Descendants of Keturah, Abraham's Second Wife
Abraham married Keturah after Sarah's death, though the precise timing remains debated [1, 2]. Genesis 25:1 introduces her simply: "Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah" [1]. The name itself means "incense" [3, 4], but her nationality and family background are unknown [3]. She bore Abraham six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah [4]. Through these descendants, Abraham became "the father of many nations," fulfilling the promise in a broader sense than Isaac's line alone [3].
Status and Timing
Keturah's status is described both as "wife" and "concubine." Genesis 25:1 calls her Abraham's wife, yet 1 Chronicles 1:32 designates her his concubine [3, 12]. This dual terminology reflects ancient Near Eastern marriage categories: she was a legitimate secondary wife, not a concubine in the modern pejorative sense [7]. Adam Clarke clarifies that she was "neither whore, harlot, nor concubine, in our sense of these words" but rather "a wife of the second rank" [7].
The chronology of this marriage is uncertain. Some traditions place it after Sarah's death when Abraham was approximately 140 years old [9], attributing his continued fertility to the divine vigor granted for Isaac's conception [11]. Others argue the marriage occurred earlier, noting that the account appears here merely to conclude Abraham's genealogical record, not because it happened last chronologically [8, 10]. Jamieson-Fausset-Brown suggests Abraham "had taken" Keturah earlier, since he sent all six sons away during his lifetime to establish their independence [8]. The text itself leaves the timing ambiguous [13].
Disposition of the Sons
Abraham distinguished sharply between Isaac and Keturah's children. While Isaac received the inheritance as the covenant heir, Abraham gave gifts to Keturah's sons and "sent them away into the east country" during his lifetime [3, 8]. This ensured Isaac's preeminence and prevented disputes over the inheritance [12]. Josephus identifies one branch of these descendants as the Troglodytes, a people of northern Arabia [5, 6], though specific tribal identifications for all six sons remain speculative. The eastward dispersion established Abraham's progeny across a wide geographic range, extending his influence beyond the covenant line through Isaac.
Sources
- Genesis “Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah. -- Genesis 25:1”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Keturah — (incense), the wife of Abraham after the death of Sarah. (Genesis 25:1; 1 Chronicles 1:32) (B.C. 1860.)”
- Easton's Bible Dictionary “Easton's Bible Dictionary: Keturah — Incense, the wife of Abraham, whom he married probably after Sarah's death (Gen. 25:1-6), by whom he had six sons, whom he sent away into the east country. Her nationality is unknown. She is styled "Abraham's concubine" (1 Chr. 1:32). Through the offshoots of the Keturah line Abraham became the "father of many nations."”
- STEPBible TBESG “[H6989] H6989 = (H6989) — A woman living at the time of the Patriarchs, first mentioned at Gen.25.1; married to Abraham (H0085); <br> mother of: Zimran (H2175), Jokshan (H3370), Medan (H4091), Midian (H4080), Ishbak (H3435) and Shuah (H7744) <BR> § Keturah = "incense"<br> wife of Abraham after Sarah's death<br>”
- Project Gutenberg “Flavius Josephus, Antiquities of the Jews, CHAPTER 15, section 1: . How The Nation Of The Troglodytes Were Derived From Abraham By Keturah.”
- Smith's Bible Dictionary “Smith's Bible Dictionary: Ishbak — (left behind), a son of Abraham and Keturah, (Genesis 25:2; 1 Chronicles 1:32) and the progenitor of a tribe of northern Arabia. (B.C. after 1856.)”
- 1 Chronicles (Methodist/Wesleyan) “Adam Clarke on 1 Chronicles 1:32: Keturah, Abraham's concubine - Abraham's pilegesh, or wife of the second rank; she was neither whore, harlot, nor concubine, in our sense of these words.”
- Genesis (Presbyterian) “Jamieson, Fausset & Brown on Genesis 25 (introduction): SONS OF ABRAHAM. (Gen 25:1-6) Abraham took a wife--rather, "had taken"; for Keturah is called Abraham's concubine, or secondary wife (Ch1 1:32); and as, from her bearing six sons to him, it is improbable that he married after Sarah's death; and also as he sent them all out to seek their own independence, during his lifetime, it is clear that this marriage is related here out of its chronological order, merely to form a proper winding up of the patriarch's history.”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on 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 (z) says she was a daughter of the king of the Turks; another (a) of them calls her the daughter of King Rama; and another (b) 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 t”
- Genesis (Lutheran) “Keil & Delitzsch on Genesis 25 (introduction): Abraham's Marriage to Keturah is generally supposed to have taken place after Sarah's death, and his power to beget six sons at so advanced an age is attributed to the fact, that the Almighty had endowed him with new vital and reproductive energy for begetting the son of the promise. But there is no firm ground for this assumption; as it is not stated anywhere, that Abraham did not take Keturah as his wife till after Sarah's death. It is merely an inference drawn from the fact, that it is not mentioned till afterwards; and it is taken for granted ”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 25:2: And she bare him Zimran,.... That Keturah should bear children who probably, was a young woman, is not strange; but that Abraham, whose body forty years before this was dead should now have any bore to him, may seem difficult to account for, and only can be attributed to the fresh vigour his body was endued with at the generation of Isaac; and which still continued for the fulfilment of the promise to him of the multiplication of his seed. But if the notion of a late learned bishop (e) is right, there will be no need to have recourse to any thing extraordinary; which”
- Genesis (Baptist/Reformed) “John Gill on Genesis 25:6: But unto the sons of the concubines which Abraham had,.... These were Hagar and Keturah, though they are both called his wives, Gen 16:3; yet they were concubines; so Keturah, Ch1 1:32; they were, as some render the word, "concubine wives" (e); they were half wives or secondary ones: the Jewish writers say that they were espoused, but not by writing, as wives were; they were under the lawful wife, when there were any, and a kind of head servants in the family, and their children did not inherit; now the sons of the concubines of Abraham were Ishmael by Hagar, and the”
- Genesis (Protestant academic) “Tyndale House on Genesis 25:1: 25:1-11 Though Abraham had sons by another wife, he safeguarded Isaac’s inheritance and blessing. 25:1 Exactly when Abraham married . . . Keturah is unknown. It was probably, but not necessarily, after Sarah’s death.”