Ed Walsh
Puritan Board Senior
My morning's consecutive readings fell first to Genesis 25 which begins with "Abraham took another wife whose name was Keturah." The KJV prefixes the fact with, "Then again" Abraham...) I searched the PB for threads that mentioned Keturah in the title and found none. There are some interesting posts on the subject you can search for. Abraham lived roughly 38 years after the death of Sarah.
I have heard several interpretations of this passage (Gen 25:1-6) One claimed that the chronology must not be as it seems here. But, that the story of Keturah happened years before the death of Sarah, (Gen. 23:1-20) of which I can find no evidence. Here's one such comment:
Then I found this brief discussion by RJ Rushdoony, which I thought was very interesting. Here it is in part.
What do you all think about the story of Abraham and Keturah?
Thanks.
I have heard several interpretations of this passage (Gen 25:1-6) One claimed that the chronology must not be as it seems here. But, that the story of Keturah happened years before the death of Sarah, (Gen. 23:1-20) of which I can find no evidence. Here's one such comment:
Abraham took a wife—rather, “had taken”; for Keturah is called Abraham’s concubine, or secondary wife (1 Ch 1:32); and as, from her bearing six sons to him, it is improbable that he married after Sarah’s death; and also as he sent them all out to seek their own independence, during his lifetime, it is clear that this marriage is related here out of its chronological order, merely to form a proper winding up of the patriarch’s history.
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 29–30). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Jamieson, R., Fausset, A. R., & Brown, D. (1997). Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (Vol. 1, pp. 29–30). Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc.
Then I found this brief discussion by RJ Rushdoony, which I thought was very interesting. Here it is in part.
Perhaps more than half a century ago, I heard an older pastor comment on Genesis 25:1–6, on Abraham’s wife or concubine—for she is called both (vv. 1, 6)—Keturah. The pastor expressed annoyance at such passages, and he wondered why the Bible included them. God loved Abraham, and He had tested and tried him as few men have been. Abraham had met the tests marvelously, and now, rejuvenated, God blessed him with a young woman. Earlier (Gen. 24:1), we see Abraham “old, and well stricken in age.” Now he marries Keturah and fathers six sons, and he sees them grow to maturity. More than what this tells us about Abraham is what it tells us about God. God does not bless Abraham by finding some ancient, unknown monastery for him. Rather, God provides for His friend (James 2:23) a fresh bride in his old age. Failure to see this means a failure to know the God of Scripture.
The chapter tells us that we do not live for heaven alone. The distressed minister felt God should have taken Abraham to heaven. After all, what more should we want? But God makes clear that Abraham was to be blessed in the face of men and personally rewarded with a young bride in his old age.
Was this “unspiritual” of God, as this minister inferred? Or was it not rather a clear act, indication that God’s ways far transcend our concepts of spirituality?
Other old men have had young brides, and, as Calvin observed, this was commonly a ludicrous match. But not so that of Abraham and Keturah.
The chapter tells us that we do not live for heaven alone. The distressed minister felt God should have taken Abraham to heaven. After all, what more should we want? But God makes clear that Abraham was to be blessed in the face of men and personally rewarded with a young bride in his old age.
Was this “unspiritual” of God, as this minister inferred? Or was it not rather a clear act, indication that God’s ways far transcend our concepts of spirituality?
Other old men have had young brides, and, as Calvin observed, this was commonly a ludicrous match. But not so that of Abraham and Keturah.
Rushdoony, R. J. (2002). Commentaries on the Pentateuch: Genesis (pp. 182–183). Vallecito, CA: Ross House Books.
What do you all think about the story of Abraham and Keturah?
Thanks.