Reading as Seek: to learn Scripture and its teachings. Same facts, warmer framing.

Person

Joseph (Mary's Husband)

An imagined, stylized portrait. No one knows what Joseph (Mary's husband) looked like. AI-generated

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In Matthew and Luke, the husband of Mary, Jesus's mother; warned in dreams, he takes the family to Egypt and later settles in Nazareth.

See Matthew 1:19, Matthew 1:20, Matthew 2:14, Matthew 2:23, Luke 2:4.

A carpenter's tools marks Joseph (Mary's husband) in the reading view: Jesus is called “the carpenter's son” (the Greek word can mean any builder or craftsman) (Matthew 13:55).

Mentioned in 15 verses across 3 books, first in John 1:45. The verses below are the ones linked to this person (the Theographic dataset, with our sourced corrections).

How artists have pictured him

3 works from different centuries and traditions. Each shows how its time and place imagined Joseph (Mary's husband), not how he looked.

Guido Reni, Saint Joseph and the Christ Child, Oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, Houston — **c. 1640** · Guido Reni, *Saint Joseph and the Christ Child*. Oil on canvas, Museum of Fine Arts, HoustonPublic domain · Wikimedia Commons

Isaac Nicolas al-Qudsi, Saint Joseph with the Christ Child, Arab Christian (Melkite) icon, tempera on wood — **18th c.** · Isaac Nicolas al-Qudsi, *Saint Joseph with the Christ Child*. Arab Christian (Melkite) icon, tempera on woodPhoto: Michel Bakni, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wikimedia Commons

James Tissot, The Anxiety of Saint Joseph, Opaque watercolour over graphite, Brooklyn Museum — **1886–1894** · James Tissot, *The Anxiety of Saint Joseph*. Opaque watercolour over graphite, Brooklyn MuseumPublic domain · Wikimedia Commons

In these stories

The Nativity and Isaiah 7:14: virgin or young woman?

At a glance

Name: Joseph
Gender: Male
Group: Tribe of Judah, Genealogy of Jesus

Family

As the dataset records them from the biblical genealogies.

Often appears with

Named in the same verses most often. Sharing a verse doesn’t always mean they met.

Jesus Christ6 verses
Mary (Mother of Jesus)5 verses
God4 verses
David3 verses
Herod2 verses
Holy Spirit2 verses
Jacob1 verse
Moses1 verse
Phillip the Apostle1 verse
Nathanael1 verse
Heli1 verse

Places

Where the data places them (born, died, or an event they take part in) first; then places named in the same verses, which does not mean they were there.

Nazarethscene of “Espousal of Mary”; scene of “An Angel Speaks to Joseph in a Dream” +1 more2 shared verses
Egyptscene of “Joseph and Mary Flee to Egypt”2 shared verses
Jerusalemscene of “Joseph and Mary return from Egypt”; scene of “Temple Presentation of Jesus”1 shared verse
Galilee1 shared verse
Judea1 shared verse
Bethlehem1 shared verse

In the Bible

All 2 verses in John, in Bible order. Text from the Berean Standard Bible; verse numbers follow the KJV.

John

John 1:45
Philip found Nathanael and told him, “We have found the One Moses wrote about in the Law, the One the prophets foretold—Jesus of Nazareth, the son of Joseph.”
John 6:42
They were asking, “Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph, whose father and mother we know? How then can He say, ‘I have come down from heaven?’”

Back to the first 10 Show all 15 verses

Events

Events the dataset lists Joseph (Mary's Husband) as taking part in. Dates follow its Ussher–Jones reckoning (one of several traditional counts), not established history.

c. 6 BC
Espousal of MaryMatthew 1:18 – Luke 1:27 · at Nazareth
c. 5 BC
An Angel Speaks to Joseph in a DreamMatthew 1:19–25 · at Nazareth
c. 4 BC
Joseph and Mary Flee to EgyptMatthew 2:13–15 · at Egypt
c. 4 BC
Joseph and Mary return from EgyptMatthew 2:19–22 · at Jerusalem
c. 4 BC
Joseph and Mary return to NazarethMatthew 2:22 – Luke 2:39 · at Nazareth
c. 4 BC
Temple Presentation of JesusLuke 2:22–38 · at Jerusalem

Dictionary

From Easton’s Bible Dictionary (1897), as attached to this record by Theographic. The entry is for the name and can describe more than one person who bore it. Easton wrote in 1897, and some of his views are now debated.

Read Easton’s entry

The foster-father of our Lord (Matt. 1:16; Luke 3:23). He lived at Nazareth in Galilee (Luke 2:4). He is called a “just man.” He was by trade a carpenter (Matt. 13:55). He is last mentioned in connection with the journey to Jerusalem, when Jesus was twelve years old. It is probable that he died before Jesus entered on his public ministry. This is concluded from the fact that Mary only was present at the marriage feast in Cana of Galilee. His name does not appear in connection with the scenes of the crucifixion along with that of Mary (q.v.), John 19:25.