Keturah was Abraham's Second Wife

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

Analysis of the marriage and ascendancy structure of Abraham's Hebrew caste reveals that the rulers had two wives. The first was a half-sister, as was Sarah to Abraham. The second wife was usually a patrilineal cousin, as was Keturah to Abraham. The wives maintained separate settlements on a north-south axis. These settlements marked the northern and southern boundaries of the ruler's territory. Sarah resided in Hebron, at the northern edge of Abraham's territory in Edom. Keturah, of the royal line of Sheba, resided at Beersheba to the south. Both Hebron and Beersheba were in the territory that the Greeks called Idumea, which is Edom, the land of red people.

This two-wife marriage pattern for high-ranking Hebrew rulers was common. Many Hebrew rulers had two wives. Among them were Lamech the Elder, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Esau the Elder, Amram, Jesse, Elkanah, Ashur, and Joash. 

In 1 Chronicles 4:5, we read that "Ashur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah."

In 1 Chronicles 4:17-18, we read that Mered had two wives, and one was "Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah, whom Mered had married."

 
According to Genesis 25:1, Keturah is described as Abraham’s wife. The Hebrew word here is ishshah, which means woman or wife. However, according to I Chronicles 1:32, Keturah was a concubine (piylegesh or piyegesh meaning concubine). I Chronicles reflects a time long after the events described and is not consistent with the overwhelming evidence that Keturah was a wife. The confusion may be due to the Chronicles' post-exilic reading of Genesis 25:6: "To the sons of his concubines Abraham made grants during his lifetime, sending them away from his son Isaac..."  It was the custom to send away non-ascendant sons. Abraham, Moses, Jacob and Joseph are among the sent-away sons in the Hebrew Bible.

Abraham married Keturah at a late age. Analysis of the marriage and ascendency pattern of Abraham’s people makes it clear that Keturah was a wife. Typically, the first wife was the bride of the Hebrew ruler's youth and usually his half-sister, as was Sarah to Abraham. The second wife was usually a patrilineal cousin, as was Keturah to Abraham. (The sequence may shed light on the relationship of the faithful of the Old Covenant and the faithful of the New Covenant.)

Keturah resided at Beer-Sheba, which took its name from the great patriarch Sheba who controlled the well there. (Beer means well.) Keturah's firstborn son was probably Joktan, who she named after her father. This is an example of the cousin bride's naming prerogative, a distinctive feature of the Hebrew marriage and ascendancy pattern.

It may be that the Joktanite clans of Southern Arabia are among Joktan's descendants.  

Abraham and Keturah were both descendants of Sheba, the great grandson of Ham. They are also descendants of Shem, as the lines of Shem and Ham intermarried. Sheba was a contemporary of Eber, Shem's great grandson. Eber’s son Joktan married a daughter of Sheba. We know this because Joktan’s first-born son was named Sheba, after his cousin bride’s father. This naming prerogative of the cousin bride was already a custom in the time of Lamech (Gen. 4). Lamech’s daughter Naamah married her patrilineal cousin Methuselah and named their firstborn son Lamech after her father.  Lamech the Younger would ascend to the throne of his maternal grandfather.
 
 

Keturah likewise named her first-born son Joktan, after her father. Abraham had two first-born sons by his wives: Isaac and Joktan. He also had firstborn sons by his two concubines Masek and Hagar. By Masek he had Eliezar and by Hagar he had Ishmael. Contrary to common belief, Ishmael was not Abraham's firstborn. Keturah, though Abraham's second wife, would have produced a son before Sarah who was barren and did not bring forth Abraham's proper heir until very late in her life.

Keturah and Sarah were wives whose firstborn sons would rule over different territories. Isaac was Abraham's proper heir who ruled over Abraham's territory after Abraham's death. Abraham's concubines Hagar and Masek were of subordinate status to his wives. This was the case also with Jacob's concubines, Bilhah and Zilpah.


The Pattern of Keturah Parallels the Pattern of Naamah

According to Gen. 10:24-30, Keturah’s father had a brother named Peleg. The text makes much of the implications of Peleg’s name which means “division”, “because it was in his time that the earth was divided” (Gen. 10:25). There are different possible explanations for this division, but the most likely is that expressed in the pattern of genealogical information. The daughter of Sheba who married Joktan and named her firstborn son Sheba is the last bride named of Ham’s line. In this respect she parallels Naamah, the last bride named of Cain’s line.

Keturah’s father was Joktan and her paternal uncle was Peleg, who is said to be the “first” son. This means that Joktan, like Abraham, was not to receive the rights of primogeniture by which he would become chief after his father’s death. So Joktan, Abraham’s firstborn by Ketu-rah, would not be chief after his death. That would fall to Isaac, the son of Sarah. Nevertheless, the Joktanites would become a powerful presence in the Sinai and by their skills and generosity would enable the Israelites to come out of Egypt and survive in the wilderness.

Genesis 10: 26 tells us that Joktan had 13 sons. Almodad appears to be the first-born, as his name is listed first. If Joktan followed the pattern of his fathers, his two wives would have maintained separate households on a north-south axis. This may be the meaning of the sites mentioned in Gen. 10:30: Mesha and Sephar, although “sephar,’ which means “numbering,” might refer to the cosmology of Abraham’s people rather than to a specific location.

Some of the descendants of Joktan and Sheba hold an annual autumn feast at an oasis in the wilderness to celebrate the date harvest. This is the one time of the year that women and men may dance together. The date palm (“tamar”) is a symbol of prosperity and fertility. The ‘Id el-Tamar is a festival when the unmarried check out the pool of available matches. As is the custom from time immemorial, wife selection takes place at a well or an oasis.

The Significance of the Well

Wells and oases are where boy meets girl in the Bible. There are several incidents of wives being found at wells. Abraham’s servant found Rebecca at a well. Moses met Zipporah at a well. The wells were under the control of the local ruler, often Hebrew priests, such as Jethro. Probably Abraham met Keturah at the well of Sheba, one of their common ancestors.

The Hebrew priests among Abraham's people established their shrines near rivers and wells. They needed the water to sustain their flocks, and it was from these flocks and herds that they selected animals to sacrifice. The evidence of the Bible indicates that the rulers among Abraham's Hebrew people married the daughters of Hebrew priests (caste endogamy). Moses married his cousin Zipporah, the daughter of a Hebrew priest named Jethro. He was of the Hebrew clan of Midian. Midian was another son born to Abraham by Keturah. Abraham had nine sons. Here is a list of sons:

Sarah, daughter of Terah (Gen. 20:12)
Yitzak (Issac)

Hagar the Egyptian (Sarah’s handmaid)
Yishmael (Ishmael) was Egyptian, since ethnicity was traced through the mother and Hagar was Egyptian. Tracing ethnicity through the mother rather than the father is still required to establish Jewish identity today. This pattern is recognized in Egypt as well, which is why the Egyptian government has made it illegal for Egyptian men to marry Jewish women.

Ketu-rah, daughter of Joktan (Gen. 25)
Joktan – probably Keturah’s firstborn son
Midian

Yishbak (Name means "sent away")
Zimran
Medan
Shuah

Masek (Keturah’s handmaid, mentioned only in the Septuagint.)
Eliezar 

Related reading: Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew; Identifying the Status of the Two Wives; The Hebrew were a Caste; Abraham's Sons; Eliezar of Damascus; Abraham's Two Concubines; BIBLICAL ANTHROPOLOGY: Reading the Bible in a Different Way

The Hebrew Rulers of Genesis

 

Naamah named her firstborn son Lamech after her father, Lamech the Elder (Gen. 4). Lamech the Younger was one of Methuselah's sons (Gen. 5). 

According to the Bible scholar Umberto Cassuto, the name "Lamech" is related to the Akkadian word lumakku, meaning “priest” (Commentary on Genesis, Vol. 1, p. 233). Further, Lamech is related to the Akkadian word malku (ruler-priest). It also is related to the Hebrew word melek, meaning “king”. 

 

Dr. Alice C. Linsley

The men listed in the Genesis “begats” were of high social standing in the ancient world. They were rulers, priests, and kingdom builders. Their successors ruled according to a long-established ascendancy pattern. Having an heir was extremely important, and two wives increased the likelihood of having a male heir. The Hebrew rulers who controlled territories maintained two wives in separate settlements usually on a north-south axis.

The marriages of the Hebrew rulers cannot be considered "biblical" and cited as models for Bible believers today. The Hebrew marriage pattern pertains to kingdom builders long before Judaism emerged. These were regnal marriages involving a bride and a groom from related Hebrew clans or between half-siblings. Royal marriages are not like the marriages of commoners because of political complexities and the need for an undisputed heir. Further, the kingdom to which Christians are committed is the Kingdom of Christ our God.

The firstborn sons of the two wives had different rights according to the Hebrew hierarchy of sons. The firstborn son of the first wife was the proper heir to his father’s holdings. The firstborn son of the second wife (usually a cousin) was to serve in the territory of his maternal grandfather.

The two-wife pattern pertained to rulers only, not to lower status Hebrew men. Two wives helped to "build up the house" of the ruler and strengthened the house of the cousin bride's father. The firstborn son of the first wife (usually a half-sister) ascended to rule in place of his father, and the firstborn son of the second wife (usually a patrilineal cousin) became a high official in the service of his maternal grandfather.

 

 
The early Hebrew regarded territorial expansion and many children as a sign of the Creator’s blessing upon them. This is evident in Abraham’s petition before God concerning his need for a proper heir (Gen. 15) to rule over his territory in ancient Edom. That territory extended between the settlements of his two wives, Sarah in Hebron and Keturah in Beersheba. Both locations are shown on the map above. 

Related reading: Sarah's Story; Exploring Isaac's Story; Royal Hebrew Sons and Their Maternal Uncles; Cousin Brides Among the Hebrew; Features of the Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew; The Dispersion of the Early Hebrew

The Church is Drawn Near

Alice C. Linsley

How are we to understand the relationship between the faithful of the Old Covenant and the faithful of the New Covenant? These are treated as distinct entities in the Bible and yet they are closely related. To understand how the Church may be the second bride, we must consider the matter of relationship distance. As Jesus was a Jew of Hebrew ancestry, the Hebrew are closer to him in kinship than the Gentiles. This is true of the first bride of the Horite Hebrew rulers. She and her husband were relationally closer than the second bride because they had the same father. The second bride was a patrilineal cousin, still related but at greater relational distance. The faithful of Israel are th first bride and the faithful among the gentiles are the second bride. Both constitute the "people of God."

The "people of God" involves two entities that are made one in the Covenant of the Blood of Jesus Messiah. How might this be evident in the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the ruler-priest caste of Jesus?

It is likely that the marriage of the Horite Hebrew ruler to two wives stands as the background to the wedding feast of the Lamb. Therefore, the pattern is of eschatological significance. This view opposes the position that faithful Hebrews and Israel are subsumed into the church. To understand this we have to dig deep into the marriage and ascendancy pattern of Jesus' ruler-priest caste.

The faithful under the Old Covenant are the saints like Abraham, Moses, Hannah, Samuel, David. These are the closer kin to Messiah since they are his people. They are to Jesus Messiah what Sarah was to Abraham, and Jochebed to Moses. Sarah and Jochebed were half-sisters who shared a common father with their spouses.

The pattern of two wives pertains to rulers only. Rulers have always had a different pattern because of the necessity of a royal heir. Some rulers with two wives include Lamech, Terah, Abraham, Jacob, Amram, Moses and Elkanah.

Analysis of the marriage and ascendancy pattern of the Hebrew rulers indicates that the second wife was taken just prior to and as a prerequisite to the beginning of the son's rule in his father's kingdom. This is why Abraham was anxious that his servant should acquire a cousin wife for Isaac before his death. Rebekah was Isaac's cousin wife.

The second bride is a patrilineal cousin whereas the first wife is a half-sister. The cousin bride has full wife status, but still represents a more distant relationship from the spouse. The Apostle Paul expresses it this way:

"remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, alienated from the commonwealth of Israel, and strangers to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world. But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ. For He Himself is our peace, who has made the two one and has torn down the dividing wall of hostility…" (Ephesians 2:12-14)

The faithful of Israel have a closer kinship to Jesus Messiah than the church as the second (cousin) wife. However, without consummation of the marriage to the church, the Messiah cannot begin his eternal reign. Abraham's marriages to the Hebrew women Sarah and Keturah serves as an illustration.

As a ruler over a territory, Abraham's two wives were needed to maintain his rule over Edom. Sarah's settlement was in Hebron on the northern boundary of Abraham's territory. The southern boundary was maintained by the people living in Beersheba, Keturah's home.

The two wives are not separate kingdoms. They are made one kingdom be virtue of their marriage to the one ruler.

Likewise, Messiah unites the two peoples into one kingdom, as was expected by the Horite Hebrew. This is represented by the double crown of Yeshua. "Then take silver and gold, and make crowns [ataroth], and set them on the head of Joshua [Yeshua/Jesus] the son of Josedech, the high priest..." (Zechariah 6:11) The ataroth was called the "atef" crown among the Nilotic Hebrew. The atef crown was two crowns in one and it was worn by deified rulers. The Arabic word atef (or atif) means “kind.” The ruler who wore the atef crown was to embody kindness and he was to unite the peoples.

Among the Horite Hebrew, the son of God was called "Horus of the Two Crowns." The king list on the Palermo stone begins with the names of Lower Nile pharaohs and shows them wearing the Red Crown of the Lower Nile. The White Crown [nefer] represented the peoples of the Upper Nile. The two were put together to symbolize a united kingdom. The Cairo fragment shows these rulers wearing the double crown, which the Greeks called the "Pschent." The two peoples or two households of faith are symbolized by the two crowns made into one.

The Bible describes the relationship of Jesus Christ to the faithful of his Hebrew people and the Church in different ways. One way is to describe Abraham the Hebrew as the spiritual father of all. Those of the New Covenant have been grafted into Abraham who was justified by faith. Speaking to Gentile followers of Messiah, Paul wrote:

"But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, although a wild olive shoot, were grafted in among the others and now share in the nourishing root of the olive tree, do not be arrogant toward the branches. If you are, remember it is not you who support the root, but the root that supports you. Then you will say, “Branches were broken off so that I might be grafted in.” That is true. They were broken off because of their unbelief, but you stand fast through faith." (Romans 11:17-20)

Jesus comes from the Hebrew root stock of Jesse and all who are baptized into Jesus have a common root in the Messianic Faith. Both households of faith are justified by faith through the Blood of Messiah, the Son of God. Both are heirs of the kingdom. Both are to enjoy immortality through His resurrection.

Israel was claimed by God as his first bride: "For your Maker is your husband, the LORD of hosts is his name..." (Isaiah 54:5) Though Israel proved to be like the harlot of Hosea, not all of Israel was found faithless. The faithful remnant is the first bride. Likewise, not all who claim to be Christian will be at the wedding feast of the Divine Bridegroom.

And the angel said to me, “Write this: Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.” (Revelation 19:9)

Related reading: Horite Hebrew Rulers With Two Wives; Abraham's Complaint; The Substance of Abraham's Faith

Hebrew Rulers with Two Wives

Alice C. Linsley

Many Hebrew rulers had two wives. Among them were Lamech the Elder, Terah, Abraham, Isaac, Esau the Elder, Amram, Jesse, Elkanah, Ashur, and Joash. Abraham's two wives were Sarah (his half-sister) and Keturah (his patrilineal cousin). They resided in separate settlements in Hebron and Beersheba. 

In 1 Chronicles 4:5, we read that "Ashur, the father of Tekoa, had two wives, Helah and Naarah."

In 1 Chronicles 4:17-18, we read that Mered had two wives, and one was "Pharaoh’s daughter Bithiah, whom Mered had married."

In 2 Chronicles 24:1–3 we read:

"Joash was seven years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem forty years. His mother’s name was Zibiah; she was from Beersheba. Joash did what was right in the eyes of the Lord all the years of Jehoiada the priest. Jehoiada chose two wives for him, and he had sons and daughters.

Caleb fathered children by his wives Azubah and Jerioth (1 Chronicles 2:18,19). From Caleb came Hur and Salma, both of Bethlehem. From them came Elimelech who married Naomi. Their kinsman was Boaz who married Ruth. Their son was Obed, the father of Jesse, the father of David.

The antiquity of the custom of ruler's having two wives is evident in the case of Hor-Aha (c. 2925–c. 2775 BC). His wives' names were Benerib and Khenthap. Khenthap is said to be the mother of King Hor Djer in the Cairo Annals Stone. 

A Custom for Rulers Only

Having two wives pertained only to Hebrew men who ruled over territories. The custom was a sign of the man's status as a ruler. The settlements of the two wives were at the borders of the ruler's territory. Abraham's territory was between Sarah's settlement at Hebron and Keturah's settlement at Beersheba. 

None of the marriages of the Hebrew rulers can be called "biblical" and therefore cited as models for Bible believers because this pattern pertains only to Hebrew ruler-priests, the "first lords of the earth". It is not a biblical pattern for marriage. It is a pattern for royal Hebrew persons beginning long before Judaism emerged. These were regnal marriages involving a bride and a groom from related Hebrew clans or between half-siblings (endogamy). Royal marriages are prone to irregularities because of the necessity of a proper heir, and political complexities.

Related reading: The Pattern of Two Wives, The Social Structure of the Biblical Hebrew; The Marriage and Ascendancy Pattern of the Horite Hebrew; The Wives' Settlements Mark the Boundaries; Understanding "Biblical" Marriage Practices

The Myth of Lilith

Lilith is not mentioned in Genesis. It would be speculating well beyond the biblical evidence to say that Lilith was Adam's first wife. However, early Hebrew rulers did have two wives. The theological problem arises when evil Lilith is posed as Adam's first wife, which according to the Hebrew marriage pattern, would mean she was Adam's half-sister. Did God create an evil wife? The Talmud suggests this. But the Lilith story is based, not on the canonical texts, but on the much later Babylonian myth.


Alice C. Linsley

Did Adam have a wife before Eve? According to Ben Sira he did, and her name was Lilith. There is only one reference to Lilith in the entire Bible. Isaiah 34:14 reads "there too Lilith shall repose." The translation is disputed. Following the King James Version, many Bibles render the passage "there too the night creature" or "the screech owl also shall rest there". Compare these:

Romanized Hebrew: pagšu ṣiyyim et-ʾiyyim w-saʿir ʿal-rēʿhu yiqra ʾakšam hirgiʿah lilit u-maṣʾah lah manoḫ ("yelpers meet-[perfect] howlers; hairy-ones cry-[imperfect] to fellow. liyliyth reposes-[perfect], acquires-[perfect] resting-place." )

Lilith flanked by owls

King James: "The wild beasts of the desert shall also meet with the wild beasts of the island, and the satyr shall cry to his fellow; the screech owl also shall rest there, and find for herself a place of rest."

Regardless of the differences, the context is clear in both texts that those mentioned are under Yahweh's judgment.

Lilith (Hebrew לילית) is a Mesopotamian mythological figure. It is not likely that she was known to Abraham's African ancestors from whom we receive the story of the first Father and Mother in the Garden. Lilith belongs to the pantheon that Daniel and his Judahites companions refused to worship in Babylon. She was associated with wind and storms and was thought to bring disease and death, especially to women and infants. The figure of Lilith first appeared in a class of Sumerian storm spirits as Lilitu around 4000 BC.

According to the myth of Lilith, she left Adam because he insisted that she submit to him. She spoke the Divine Name and gained such power that she became an angel, but when God told her to return to Adam, she refused and became a demon. She is cast as the epitome of the evil seductress who works in league with Satan to torment and destroy Adam's offspring.

Here is the passage from a 6th century A.D. midrash The Alphabet of Ben Sira:

After God created Adam, who was alone, He said, 'It is not good for man to be alone'. He then created a woman for Adam, from the earth, as He had created Adam himself, and called her Lilith. Adam and Lilith immediately began to fight. She said, 'I will not lie below,' and he said, 'I will not lie beneath you, but only on top. For you are fit only to be in the bottom position, while I am to be the superior one.' Lilith responded, 'We are equal to each other inasmuch as we were both created from the earth.' But they would not listen to one another. When Lilith saw this, she pronounced the Ineffable Name and flew away into the air. Adam stood in prayer before his Creator: 'Sovereign of the universe!' he said, 'the woman you gave me has run away.' At once, the Holy One, blessed be He, sent these three angels to bring her back.

"Said the Holy One to Adam, 'If she agrees to come back, what is made is good. If not, she must permit one hundred of her children to die every day.' The angels left God and pursued Lilith, whom they overtook in the midst of the sea, in the mighty waters wherein the Egyptians were destined to drown. They told her God's word, but she did not wish to return. The angels said, 'We shall drown you in the sea.'

"'Leave me!' she said. 'I was created only to cause sickness to infants. If the infant is male, I have dominion over him for eight days after his birth, and if female, for twenty days.'

"When the angels heard Lilith's words, they insisted she go back. But she swore to them by the name of the living and eternal God: 'Whenever I see you or your names or your forms in an amulet, I will have no power over that infant.' She also agreed to have one hundred of her children die every day. Accordingly, every day one hundred demons perish, and for the same reason, we write the angels names on the amulets of young children. When Lilith sees their names, she remembers her oath, and the child recovers."

Lilith's existence as an historical person depends on a reading of Genesis 1 apart from Genesis 2. The woman created as Adam's equal in Genesis 1 is said to be Lilith and the woman created subservient (from Adam's rib) in Genesis 2 is said to be Eve. There are two immediately obvious problems with this interpretation. First, Lilith can hardly be an historical woman if Adam is not an historical person. Both Adam and Lilith belong to the realm of myth and a mythical Adam is as necessary as his historical counterpart Enoch. The Adam of rabbinic writings is more often mythical than historical. He may be considered the Form of Man, in the Platonic sense.

Second, Ben Sira and other rabbis were aware that the great chiefs listed in Genesis had two wives. They are constructing the Lilith myth on this culture trait, but culture traits only apply to historical persons living in real time. Lilith is not mentioned in Genesis because insinuating her presence overthrows the biblical picture of Adam and Eve living close to the Creator in Paradise. This paradise was lost due to disobedience of God's command given to them 'not to eat', not because Lilith refused to take the "missionary position" with Adam.

The Lilith myth reveals more about the 6th-century rabbis' attitude toward women than it does about God and creation.


(This article appeared in Yareah Magazine.)

Related reading: Adam and Eve: The Blood and the Birther; Adam Was A Red Man; The Historical Adam; The Lamech Segment Analysis; The Wisdom of Ben Sira