On a superficial level, The Birth of a Nation is a love story concerning the two families. Why saidst thou, She is my Say, I pray thee, thou art my sister: that it may be well with A theme in the Abraham stories is his lack of children, which is why he marries Hagar and has Ishmael. Her nationality is Ethiopian as she was the mother of Sheba and the Medians whose descendant, Jethro,or Ragu'el or Reu'el the Ethiopian priest of Median begot a daughter, Zipporah, who, in the Scriptures, was referred to as the Ethiopian wife of Moses. Hagar was not. Keturah, Ketu'rah. 25:2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Syrian Bedouin woman, at the World's Columbian Exposition, 1893. [4], One modern commentator on the Hebrew Bible has called Keturah "the most ignored significant person in the Torah". The Children of Keturah as the Realization of Gods Blessing to Abraham, The Offspring of Keturah as a Constant Threat to Israel. A Parasha Pregnant with the Past, Present and Future of Israels Protagonists, Abraham and Lots Bedouin-Style Hospitality, The Song of the Sea and the History of Ancient Israel and Judah, Manassehs Genealogies: Why They Change Between Numbers, Joshua, and Chronicles,, Decoding the Table of Nations: Reading it as a Map,. Order Blacks in the Bible Vol. Yet the Torah tells us that Abraham in his extreme old age marries again and fathers several more children. [2][3] The Book of Genesis records that Abraham gave them gifts and sent them to the East, while making Isaac son of Sarah his primary heir. /e/epher.htm - 8k, Medan (2 Occurrences) Easton's Bible Dictionary Contention, the third son of Abraham by Keturah (Genesis 25:2). Is she a local Canaanite woman? 1860.). ), suggests that the primary purpose of these verses is to associate the names that follow with Abraham. 29); her deeds were as fine as incense (ketoretTanhuma, Hayyei Sarah 8). Who are the descendants of Ishmael? | GotQuestions.org /hebrew/2175.htm - 6k, What is Meant by Abraham's Marrying Keturah after Sarah's Death. In First Chronicles, she is called Abraham's "concubine"[3] (Hebrew: Translit. In the text, the daughter of an Egyptian priest falls in love with Joseph, turns to the God of Israel, marries Joseph, and is saved by God and some of Joseph's brothers from attack by . "the written Torah." Keturah, on the other hand, was not a slave; she was a free woman. It was the longest and most-profitable film then produced and the most artistically advanced film of its day. Article Images Copyright 2023 Getty Images unless otherwise indicated. 21:12. Abrahams affair with his African handmaiden led to an entire race Keturah | The amazing name Keturah: meaning and etymology Standard Bible Encyclopedia. "What is Meant by Abraham's Marrying Keturah After Sarah's Death. Ham. The Egyptians were direct descendants of Ham through his son, Mizraim We encounter the usual idiom: "he added //christianbookshelf.org/leupold/exposition of genesis volume 1/chapter xxv.htm, A Prince's Bride Let Momus look to the baggage. This solution doesnt change the fact that the Torah calls her a wife, however, and it doesnt deal with the problem that Keturah is one person/concubine, not many. [5][13] Possible justifications for this opinion include the fact that Keturah is referred to 1 Chronicles 1:32 as Abraham's concubine (in the singular),[14] and several other verses which suggest that the descendants of Hagar and Keturah lived in the same territory or formed a single ethnic group. established Egypt, referred to in Psalms 105 and 106 refer to as the land of No one could replace Sarah, the foremother of Israel. International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, Do Not Sell or Share My Personal Information. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba, and Dedan. She is "of good sense and beautiful in looks," while he is "hard and evil in his deeds" (v. 3). He also serves as a volunteer writer for Torah.org. Moses' Black-Skinned Wife: What Does the Torah Think of Her? He said to himself: If I bless Isaac now, I will also have to bless the children of Ishmael and of Keturah; but if I do not bless them, how will I be able to bless Isaac? 9, vs. 7 saying "Are you not like the Children of Ethiopia to me, O Children of Israel"[4]. Launched Shavuot 5773 / 2013 | Copyright Project TABS, All Rights Reserved, script type="text/javascript"> Although Abraham took Keturah as a spouse, she was never his true wife. Who was Keturah in the Bible? | GotQuestions.org [8] Insofar as verses 56 and the mention of children of concubines, these verses seem to be expressing a viewpoint that Abraham had concubines and children all alongit was just that his wife (Sarah) didnt have children. Three camels, one of which is the beast of burden. Keturah - Baby Name Meaning, Origin, and Popularity | Nameberry 24:23: Then the moon shall be ashamed (Num. See also, Aaron Demsky, Reading Biblical Genealogies, TheTorah (2016); idem., Manassehs Genealogies: Why They Change Between Numbers, Joshua, and Chronicles, TheTorah (2019); David Ben-Gad HaCohen, Decoding the Table of Nations: Reading it as a Map, TheTorah (2015). Even so, as children of Abraham, they were most certainly blessed and to some degree spiritual heirs of his sanctity. Copyright 2023, Bible Study Tools. (The Midrash offers different reasons why she was given an alternate name here such as that it reflected her righteousness that her deeds were as aromatic as incense (ketoret).). Seeing the Letter Tet in a Dream: 9th Anniversary, Study the Torah with Academic Scholarship, By using this site you agree to our Terms of Use, https://thetorah.com/article/our-stepmother-keturah. The name Keturah comes from the verb (qatar) meaning to produce pleasant smoke: The verb (qatar) probably originally meant to rise up but came to denote the rising up of sacrificial smoke, which in turn commonly marked celebrations and surplus, and smelled pleasant after roasts or incense. And his second wife is someone the Torah identifies by name but states nothing further. Qeturah. We know little about Keturah, other than her name and the names of the sons she bore to Abraham ( Genesis 25:2; 1 Chronicles 1:33 ). [5], According to Doctor of Anthropology Paula M. McNutt, it is generally recognized that there is nothing specific in the biblical traditions recorded in Genesis, including those regarding Abraham and his family, that can be definitively related to known history in or around Canaan in the early second millennium B.C.E. Abraham married his 3rd wife Keturah after Isaac at age 40 married Rebekah. Some Jewish sages have proposed that Keturah and Hagar, the mother of Ishmael, are the same person, but there's no evidence in the text to support this, and this proposition is ultimately fantastic. were not from Ishmaels line at all, but existed prior to Abraham, much less his 13. half sister, who was also a descendant of Shem. Where do you put a compressor in your pedal chain. In any event, Abraham was at least in his 140s at that time (he would live to 175). cousins. After Sarah dies and a wife is found for Isaac, one would think the story of the Jewish people has moved on from Abraham to the next generation of Isaac, Rebecca and their sons. On February 8, 1915, D.W. Griffith's The Birth of a Nation, a landmark film in the history of cinema, premieres at Clune's Auditorium in Los Angeles. He used her as a surrogate mother a stand-in for his barren wife to produce an heir, following an ancient Bronze Age Near Eastern custom/law. The Torah introduces Keturah as an , wife (Gen 25:1), and yet the same passage also refers to Abrahams concubines and their children: Who are these concubines? /hebrew/28.htm - 6k, 2175. MEDAN. 1:17-27, Gen. 20:12) You need to understand Subscribe to the CompellingTruth.org Newsletter: Genesis 25 records that Keturah is the wife Abraham married after his first wife Sarah died. According to the Judean authors Josephus and Cleodemus Malchus, Punic people were descended from Epher, grandson of Abraham and Keturah. Keturah - Wikipedia The Rabbis championing this position emphasize that these offspring do not follow the spiritual way of Abraham; moreover, since they already received their inheritance from him, they are not entitled to make any further demands. 2174b, 2175. Egyptians claim their lineage is Shemitic through Ishmael, Abrahams Placing the Keturah account after the birth of Isaac but before Sarahs death would not have worked either. The wife of Abraham, after the death of Sarah, Genesis 25:1-6. Read the latest from JWA from your inbox. First Chronicles 1:32 refers to Keturah as Abraham's concubine, so there is some debate as to the exact nature of their relationship. Please support us. There is a well-known Midrash that it was actually none other than Abrahams earlier concubine and mother of Ishmael, Hagar (Bereishit Rabbah 61:4 and elsewhere, see Rashi to 25:1). (The beauty of Abrams wife must have been And it came to pass, when he was come near to enter into Egypt, that he said window.location.replace(""); Shemitic people take pride in their males lineage and ignore According to the Biblical tradition, he contracted this second marriage after the death of Sarah (compare Genesis 23), and very likely after the marriage of Isaac (compare Genesis 24). 1 Chronicles 4:11. [3] Keturah was the mother of six sons, representing Arabian tribes south and east of Canaan, so that through the offspring of Keturah Abraham became "the father of many nations" including the Ethiopians. [5] The Book of Jubilees also supports the conclusion that Keturah and Hagar were two different people, by stating that Abraham waited until after Hagar's death before marrying Keturah. After enumerating Nabal's enormous wealth in flocks (1 Sam 25:2), the narrative introduces her in contrast to him. and they sent him away, and his wife, and all that he had. (Gen. 12), Beset by plagues, this Hamitic king sent themselves Shemitic through Abraham rather than Hamitic by Hagar. 25:4 The descendants of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Enoch, Abida, and Eldaah. ( Genesis 25:1 ; 1Chronicles 1:32 ) (B.C. One of Abraham's sons by Keturah (Genesis 25:2; 1 Chronicles 1:32). There have been quite a few revolutions and uprisings in the world, and although critics love to blame religion and differences in opinion, the main reason why people revolt is because their liberties are curtailed to the point that their lives aren't livable. beautiful Shemitic wife to ravish her, and God had to intervene to rescue her. Though she is called a "concubine," this may have been to distinguish her sons as well as Ishmael from Isaac the son of promise, Genesis 25:6; 1 Chronicles 1:32; Galatians 4:22 ,30. Who is this Keturah and what was the significance of her marriage to Abraham? (Genesis 25:1; 1 Chronicles 1:32) (B.C. Perhaps they took some of the spiritual heritage they gained from Abraham and later discovered their own paths. /d/dedan.htm - 11k, Shuah (5 Occurrences) Easton's Bible Dictionary Prostration; a pit. And why the circumlocution, why not mention the womens namesunless the implication is that Abraham had many concubines, not just them (or not them at all.). Rabbi Zev Farber remarkable, for she was in her mid 60s and late 80s when these events What Does Keturah Mean? Bible Definition and References - Bible Study Tools 1:3): and whatever he does prospers (Gen. Rabbah 61:1). Who is she? Hagar and Ishmael wander through the desert until they run out of water, and in despair, Hagar sets Ishmael down under a bush and turns away, expecting him to die and not being able to watch it happen.Aug 17, 2018. Medan -- a son of Abraham and Keturah 4090, 4091. [5] The medieval Jewish commentator Rashi, and some previous rabbinical commentators, related a traditional belief that Keturah was the same person as Hagar, although this idea cannot be found in the biblical text. They point to the defective spelling of pilegesh (concubine) in the biblical text (i.e. Genealogies elsewhere in the Bible are similarly symbolic. Therefore, the Arabs of Islam call 31 December 1999. 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