Genesis 25:1

1 Abraham married a second time; his new wife was named Keturah.

Genesis 25:1 Meaning and Commentary

Genesis 25:1

Then again Abraham took a wife
Three years after the death of Sarah, and when his son Isaac was married, and he alone, and now one hundred and forty years of age:

and her name [was] Keturah;
who she was, or of what family, is not said. An Arabic writer F26 says she was a daughter of the king of the Turks; another F1 of them calls her the daughter of King Rama; and another F2 the daughter of Pactor, king of Rabbah; but there were then no such people in being. Very probably she was one of Abraham's handmaids born in his house, or bought with his money, perhaps the chief and principal of them. The Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem say she is the same with Hagar, and so, Jarchi; but this is rejected by Aben Ezra, since mention is made of Abraham's concubines, ( Genesis 25:6 ) ; whereas it does not appear he ever had any other than Hagar and Keturah, and therefore could not be the same; and besides, the children of Hagar and Keturah are in this chapter reckoned as distinct. Cleodemus F3, a Heathen writer, makes mention of Keturah as a wife of Abraham's, by whom he had many children, and names three of them. Sir Walter Raleigh F4 thinks, that the Kenites, of whom Jethro, the father- in-law of Moses, was, had their name from Keturah, being a nation of the Midianites that descended from her.


FOOTNOTES:

F26 Abul. Pharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 14.
F1 Elmacinus, p. 34. apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 309.
F2 Patricides, p. 19. in ib.
F3 Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 20. p. 422.
F4 History of the World, l. 2. c. 4. sect. 2. p. 157.

Genesis 25:1 In-Context

1 Abraham married a second time; his new wife was named Keturah.
2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah.
3 Jokshan had Sheba and Dedan. Dedan's descendants were the Asshurim, the Letushim, and the Leummim.
4 Midian had Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah - all from the line of Keturah.
5 But Abraham gave everything he possessed to Isaac.
Published by permission. Originally published by NavPress in English as THE MESSAGE: The Bible in Contemporary Language copyright 2002 by Eugene Peterson. All rights reserved.