Abraham to Joseph
Gen 12:3 (KJV)
Notes — every event with its references, the notes and the sources are on the pages after the chart in the PDF.
1Scripture gives ages, not BC years. These dates count back from the Exodus (1446 BC) through 430 years in Egypt, then Jacob 130, Isaac 60 and Abraham 100.
2The thin row is Ussher’s: his Abraham was born in 1996 BC, 170 years after 2166 BC, because he counts the 430 years from Abraham’s call and dates the Exodus 45 years earlier.
3Terah was 70 when his sons began to be born (Gen 11:26), but he died at 205 and Abram left Haran at 75 only after that (Acts 7:4), so Abram was born when Terah was 130.
Abraham to Joseph — Study notes
Every event on the chart, with its Bible references, certainty and notes. One chronology for the whole series: the Bible's own numbers with the main ancient records. "c." = about; a range (e.g. 6–4 BC) = some time in that range.
| Date | Event | Bible references | Lane | Cert. |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terah’s family in Ur and Haran · c. 2296–2092 BC12 | ||||
| c. 2296–2091 BC Ussher c. 2126–1921 BC |
Terah lives 205 years3 Terah lived seventy years, and begat Abram, Nahor, and Haran; the days of Terah were two hundred and five years: and Terah died in Haran, and only then did Abram, 75 years old, leave for Canaan (Acts 7:4) |
Gen 11:24–26, 32; 12:4; Acts 7:4 | Terah | B |
| c. 2166–1991 BC Ussher c. 1996–1821 BC |
Abraham lives 175 years Abraham’s life was an hundred threescore and fifteen years; he dies when Isaac is 75 and Jacob and Esau are 15, and Isaac and Ishmael bury him in the cave of Machpelah Sources: Rodger C. Young; Wikipedia contributors |
Gen 25:7–10; 21:5; 12:4 | Abraham | B |
| c. 2166–2091 BC Ussher c. 1996–1921 BC |
Terah leaves Ur for Haran Abram’s brother Haran dies in Ur of the Chaldees; Terah takes Abram, Sarai and Lot to go into the land of Canaan; and they came unto Haran, and dwelt there. The God of glory had appeared to Abraham when he was in Mesopotamia, before he dwelt in Charran |
Gen 11:27–32; Acts 7:2–4 | Terah | B |
| From Abraham’s call to the move to Egypt: 215 years · c. 2091–1877 BC | ||||
| Abram 75 · c. 2091 BC Ussher c. 1921 BC |
Abram called; leaves Haran The LORD had said Get thee out of thy country, and from thy kindred; Abram was seventy and five years old when he departed out of Haran, and Lot went with him |
Gen 12:1–5; Acts 7:2–4 | Abraham | B |
| c. 2091–2081 BC Ussher c. 1921–1911 BC |
Altars in Canaan; Abram in Egypt4 Abram builds altars at Sichem and Bethel; the famine drives him down to Egypt, where Pharaoh takes Sarai and is plagued, and he comes back to Bethel |
Gen 12:6–13:4 | Abraham | B |
| c. 2091–2081 BC Ussher c. 1921–1911 BC |
Abram and Lot part; Melchizedek4 Lot chooses the plain of Jordan and Abram dwells in Mamre; after the war of the kings Abram rescues Lot with 318 men and Melchizedek, king of Salem, blesses him |
Gen 13:5–14:24 | Abraham | B |
| c. 2091–2081 BC Ussher c. 1921–1911 BC |
Covenant of the pieces45 Abram believed in the Lord; and he counted it to him for righteousness; his seed shall be a stranger in a land that is not theirs, for four hundred years, and in the fourth generation they shall come hither again |
Gen 15:1–21 | Abraham | B |
| Abram 86 · c. 2080 BC Ussher c. 1910 BC |
Ishmael is born Sarai gives Hagar to Abram after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan; Abram was fourscore and six years old, when Hagar bare Ishmael to Abram |
Gen 16:1–16 | Abraham | B |
| Abraham 99 · c. 2067 BC Ussher c. 1897 BC |
Circumcision covenantAbram was ninety years old and ninewhen the LORD makes his covenant, changes his name to Abraham and orders circumcision; Ishmael is 13, and Isaac is promised at this set time in the next year |
Gen 17:1–27 | Abraham | B |
| c. 2067–2066 BC Ussher c. 1897–1896 BC |
Sodom overthrown The LORD promises Abraham that Sarah will have a son according to the time of life; then the Lord rained upon Sodom and upon Gomorrah brimstone and fire from the Lord out of heaven, and Lot escapes to Zoar. It falls between Abraham 99 and Isaac’s birth at Abraham 100 |
Gen 18:1–19:29 | Abraham | B |
| Abraham 100 · c. 2066 BC Ussher c. 1896 BC |
Isaac is bornAbraham was an hundred years old, when his son Isaac was born unto him |
Gen 21:1–5; 17:17 | Abraham | B |
| c. 2066–1886 BC Ussher c. 1896–1716 BC |
Isaac lives 180 years8The days of Isaac were an hundred and fourscore years; he dies when Jacob is 120 and Joseph 29, and his sons Esau and Jacob bury him |
Gen 35:27–29; 21:5 | Isaac | B |
| c. 2066–2029 BC Ussher c. 1896–1859 BC |
Isaac offered on Moriah6 God says Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; the angel of the LORD stops Abraham, and a ram caught in a thicket by his hornsis offered instead |
Gen 22:1–19 | Abraham | B |
| Abraham 137 · c. 2029 BC Ussher c. 1859 BC |
Sarah dies at Hebron7 Sarah was an hundred and seven and twenty years oldwhen she died at Hebron; Abraham buys the field and cave of Machpelah from Ephron the Hittite. Isaac is 37 |
Gen 23:1–20; 17:17 | Abraham | B |
| Isaac 40 · c. 2026 BC Ussher c. 1856 BC |
Isaac marries RebekahIsaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah to wife; Abraham is 140, and Isaac is comforted after his mother's death |
Gen 25:20; 24:1–4, 67 | Isaac | B |
| Isaac 60 · c. 2006 BC Ussher c. 1836 BC |
Jacob and Esau are bornIsaac was threescore years old when she bare them, twenty years after his marriage; Esau is born first and Jacob takes hold of his heel. Abraham is 160 |
Gen 25:21–26 | Isaac | B |
| c. 2006–1859 BC Ussher c. 1836–1689 BC |
Jacob lives 147 yearsThe whole age of Jacob was an hundred forty and seven years: 130 before he comes to Pharaoh and seventeen yearsin Egypt |
Gen 25:26; 47:28 | Jacob | B |
| Esau 40 · c. 1966 BC Ussher c. 1796 BC |
Esau marries two Hittite womenEsau was forty years old when he took to wife Judith the daughter of Beeri the Hittite, and Bashemath the daughter of Elon the Hittite; they were a grief of mind unto Isaac and to Rebekah. Isaac is 100 |
Gen 26:34–35 | Isaac | B |
| Jacob 77 · c. 1929 BC Ussher c. 1759 BC |
Jacob flees to Haran9 Jacob gets his father’s blessing and Esau plans to kill him; Rebekah tells him to flee to Laban at Haran and Isaac sends him away; at Bethel he dreams of a ladder set up on the earth, and the top of it reached to heaven. Isaac is 137 |
Gen 27:1–28:22 | Jacob | B |
| c. 1929–1909 BC Ussher c. 1759–1739 BC |
Jacob serves Laban 20 years9I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle; Joseph is born when the fourteen years are over |
Gen 29:18–30; 30:22–26; 31:38, 41 | Jacob | B |
| c. 1915–1805 BC Ussher c. 1745–1635 BC |
Joseph lives 110 years9 Born in Padanaram when Jacob is 91; Joseph lived an hundred and ten years, and saw Ephraim's children of the third generation |
Gen 30:22–25; 41:46, 53; 45:6; 47:9; 50:22–26 | Joseph | B |
| Jacob 97 · c. 1909 BC Ussher c. 1739 BC |
Jacob leaves Laban Jacob leaves after 20 years; at Peniel he wrestles with a man who says Thy name shall be called no more Jacob, but Israel; he meets Esau. Joseph is 6 |
Gen 31:17–33:20 | Jacob | B |
| Joseph 17 · c. 1898 BC Ussher c. 1728 BC |
Joseph is sold into EgyptJoseph, being seventeen years oldis sold for twenty pieces of silverto the Ishmeelites, who bring him into Egypt, where Potiphar, an officer of Pharaoh, buys him. Jacob is 108 |
Gen 37:2, 25–36 | Joseph | B |
| c. 1898–1885 BC Ussher c. 1728–1715 BC |
Slave and prisoner Thirteen years pass between the sale at 17 and the day he stands before Pharaoh at 30: in Potiphar’s house, then in prison, where he waits two full yearsafter interpreting the dreams of two of Pharaoh’s servants |
Gen 39:1–41:46 | Joseph | B |
| Joseph 30 · c. 1885 BC Ussher c. 1715 BC |
Joseph made ruler of EgyptJoseph was thirty years old when he stood before Pharaoh king of Egypt, who sets him over all the land of Egypt. Jacob is 121 |
Gen 41:1, 14–46 | Joseph | B |
| c. 1885–1878 BC Ussher c. 1715–1708 BC |
Seven plenteous years Joseph gathers corn as the sand of the sea; his sons Manasseh and Ephraim are born before the years of famine came |
Gen 41:29, 47–53 | Joseph | B |
| c. 1878–1871 BC Ussher c. 1708–1701 BC |
Seven years of famineThe seven years of dearth began to come, according as Joseph had said, and all countries came into Egypt to Joseph for to buy corn |
Gen 41:53–57; 45:6 | Joseph | B |
| c. 1878–1876 BC Ussher c. 1708–1706 BC |
Joseph’s brothers come to buy corn Ten of Jacob’s sons go down to Egypt, where Joseph knows them but they do not know him; they return with Benjamin the next time, when two years of the famine have passed (Gen 45:6) |
Gen 42:1–43:34 | Joseph | B |
| In Egypt: Jacob’s family, to Joseph’s death · c. 1876–1805 BC | ||||
| Jacob 130 · c. 1876 BC Ussher c. 1706 BC |
Jacob comes down to Egypt God says fear not to go down into Egypt; Jacob tells Pharaoh The days of the years of my pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years, and Joseph settles his family in the land of Rameses. Joseph is 39 |
Gen 46:1–7; 47:7–11 | Jacob | B |
| Joseph 39 · c. 1876 BC Ussher c. 1706 BC |
Joseph makes himself knownThese two years hath the famine been in the land: and yet there are five years, Joseph tells his brothers; he is 39 (30 + 7 + 2). Jacob is 130 |
Gen 45:1–15; 41:46 | Joseph | B |
| Jacob 147 · c. 1859 BC Ussher c. 1689 BC |
Jacob dies in Egypt Jacob lived in the land of Egypt seventeen years; he takes Ephraim and Manasseh as his own, blesses the twelve tribes of Israeland dies; Joseph, 56, has him buried in the cave of Machpelah |
Gen 47:28–50:14 | Jacob | B |
| Joseph 110 · c. 1805 BC Ussher c. 1635 BC |
Joseph diesSo Joseph died, being an hundred and ten years old; he made Israel swear ye shall carry up my bones from hence. He dies 54 years after Jacob |
Gen 50:22–26 | Joseph | B |
Certainty: A Stated in Scripture · B Worked out from Scripture · C Ancient record or astronomy · D Scholarly reconstruction · E Tradition / uncertain — scholars differ.
Abraham to Joseph — notes and sources
How the dates were worked out
The Bible gives the ages of Abraham and Isaac when their sons were born, Jacob’s age (130) when he stood before Pharaoh, and how long each of the three lived, but no BC year. The BC years on this chart are worked out from the Exodus, which this series dates to 1446 BC from 1 Kings 6:1. The Hebrew text of Exodus 12:40–41 puts 430 years between Israel’s coming to Egypt and the Exodus, so Jacob, 130 years old (Genesis 47:9), came down to Egypt in 1876 BC. Counting back, Jacob was born in 2006 BC, when Isaac was 60 (Genesis 25:26), Isaac in 2066 BC, when Abraham was 100 (Genesis 21:5), and Abraham in 2166 BC. Every other date follows from the ages in Genesis, counted from Abraham’s birth. Ages are whole years, so each date is approximate (c.). Where Genesis gives no age, the chart shows only the years between which the event must fall. Ussher’s dates, which count the 430 years from Abraham’s call and put the Exodus in 1491 BC, are 170 years later and stand in the thin italic row under the axis. Not drawn to one scale: the years from Abraham’s call to Sarah’s death and from Jacob’s flight to his death are given more room than the rest. Each change of scale is marked on the axis.
Notes
1 Scripture gives ages, not BC years. These dates count back from the Exodus (1446 BC) through 430 years in Egypt, then Jacob 130, Isaac 60 and Abraham 100. 1 Kings 6:1 puts the beginning of the Temple in the 480th year after the Exodus, in the fourth year of Solomon, which this series dates to 967 BC; the 480th year comes 479 years after the Exodus, so 967 + 479 = 1446 BC. The Hebrew text of Exodus 12:40–41 puts 430 years between Israel’s coming to Egypt and the Exodus, so Jacob, 130 years old (Gen 47:9), came down in 1446 + 430 = 1876 BC. He was born 130 years earlier, in 2006 BC, when Isaac was 60 (Gen 25:26); Isaac in 2066 BC, when Abraham was 100 (Gen 21:5); and Abraham in 2166 BC. Ages in Genesis are whole years, so every date is approximate (c.). A different date for the Exodus, or a shorter stay in Egypt, would move every BC year on this chart, but not the ages. (Exod 12:40–41; Gen 47:9; 25:26; 21:5; 1 Kgs 6:1)
2 The thin row is Ussher’s: his Abraham was born in 1996 BC, 170 years after 2166 BC, because he counts the 430 years from Abraham’s call and dates the Exodus 45 years earlier. Ussher counted the 430 years of Exodus 12:40 from Abraham’s leaving Haran, so that only 215 of them were spent in Egypt, which makes every date from Abraham to Joseph 215 years later; but he dated the Exodus to 1491 BC, 45 years before the 1446 BC used here, and 215 − 45 = 170. His Jacob therefore came down in 1491 + 215 = 1706 BC, 170 years after 1876 BC, and for the dates on this chart that rest on the ages in Genesis his year is, to within a year, the year here less 170. The Septuagint reads "while they sojourned in the land of Egypt and the land of Chanaan, was four hundred and thirty years", and Paul says the law came four hundred and thirty years after
the covenant with Abraham (Gal 3:17). (Exod 12:40–41; Gal 3:17; Gen 47:9)
3 Terah was 70 when his sons began to be born (Gen 11:26), but he died at 205 and Abram left Haran at 75 only after that (Acts 7:4), so Abram was born when Terah was 130. Genesis names Abram first, which need not make him the eldest. The Samaritan Pentateuch gives Terah 145 years in Gen 11:32, which fits his being 70 when Abram was born; the Hebrew text, followed here, gives 205. Abram’s birth year comes from the ages from Isaac down, so only Terah’s own years change, to c. 2236–2091 BC on the Samaritan reading. Jewish tradition takes Terah to have been 70 when Abram was born and to have died at 205, 60 years after Abram left Haran. (Gen 11:26, 32; 12:4; Acts 7:4)
4 Genesis 12:5–15:21 gives no date of its own. Hagar was given to Abram after Abram had dwelt ten years in the land of Canaan
(Gen 16:3), so it falls between Abram 75 (Gen 12:4) and 85. (Gen 16:3; 12:4)
5 Gen 15:13 and Acts 7:6 say four hundred years
, but Exod 12:40 says 430. The dates on this chart use the 430. (Gen 15:13; Acts 7:6; Exod 12:40)
6 Genesis gives no age for Isaac on Moriah; he is the lad
(Gen 22:5, 12). The chapter stands after his birth (Gen 21) and before Sarah’s death (Gen 23), so the chart shows that whole range. (Gen 22:5, 12; 21:5; 23:1)
7 Abraham calls himself an hundred years old
and Sarah ninety years old
(Gen 17:17), so she was ten years younger. She died at 127, when Abraham was 137 and Isaac 37. (Gen 17:17; 23:1; 21:5)
8 Gen 35:28–29 tells of Isaac’s death before Joseph is sold (Gen 37), but the ages put it later. Isaac was 168 when Joseph, 17, was sold (Jacob 108); he died at 180, 12 years after. (Gen 35:28–29; 25:26; 37:2)
9 Genesis does not give Jacob’s age when he left home. Joseph was born at the end of the 14 years’ service for Leah and Rachel, when Jacob was 91, so Jacob came to Laban at 77. Joseph was 39 when Jacob, 130 years old, stood before Pharaoh (Gen 47:9): he was 30 when he was made ruler (Gen 41:46), then came seven plenteous years (Gen 41:53) and two of famine (Gen 45:6). So Joseph was born when Jacob was 130 − 39 = 91, and Jacob came to Laban 14 years earlier, at 91 − 14 = 77 (Gen 29:18, 27–30; 30:25–26; 31:41). (Gen 47:9; 41:46, 53; 45:6; 29:18, 27–30; 30:22–26; 31:41)
Sources
The King James translators, The Holy Bible, King James Version — Pure Cambridge Edition text (bibleprotector.com), checked against eBible.org's 1769 text, 1611 (Cambridge text).
James Ussher, Annales Veteris Testamenti (English, The Annals of the World, 1658), 1650.
Lancelot C. L. Brenton (translator), The Septuagint Version of the Old Testament, with an English Translation, Exodus 12 (as published by eBible.org), 1851.
Wikipedia contributors, Ussher chronology (Wikipedia), online.
Rodger C. Young, Book Review — From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology, Part II (Associates for Biblical Research), 2012.
Wikipedia contributors, Patriarchal age (Wikipedia), online.
Wikipedia contributors, Terah (Wikipedia), online.
intertextual.bible, Genesis 11:32 — Samaritan Pentateuch (intertextual.bible), online.
Rodger C. Young, Ussher, Explained and Corrected (Associates for Biblical Research), 2018.
Only sources actually checked are listed. Copyrighted charts were used for cross-checking only.
Free to copy, print and share for non-commercial use. Licence: Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 (creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0). Scripture quotations: King James Version (KJV) (Cambridge text). Abraham to Joseph Timeline v1.0, 2026-10-10.