Albert Barnes Commentary Genesis 25:1-11

"And Abraham took another 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, that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts. And he sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country. And these are the days of the years of Abraham`s life which he lived, a hundred threescore and fifteen years. And Abraham gave up the ghost, and died in a good old age, an old man, and full [of years], and was gathered to his people. And Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, which is before Mamre. The field which Abraham purchased of the children of Heth. There was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife. And it came to pass after the death of Abraham, that God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac dwelt by Beer-lahai-roi." — Genesis 25:1-11 (ASV)

1. קטוּרה qeṭûrâh — “Qeturah, incense.”
2. זמרן zı̂mrān — “Zimran, celebrated in song.” יקשׁן yāqshān — “Joqshan, fowler.” מדן medān — “Medan, judge.” מדין mı̂dyān — “Midian, one who measures.” לאבק yı̂shbāq — “Jishbaq, he leaves.” שׁוּח shûach — “Shuach, pit.”
3. לטוּשׁם leṭûshı̂ym — “Letushim, hammered, sharpened.” לאמים le'umı̂ym — “Leummim, peoples.”
4. עיפה ‛ êypâh , “‘Ephah, darkness.” עפר ‛ êper , “‘Epher, dust.” אבידע 'ǎbı̂ydā‛ — “Abida‘, father of knowledge.” אלדעה 'eldā‛âh — “Elda‘ah, knowing?”

Another family is born to Abraham by Keturah and portioned off, after which he dies and is buried (Genesis 25:1–6).

Added and took a wife. - According to the laws of Hebrew composition, this event may have taken place before the one recorded at the end of the previous chapter. We have several examples of this law in this very chapter. There is nothing contrary to the customs of that period in adding wife to wife.

We cannot say that Abraham was prevented from taking Keturah during Sarah's lifetime by any moral feeling that would not also have prevented him from taking Hagar. It has also been noticed that Keturah is called a concubine, which is thought to imply that the proper wife was still living, and that Abraham was a very old man when Sarah died.

But, on the other hand, it is to be remembered that these sons were in any case born after Isaac's birth, and therefore after Abraham was renewed in vital powers. If this renewal of vigor remained after Isaac's birth, it may have continued for some time after Sarah's death, whom he survived by thirty-eight years. His abstinence from taking any concubine until Sarah gave him Hagar argues against his taking any other during Sarah’s lifetime. His loneliness after Sarah's death may have prompted him to seek a companion for his old age.

If this step was delayed until Isaac was married and therefore separated from him, an additional motive would have impelled him in the same direction. He was not bound to raise this wife to the full rights of a proper wife, even if Sarah were dead. Six sons could have been born to him twenty-five years before his death. If Hagar and Ishmael were dismissed when Ishmael was about fifteen years old, Keturah might have been dismissed when her youngest son was twenty or twenty-five. We are not justified, then, still less compelled, to place Abraham’s second marriage before Sarah's death, or even before Isaac's marriage. It seems to appear in the narrative in chronological order (Genesis 25:2).

Attempts to identify the tribes that descended from these six sons of Keturah have not been very successful. Zimran has been compared with Ζαβράμ Zabram (Ptolemy vi. 7, 5), situated west of Mecca on the Red Sea. Jokshan has been compared with the Κασσανῖται Kassanitai (Ptolemy vi. 7, 6), and with the tribe Jakish among the Himyarites in South Arabia. Medan has been compared with Μοδιάνα Modiana on the east coast of the Aelanitic Gulf.

Midian is found in two localities: west of the Aelanitic Gulf and east of the Salt Sea. Moses later found refuge in the former region. The latter Midianites were probably east of Abraham’s residence. Ishbak is compared with Shobek, a place in Idumaea. Shuah probably belongs to the same region. He may be the ancestor of Bildad the Shuhite (Job 2:11).

Of these, Midian alone appears to be identified with certainty. The others may have been absorbed into that congeries of tribes, the Arabs (Genesis 25:3–4).

Sheba, Dedan, and Asshurim are recurring names (Genesis 10:7, Genesis 10:22, Genesis 10:28), describing other Arab tribes that are equally unknown. The three sons of Dedan may be traced in the Asir tribe of southern Hejaz, the Beni Leits of Hejaz, and the Beni Lam of the Mesopotamian borders. Of the sons of Midian, Ephah is mentioned in Isaiah 60:6 along with Midian. Epher is compared with Beni Ghifar in Hejaz, Henok with Hanakye north of Medinah, Abida with the Abide, and Eldaah with the Wadaa.

These conjectures by Burckhardt are chiefly useful in showing that similar names still exist in the country. There are sixteen descendants by Keturah mentioned here: six sons of Abraham, seven grandsons, and three great-grandsons. If there were any daughters, they are not mentioned. It is not customary to mention females unless they are connected with leading historical figures.

These descendants of Abraham and Keturah are the third contribution of Palgites to the Joktanites, who constituted the original element of the Arabs; the descendants of Lot and Ishmael preceded them. All these branches of the Arab nation are descended from Heber (Genesis 25:5–6).

Abraham makes Isaac his heir (Genesis 24:36). He gives portions to the sons of the concubines during his lifetime and sends them away to the East. Ishmael had been portioned off long before (Genesis 21:14). The "East" is a general name for Arabia, which stretched to the southeast and east from where Abraham lived in southern Palestine.

The northern part of Arabia, which lay due east of Palestine, was formerly more fertile and populous than it is now. The sons of Keturah were probably dismissed before they had any children. Their notable descendants, according to custom, are added here before they are dismissed from the main line of the narrative.

The death of Abraham (Genesis 25:7–11). His years were one hundred and seventy-five. He survived Sarah by thirty-eight years and Isaac’s marriage by thirty-five years. His grandfather lived one hundred and forty-eight years, his father two hundred and five, his son Isaac one hundred and eighty, and his grandson Jacob one hundred and forty-seven; so his age was the full average for that period.

He “expired”—breathed his last. He died “in a happy old age,” in external and internal blessedness (Genesis 15:15). He was “old and full”—having attained the standard length of life in his time and being satisfied with this life, so that he was ready and willing to depart. He was “gathered to his peoples” (Genesis 15:15).

To be gathered is not to cease to exist but to continue existing in another sphere. His peoples, the departed families from whom he descended, are still in being in another, no less real, world.

This, and the similar expression in the passage quoted, provide the first fact in the history of the soul after death, just as burial is the first step in that of the body.

Isaac and Ishmael, - in brotherly cooperation (Genesis 25:9–10). Ishmael was the oldest son, dwelt in the presence of all his brethren, and had a special blessing. The sons of Keturah were far away in the East, very young, and had no particular blessing. Ishmael is therefore properly associated with Isaac in paying the last offices to their deceased father.

The burying-place had been prepared beforehand. Its purchase is recounted here with great precision as a testimony to the fact. This burial ground is an earnest of the promised possession.

This verse (Genesis 25:11) is an appendix to the history of Abraham, stating that the blessing of God, which he had enjoyed until his death, now descended upon his son Isaac, who dwelt at Beer-lahai-roi. The general name “God” is used here because the blessing of God denotes the material and temporal prosperity that Abraham had experienced, in comparison with other men of his day.

We will hear in due time about the spiritual and eternal blessings connected with Yahweh, the proper name of the Author of being and blessing.

The section now completed contains the seventh of the documents beginning with the formula, “these are the generations.” It begins in the eleventh chapter and ends in the twenty-fifth, and therefore contains a greater number of chapters and more material than the whole of the preceding narrative. This is as it should be in a record of God's ways with man.

In the former sections, things prior and external to man come into the foreground; they lie at the basis of his being, and his mental and moral birth. In the present section, things internal to man and flowing from him are brought into view. These coincide with the growth of his spiritual nature. The latter are no less momentous than the former for the true and full development of his faculties and capacities.

In the former sections, the absolute being of God is assumed, and the beginning of the heavens and the earth is asserted. The reconstruction of skies and land and the creation of a new series of plants and animals are recorded. This new creation is completed by the creation of man in the image of God and after His likeness.

The placing of man in a garden of fruit trees prepared for his sustenance and gratification; the primeval command, with its first lessons in language, physics, ethics, and theology; the second lesson in speaking when the animals were named; and the separation of man into male and female, are followed by the institutions of wedlock and the Sabbath. These are the fountainheads of social interaction with man and God, the foreshadows of the second and first tables of the law.

The fall of man in the second lesson of ethics; the sentence of the Judge, containing at its very heart the intimation of mercy; the act of fratricide, followed by the general corruption of the whole race; the notices of Sheth; of calling on the name of Yahweh, which began at the birth of Enosh; of Henok, who walked with God; and of Noah, who found grace in His sight—all these are significant events.

The flood, sweeping away the corruption of man while saving righteous Noah, and the confusion of tongues, defeating man's ambition while preparing for the replenishing of the earth and the liberties of men—these complete the chain of prominent facts that stand in the background of man’s history. These are all critical moments, potent elements in man's memory, and foundation-stones of his history and philosophy.

They cannot be overcome or ignored without absurdity or criminality.

In the section now completed, the sacred writer descends from the general to the special, from the distant to the near, from the class to the individual. He dissects the soul of a man and discloses to our view the whole process of spiritual life, from the newborn babe to the perfect man.

Out of the womb of that restless, selfish race, from whom, as it was said, nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do, Abram comes forth, with all the lineaments of their moral image upon him. The Lord calls him to Himself, to His mercy, His blessing, and His service. He obeys the call. That is the moment of his new birth.

The acceptance of the divine call is the tangible fact that demonstrates a new nature. From then on, he is a disciple in the school of heaven, having yet much to learn before he becomes a master.

From this time forward, the spiritual predominates in Abram; very little of the carnal appears.

Two sides of his mental character present themselves in alternate passages, which may be called the physical and the metaphysical, or the things of the body and the things of the soul. In the former, only the carnal or old corrupt nature sometimes appears; in the latter, the new nature advances from stage to stage of spiritual growth toward perfection. His entrance into the land of promise is followed by his descent into Egypt, his generous forbearance in parting with Lot, his valorous conduct in rescuing him, and his dignified demeanor toward Melchizedek and the king of Sodom.

The second stage of his spiritual development now presents itself to our view. On receiving the promise, “Fear not, Abram: I am thy shield, thy exceeding great reward,” he believes in the Lord, who counts it to him for righteousness, and enters into covenant with Him. This is the first fruit of the new birth, and it is followed by the birth of Ishmael.

On hearing the authoritative announcement, “I am God Almighty; walk before me and be perfect,” he performs the first act of that obedience which is the keystone of repentance: receiving the sign of the covenant. He then proceeds to the high functions of holding communion and making intercession with God.

These spiritual acts are followed by the destruction of the cities of the Jordan valley, with the preservation of Lot, the sojourning in Gerar, the birth of Isaac, and the league with Abimelech. The last great act of Abraham's spiritual life is the surrender of his only son to God's will, and this, in turn, is followed by the death and burial of Sarah, the marriage of Isaac, and Abraham's second marriage.

It is evident that every movement in the physical and ethical history of Abraham is fraught with instruction of the deepest interest for the heirs of immortality. The leading points in spiritual experience are presented to us here. The susceptibilities and activities of a soul born of the Spirit are revealed to us. These are lessons for eternity.

Every descendant of Abraham, every collateral branch of his family, every contemporary eyewitness or ear-witness, could have profited in the things of eternity from all this precious treasury of spiritual knowledge. Many of the Gentiles still had, and all could have had, a knowledge of the covenant with Noah and a share in its promised blessings. This would not have prevented, but only promoted, Abraham's mission to be the father of the seed in whom all the families of man should effectually be blessed.

In the meantime, it would have caused the new revelation of spiritual experience, displayed in Abraham's life for the perfecting of the saints, to be circulated to the ends of the earth.