God promised Abraham that his descendants would be as numerous as the stars. (Gen. 22:17)
Dr. Alice C. Linsley
Many Hebrew high rulers had two wives. Among them were Lamech, Cain, Terah, Abraham, Jacob, Amram, Moses, Caleb, Gilead, Jesse, and Joash. 1 Chronicles 4:5 states that "Ashur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah."1 Chronicles 4:17-18, notes that Mered had two wives, and one was "Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah, whom Mered had married."
Many Hebrew high rulers had two wives. Among them were Lamech, Cain, Terah, Abraham, Jacob, Amram, Moses, Caleb, Gilead, Jesse, and Joash. 1 Chronicles 4:5 states that "Ashur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah."1 Chronicles 4:17-18, notes that Mered had two wives, and one was "Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah, whom Mered had married."
The ruler's proper heir was the firstborn son of his first wife. That son ruled over his father's territory after his father's death. Other sons were sent away from the heir, as is described in Genesis 25. Before he died, Abraham gave all he had to Isaac, and to his other sons he gave gifts and sent them away from Isaac (Gen. 25:5-6).
The Hebrew custom of sending away non-ascendant sons is evidence in biblical narratives but is often obfuscated by midrash.
Some sent-away sons include Cain, Nimrod, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, and Gilead's son Jephthah. The sons of Gilead’s principal wife drove Jephthah away. "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family," they said, "because you are the son of another woman." (Jdg. 11:2)
Some sent-away sons include Cain, Nimrod, Abraham, Jacob, Moses, Joseph, and Gilead's son Jephthah. The sons of Gilead’s principal wife drove Jephthah away. "You are not going to get any inheritance in our family," they said, "because you are the son of another woman." (Jdg. 11:2)
Other sent-away sons include Ishmael, Joktan and Yishbak, all sons of Abraham. The name Yishbak means “sent away.”
Some of Abraham’s descendants by his son Joktan settled in Southern Arabia and are known as the Joktanite tribes or clans.
The Backstory vs Midrash
Most sent-away sons were the firstborn sons of the Hebrew ruler's second wife, usually a cousin. Keturah was Abraham's cousin wife, and her sons were sent away from Isaac who ruled over his father's territory in ancient Edom (Idumea).
Isaac's son Jacob was the sent to serve the household of his maternal grandfather and came under the authority of a maternal uncle named Laban.
Isaac's son Jacob was the sent to serve the household of his maternal grandfather and came under the authority of a maternal uncle named Laban.
Likewise, Jacob's son by his cousin bride Rachel was sent to serve his maternal uncle Potiphar in Egypt.
Moses went to serve the household of Jethro, the Hebrew priest of Midian. There he married his patrilineal cousin Zipporah.
The custom of sending away non-ascendant sons drove the Hebrew dispersion out of the Nile Valley.
The custom of sending away non-ascendant sons drove the Hebrew dispersion out of the Nile Valley.
Nimrod left Kush and established himself in Mesopotamia where he married the daughter of a Hebrew Sumerian ruler named Asshur. Nimrod and Asshur's royal daughter are among Abraham's ancestors.
Related reading: The Hebrew were a Caste; Abraham's Sons; Sovereignty and Two Wives; Jewish Responses to My Research; Features of the Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew; Nimrod's Sumerian Wife
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