Who Is Keturah?
Many years ago, I heard a preacher say, Jewish Rabbis actually claim Keturah is Hagar. The romantic in me absolutely loves this idea. Hagar was forced out, but after Sarah dies, Abraham goes looking for her and brings her back into his life. While this notion would make a great Hallmark movie, does it have a Biblical truth? Let’s explore…
First, the verse where we are introduced to Keturah is Genesis 25:1:
Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
Many people use this verse as an argument against the Keturah/Hagar idea because of the word “again,” but again can have multiple uses. First, we use again in sentences like we would use the word another: Abraham took another wife, which would mean a wife different than the one before. But again can also mean doing something more than once. Abraham took his wife again. The Hebrew isn’t super clear on which way we should interpret it, but other times in scripture when the word is used, like in Isa. 8:5, it is used in the context of doing it once more not in the context of another.
Moving down to verse Gen. 25:6, you would think we’ve disproved the theory again, because the verse says:
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.
Did you catch that plural? Concubines would imply more than one right? Wrong. The Hebrew doesn’t have the correct ending for a plural, so it should read concubine, not concubines. By the way, what’s a concubine you ask? A concubine is a lower status wife. If Keturah truly was just a second wife after the death of Sarah, she wouldn’t have had a “lower status.” Romans 7:2 tell us:
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Therefore, if Sarah is dead, which she is, and Keturah is just a new wife, she would not have a lower status. The only reason for a lower status is when polygamy is involved, and the only time Abraham engages in polygamy is in the case of Hagar.
Two more points: 1) Why do they have different names? 2) The Isaac connections.
First, the different names: if you look up the meaning of each name you find the meaning ties into the actions they commit in the story of Abraham. Hagar means flight. She takes flight from Sarah in Gen. 16, and again, she is forced to flight by Abraham in Gen. 21. Keturah, on the other hand, means incense. She was a sweet savor to Abraham in the end of his life. Names in the Bible typically denote the character of the person or the actions they take. These names are no different.
Last, the Isaac connection. When Isaac and Rebekah are married, which is shortly before Abraham’s second marriage, his location is mentioned:
Genesis 24:62 KJV
And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the south country.
Why does this matter to our Keturah/Hagar discussion? Because Hagar’s first flight was to the same location, and she actually named that spot:
Genesis 16:13-14 KJV
And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Scholars speculate that while Abraham was concerned with getting Isaac a wife, Isaac was concerned with finding Abraham’s former wife, and went to find her. Will we ever know if that truly happened? No, but there is no coincidence with God, and he doesn’t mention a location for no reason.
So was Keturah actually Hagar? I can’t say for certain, but the evidence truly makes me think she was. Plus, the Disney-lover in me likes the idea of a happy ending for Hagar. Do you think it’s the same wife or a new one?
First, the verse where we are introduced to Keturah is Genesis 25:1:
Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.
Many people use this verse as an argument against the Keturah/Hagar idea because of the word “again,” but again can have multiple uses. First, we use again in sentences like we would use the word another: Abraham took another wife, which would mean a wife different than the one before. But again can also mean doing something more than once. Abraham took his wife again. The Hebrew isn’t super clear on which way we should interpret it, but other times in scripture when the word is used, like in Isa. 8:5, it is used in the context of doing it once more not in the context of another.
Moving down to verse Gen. 25:6, you would think we’ve disproved the theory again, because the verse says:
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.
Did you catch that plural? Concubines would imply more than one right? Wrong. The Hebrew doesn’t have the correct ending for a plural, so it should read concubine, not concubines. By the way, what’s a concubine you ask? A concubine is a lower status wife. If Keturah truly was just a second wife after the death of Sarah, she wouldn’t have had a “lower status.” Romans 7:2 tell us:
For the woman which hath an husband is bound by the law to her husband so long as he liveth; but if the husband be dead, she is loosed from the law of her husband.
Therefore, if Sarah is dead, which she is, and Keturah is just a new wife, she would not have a lower status. The only reason for a lower status is when polygamy is involved, and the only time Abraham engages in polygamy is in the case of Hagar.
Two more points: 1) Why do they have different names? 2) The Isaac connections.
First, the different names: if you look up the meaning of each name you find the meaning ties into the actions they commit in the story of Abraham. Hagar means flight. She takes flight from Sarah in Gen. 16, and again, she is forced to flight by Abraham in Gen. 21. Keturah, on the other hand, means incense. She was a sweet savor to Abraham in the end of his life. Names in the Bible typically denote the character of the person or the actions they take. These names are no different.
Last, the Isaac connection. When Isaac and Rebekah are married, which is shortly before Abraham’s second marriage, his location is mentioned:
Genesis 24:62 KJV
And Isaac came from the way of the well Lahai-roi; for he dwelt in the south country.
Why does this matter to our Keturah/Hagar discussion? Because Hagar’s first flight was to the same location, and she actually named that spot:
Genesis 16:13-14 KJV
And she called the name of the Lord that spake unto her, Thou God seest me: for she said, Have I also here looked after him that seeth me? Wherefore the well was called Beer-lahai-roi; behold, it is between Kadesh and Bered.
Scholars speculate that while Abraham was concerned with getting Isaac a wife, Isaac was concerned with finding Abraham’s former wife, and went to find her. Will we ever know if that truly happened? No, but there is no coincidence with God, and he doesn’t mention a location for no reason.
So was Keturah actually Hagar? I can’t say for certain, but the evidence truly makes me think she was. Plus, the Disney-lover in me likes the idea of a happy ending for Hagar. Do you think it’s the same wife or a new one?
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