Genesis Part 039
We are told that Abraham took a wife named Keturah. We don’t know a lot about Keturah. Her name in Hebrew means “Incense.”
Several Bible commentaries, including Adam Clarke’s and Jamieson-Fausset-Brown, speculate that Abraham would have married Keturah during the life of Sarah due to how old he already was and how many children he had with Keturah. Could this be true?
In 1 Chronicles 1:32 she is also called Abraham’s concubine. This Hebrew word in Chronicles is clearly concubine and is never translated to wife in the Bible. But how could she be both his wife and concubine?
A traditional Rabbi teaching (Rabbi Yehuda in Midrash Rabbah 61:4, cited in Zohar 132b, Jerusalem Targum, and Jonathan ben Uzziel) stated that Keturah is one and the same as Hagar, who bore Abraham’s first son Ishmael. The Bible is largely silent on Keturah, and this is just a theory based on this Jewish teaching. If this were true, it would make both Genesis 25:1 “wife” and 1 Chronicles 1:32 “concubine” both true.
The Jewish tradition goes on to say that Hagar had never married or lived with any man during their years apart, and that her name was changed from Hagar, meaning “flight,” to Keturah, which in Aramaic means “bound” (from Aramaic “ketur” meaning “knot”). According to this tradition, after Sarah dies, Isaac himself travels to Hagar and brings her back to Abraham, and they marry and have additional children.
Other Jewish teachers say that this was not Hagar but was a different woman (Rashbam and Ibn Ezra). Again, this is extra-Biblical material and therefore must be taken as speculation.
Genesis 25:6 says that Abraham gave gifts to his sons from the “concubines.” It is important to note that this word is not plural (meaning, it does not prove he had multiple concubines). It has often been translated “concubine” unless there is indication that more than one was included in the sentence structure.
In verse 7 we see Abraham lives to the age of 175 years old. We were initially introduced to Abraham at 75 years old. He lived an additional 100 years after that time. Isaac would be born when Abraham was 100, and he would get to live 75 years with that special son of promise. Sarah would die when Abraham was 137 years old. He would have 38 more years of life. If he married Keturah after Isaac got married, then he would be married to Keturah for his final 35 years of life.
UYA Team | uya@ucg.org
United Young Adults (UYA) primarily serves the 18–32-year age group for the United Church of God. There are three main areas of contribution to the lives of the young adults: Promoting Spiritual Growth, Developing Meaningful Relationships, and Making the Most of Your Talents. The Know Your Sword series is a daily expository message introducing God’s Word from a trusted perspective.
