Bible Synapse
Was Keturah Abraham’s wife or his concubine?
Hard question · Genealogies · raised by 3 of the lists sceptics circulate
See the passages joined in the interactive mapThe passages
Abraham takes Keturah as his wife; later he leaves all he has to Isaac, and sends away the sons of his concubines with gifts.
Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah. And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And Jokshan begat Sheba, and Dedan. And the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim. And the sons of Midian; Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.
The sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine, are listed.
Now the sons of Keturah, Abraham’s concubine: she bare Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah. And the sons of Jokshan; Sheba, and Dedan.
The objection
Genesis says “Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.” 1 Chronicles calls her “Keturah, Abraham’s concubine”. Was she his wife or his concubine?
The answer
She was both, because a concubine (Hebrew pilegesh) was a true wife of secondary rank: the marriage was lawful, but her children did not inherit with the sons of the chief wife. The Bible uses both words of the same women: Sarah gave Hagar to Abraham “to be his wife” (Genesis 16:3), and Bilhah was given to Jacob “to wife” (Genesis 30:4) but is later called “his father’s concubine” (Genesis 35:22). A concubine’s partner could be called “her husband” (Judges 19:3).
Genesis says the same of Keturah five verses later: Abraham left everything to Isaac, “But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away” (Genesis 25:5–6), and the concubines meant are Hagar and Keturah, as Gill and Keil and Delitzsch both say. So Genesis 25:1 tells us that she was married to Abraham, and 1 Chronicles 1:32, like Genesis 25:6, tells us her rank.
From the classic commentators
These were Hagar and Keturah, though they are both called his wives, Genesis 16:3; yet they were concubines; so Keturah, 1 Chronicles 1:32; they were, as some render the word, ‘concubine wives’ …; they were half wives or secondary onesJohn Gill, Exposition on Genesis 25:6 (1746–1763)
Sources
- John Gill, Exposition of the Bible: Genesis 25, at Bible Hub
- Keil and Delitzsch, Commentary on Genesis 25, at HelloAO