypt. Map: [Egypt](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#egypt).
4. **Home to Nazareth** ([Matthew 2:19-23](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/2#19-23)). After Herod dies, another dream sends them home, and they settle in Nazareth. Map: [Nazareth](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#nazareth).
5. **Jesus at 12** ([Luke 2:41-51](https://www.lumin.faith/read/luke/2#41-51)). On the way home from Passover they lose Jesus and find him in the temple. This is the last time Joseph appears. Map: [Jerusalem](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-map#jerusalem).

## Key verses

> Joseph, her husband, was a righteous man and had no wish to make a public spectacle of her, so he resolved to divorce her in private. ([Matthew 1:19](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/1#19))

> But while he was turning this over in his mind, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared to him in a dream and said, “Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to receive Mary as your wife, because it is by the Holy Spirit that the child has been conceived in her. ([Matthew 1:20](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/1#20))

> When Joseph rose from sleep, he followed the instructions the angel of the Lord had given him and took his wife home… ([Matthew 1:24](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/1#24))

## What the Bible says, and what tradition adds

### Does Joseph ever speak in the Bible?

**In the Bible.** No words of his are recorded. What we know of him is what he did.

### Was Joseph a carpenter?

**Readers disagree.** Matthew calls him a tekton, a Greek word for a builder or craftsman who worked in wood or stone. “Carpenter” is the usual English word, but he may have built more than furniture. See [Matthew 13:55](https://www.lumin.faith/read/matthew/13#55).

### When did Joseph die?

**Not known.** The Bible does not say. He is missing from Jesus’ adult life, and at the cross Jesus gives Mary into John’s care, so most assume Joseph had died by then.

### Was Joseph an old man?

**Tradition, not the Bible.** Paintings often show him old. That comes from the Protoevangelium of James, a 2nd-century writing, not from the Bible.

## Related people

- [Mary, the mother of Jesus](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/mary-mother-of-jesus): Said yes to God. Gave birth to Jesus. Stood at the cross.
- [King David](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/david): Shepherd boy, giant killer, king, psalm writer.
- [Joseph](https://www.lumin.faith/bible-people/joseph): Sold by his brothers. Rose to rule Egypt. Forgave them.