The
History of Joseph the Carpenter is an anonimous compilation of traditions concerning Mary, Joseph, and the Holy Family, probably composed in Byzantine Egypt in Greek in the late sixth or early seventh centuries, but surviving only in Coptic and Arabic language translation. It is one of the texts within the New Testament apocrypha concerned with the period of Jesus’ life before he was 12.
The text is framed as an explanation by Jesus on the Mount of Olives concerning the life of Joseph, his stepfather. Agreeing with Mary’s continued virginity, it proclaims that Joseph had four sons (Judas, Justus, James, and Simon) and two daughters (Assia and Lydia) by a previous marriage.
The first part of the text is an evident reworking of the information present in the
Proto-Gospel of James and in the
Infancy Gospel of Thomas regarding the marriage between Joseph and Mary. The next part relates to the death of Joseph and represents an original contribution. Indeed, after this basic background, the text proceeds to paraphrase the
Gospel of James, stopping at the point of Jesus’ birth, stating that Joseph was miraculously blessed with mental and physical youth, dying at the age of 111.