Who Was Keturah?
Both the Bible and the Koran spend considerable time recording ancient geneologies that show how nations grew from individual patriarchs. Abraham, the first recorded worshiper of the One God, fathered Ishmael through the Egyptian, Hagar, his wife's slave. Then he fathered Isaac, through Sarah, his wife. After Sarah died, he married again and had more children. His second wife was Keturah.
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Identification
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Abraham married Keturah soon after his first wife, Sarah, died. This is recorded in Genesis 25:1-4. However, 1 Chronicles 1:32 does not call Keturah Abraham's wife. Instead, she is refered to as his concubine. The name, Keturah, means "incense" in Hebrew.
Function
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Keturah bore six sons to Abraham. They were Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. These names followed their descendants as tribal names. Jokshan's sons include Sheba and Dedan and Midian's sons include Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah.
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Geography
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Keturah's sons did not remain in the land that Isaac inherited from his father, Abraham. In fact, Abraham did not even encourage them to stay in the land. He gave them gifts and sent them away. Their descendents include the Arabian tribes who settled south of Isaac's territory in the Arabian Peninsula. The ancient Jewish historian, Josephus, suggests that the Greek city state of Sparta was founded by Keturah's descendents. His opinion is supported by the Greek historian, Herodotus. Other possible descendents of Keturah are the Druze and the Roma peoples.
Effects
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One tribe that descended from Keturah, Midian, became a fierce enemy of ancient Israel. Gideon was the Jewish leader whose reduced army of 300 soldiers sneaked into the Midianite camp one night and defeated the occupying force. Read this story in Judges 6-8.
Expert Insight
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When the founder of Islam, Mohammed, was alive, the Arabian tribe who lived in Mecca was the Ketara tribe. This lends credence to the idea that her descendents moved to that region after they were sent away by Abraham. After Abraham died, only his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him. His entire estate went to Isaac.
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