The father of St. Joseph was Jacob; however, the Bible is silent on the matter of who his mother was. Since the Joseph of the Old Testament appears to prefigure that of the New, and both testaments name Jacob as the name of both fathers, one may piously believe that Rachel is the name of both mothers.

Birth and family Joseph, son of Jacob and Rachel, lived in the land of Canaan with ten half-brothers, one full brother, and at least one half-sister. He was Rachel's firstborn and Jacob's eleventh son. Of all the sons, Joseph was preferred by his father, who gave him a "long coat of many colors".

Agreeing with Mary's continued virginity, the text proclaims that Joseph had four sons (Judas, Justus, James, and Simon) and two daughters (Assia and Lydia) by a previous marriage. After this basic background, the text proceeds to paraphrase the Gospel of James, stopping at the point of Jesus' birth.

Joseph? St. Augustine suggested that Joseph, the son of Jacob and the descendant of David through Solomon, might have been adopted by Heli, thus becoming the adoptive descendant of David through Nathan.