Keturah

Who is Keturah?

According to the Hebrew Bible, Keturah or Ketura was the woman whom Abraham, the patriarch of the Arabs and Israelites, married after the death of his wife, Sarah. Keturah bore Abraham six sons, Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. The spelling of the sons' names varies as can be seen in 1st century CE Historian Flavius Josephus, who mentions Keturah and her sons in Antiquities of the Jews 1.238.

Keturah is referred to at different times as either Abraham's wife in Genesis 25:1 or Abraham's concubine in 1 Chronicles 1:32. While Abraham left everything to Isaac, he made grants to his sons by his concubine during his lifetime, and sent them east away from Isaac. He died at the age of 175. Keturah's six sons represent Arabian tribes south and east of Canaan.

Some, but not all, Jewish philosophers identify Keturah with Hagar, stating that Abraham sought her out after Sarah's death, and that Hagar's change of name to Keturah was symbolic of the pleasantness of her teshuvah from her sinfulness during her exile. This interpretation is set forth in the Midrash and is supported by Rashi, Gur Aryeh, Keli Yakar, and Obadiah of Bertinoro. The contrary view is advocated by Abraham ibn Ezra, Radak, Rashbam, and Ramban. The Second Temple Book of Jubilees makes it clear that Keturah is not Hagar and explains that Hagar died a few years previously.