How old was Jesus when Joseph died?

[Hope33]

Hello,

How old was Jesus when Joseph died? And also how old was Joseph when he died?

Hope all is well,
God bless

Thank you,

Sincerely,

Dottie

 

[Fr.Charles_Grondin]

We do not definitively know the answers to those questions. What we know for sure is that Joseph was still alive when Jesus was 12 (Lk 2:42). After that we know nothing for sure. It would appear most likely that Joseph died before Jesus began his public ministry. Joseph is never referred to by either Jesus, Mary or anyone else after the incident when Jesus was 12 (other than to say that Jesus is the son of Joseph). It also seems unlikely that from the cross Jesus would have entrusted Mary to the beloved disciple if Joseph was still alive. As to when he died, according to the Catholic Encyclopedia tradition offers us a few different versions:

According to the apocryphal “Story of Joseph the Carpenter”, the holy man reached his hundred and eleventh year when he died, on 20 July (A.D. 18 or 19). St. Epiphanius gives him ninety years of age at the time of his demise; and if we are to believe the Venerable Bede, he was buried in the Valley of Josaphat. In truth we do not know when St. Joseph died; it is most unlikely that he attained the ripe old age spoken of by the “Story of Joseph” and St. Epiphanius. The probability is that he died and was buried at Nazareth.