Jacob Jordaens was born on May 19, 1593, the first of eleven children, to the wealthy linen merchant Jacob Jordaens Sr. and Barbara van Wolschaten in Antwerp.

Little is known about Jordaens's early education.

It can be assumed that he received the advantages of the education usually provided for children of his social class.

This assumption is supported by his clear handwriting, his competence in French and in his knowledge of mythology.

Jordaens’ familiarity with biblical subjects is evident in his many religious paintings, and his personal interaction with the Bible is strengthened by his later conversion from Catholicism to Protestantism.

Like Rubens, he had studied under Adam van Noort, who is his only teacher.

During this time Jordaens had lived in Van Noort's house and become very close to the rest of the family.

After eight years of training with Van Noort, he had enrolled in the Guild of St. Luke as a "waterscilder", or watercolor artist.

This medium is often used for preparing tapestry cartoons in the seventeenth century, although examples of his earliest watercolor works are no longer extant.

In the same year as his entry into the guild, 1616, he marries his teacher's eldest daughter, Anna Catharina van Noort, with whom he will have three children.