Chapter Twenty-Five
Keturah and Sons
25:1 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan fathered Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshurim, Letushim, and Leummim. 4 The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. All these were the children of Keturah.
Bible readers are often surprised to see that Abraham married someone after Sarah’s death. Perhaps when Sarah’s womb was healed and allowed to have a son of her own, that both her and Abraham’s bodies were rejuvenated. It would otherwise be difficult to explain his ability to have children after the age of 140 (his age when Isaac married Rebekah, see Genesis 21:5 and 25:20).
Some consider Keturah to be Abraham’s concubine and not his wife as she is referred to as in 1 Chronicles 1:32, however that is not what the text says here. There is little known about her, the text does not supply a nationality, a home city, or any details about her background. Even her name is a puzzle, some believe it means “enveloped in fragrant smoke,” while others believe it to mean something more like, “covered in incense.” Since Abraham was rigid about a non-Canaanite woman to be a wife for Isaac, it is not likely she was a local woman (although since Isaac was the one to carry on the promised lineage, that issue may not have been that important). They had a total of six sons together.
Even though Abraham lived for another 35 years after Isaac’s marriage to Rebekah, it is believed that these six sons were all born within ten years of the marriage. There is little known about the Asshurim (or Asshurites, see 2 Samuel 2:9), the Letushim (only seen here), and the Leummim (also only referenced in this passage).
Sheba and Dedan are both names that occur several times in the Bible, another Sheba was the grandson of Cush (see Genesis 10:7) and another, the grandson or Eber (see Genesis 10:28). Likewise, there was another Dedan who was also a grandson of Cush (see Genesis 10:7), making it somewhat difficult to trace their descendants.
Scripture also contains several references to Midian (the father of the Midianites, who are often connected to the Ishmaelites (see Genesis 37:27-28), the Moabites (see Numbers 25:1-18), and the Amalekites (see Judges 6:3). Of the sons of Midian, the names of Abida and Eldaah appear only here and 1 Chronicles 1:33, which is probably also true for Hanoch, but since that name is essentially the same as Enoch, the name appears elsewhere in a number of places, but never referring to being the son of Midian.
25:5 Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. 6 But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country.
While there have been only a few discoveries of archaeological inscriptions that contain variations of some of the names of the sons of Abraham through Keturah, most have been found in areas east of Canaan, which may support the premise that Abraham sent them away eastward to the east country (exact location is not given).
Before Abraham died, he bestowed all his belongings to his sons. The term concubine is believed to include both Hagar and Keturah, in order to delineate them from his primary wife, Sarah. Abraham gave gifts to each son, but everything else, undoubtedly the majority, was given to Isaac.
Death of Abraham
25:7 These are the days of the years of Abraham’s life, 175 years. 8 Abraham breathed his last and died in a good old age, an old man and full of years, and was gathered to his people. 9 Isaac and Ishmael his sons buried him in the cave of Machpelah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre, 10 the field that Abraham purchased from the Hittites. There Abraham was buried, with Sarah his wife. 11 After the death of Abraham, God blessed Isaac his son. And Isaac settled at Beer-lahai-roi.
Abraham died at the age of 175, the end of a truly remarkable life. This is the first of several times the phrase, “gathered to his people,” appears in Scripture. The Hebrew word ‘yē·’ā’·sěp’,[1] translated as ‘gathered’, can refer to the gathering of a harvest, bring together people or things, assemble people, etc. Here it is a reference to the gathering after death, some believe it points to life after death, while others consider it only the physical gathering of their bones. However, since the only other person buried in the cave of Machpelah was his wife, Sarah (see Genesis 23:19), there would not have been any other ancestors (no one that would qualify to be called “his people”), therefore many believe that this is not a reference to anything physical but indeed an afterlife with those that died before him.
Abraham was buried with both Isaac and Ishmael officiating, apparently any hostility or discord between them had been resolved, or at least long enough for this somber occasion. Since Isaac was now the only surviving leader and heir of the promised line, God begins to bless and prosper him, just as He did for Abraham.
Considerations
Before Jesus was victorious on the cross, all humans that died went to a place called Hades (or Sheol in the Hebrew language), also known as the abode (or place) of the dead. In the New Testament we are taught that the location known as Hades had two chambers (for lack of any better word to use). In a true story taught by Jesus (not a parable), He called one side of Hades, “Abraham’s side” (or Abraham’s Bosom, KJV, NKJV, see Luke 16:22). The story, found in the gospel according to Luke, tells us about a very rich man who had a potential royal connection that had every luxury one could ever want in his life, and a poor sickly man named Lazarus (do not confuse with the brother of Mary and Martha who was raised from the dead by Jesus, Lazarus was a popular name at the time). After the rich man and Lazarus both die, they find themselves in Hades, Lazarus on Abraham’s side (those who trusted and believed that God would keep His promises) and the rich man on the other side. The story tells us that they were separated by a large chasm and that there was no way for anyone from one side to visit the other side. The rich man spots Lazarus being comforted by Abraham, and he asks Abraham to have Lazarus come over to comfort him, but Abraham says that would be impossible. He then asks Abraham to send someone back to his house to warn his brothers, once again Abraham says no. He explains that they had Moses and the prophets, and they should have listened. The rich man then proclaims, “if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!” Abraham then reminded him that if they did not listen to Moses (who wrote the first five books of the Bible) and the prophets, they would not listen to someone even if they were raised from the dead (see the entire story in Luke 16:19-31). After Jesus was victorious on the cross, He freed those that had faith in the promises of God (See Hebrews 11:1-40) and brought them to Heaven (see Ephesians 4:8-10 and 1 Peter 3:18-20). However, the ‘judgment’ side of Hades remains the same, waiting for final judgment since non-believers cannot go to heaven (see John 3:3 and 1 Corinthians 15:50). As non-believers continue to die, they enter Hades, joining the others who were not taken to heaven, awaiting final judgment. Remember, there is no further judgment for believers, just rewards (see 1 Corinthians 3:12-15).
Generations of Ishmael
25:12 These are the generations of Ishmael, Abraham’s son, whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah’s servant, bore to Abraham. 13 These are the names of the sons of Ishmael, named in the order of their birth: Nebaioth, the firstborn of Ishmael; and Kedar, Adbeel, Mibsam, 14 Mishma, Dumah, Massa, 15 Hadad, Tema, Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah. 16 These are the sons of Ishmael and these are their names, by their villages and by their encampments, twelve princes according to their tribes. 17 (These are the years of the life of Ishmael: 137 years. He breathed his last and died, and was gathered to his people.) 18 They settled from Havilah to Shur, which is opposite Egypt in the direction of Assyria. He settled over against all his kinsmen.
The seventh generation identified in the book of Genesis, lists those that follow in the line of Ishmael. Even though most of these names, or variations of these names, have little archaeological support, it is believed that they settled in the central to northern regions of Arabia. It is also believed that the line of Nebaioth built the cities of Petra and Teman (see Isaiah 60:7). Here we read that Ishmael fathered twelve sons (often referred to as princes) in fulfillment of God’s promise to Abraham regarding Ishmael (see Genesis 17:20). Perhaps the most notorious of the princes was Kedar, whose name appears more often in Scripture than the others (see Psalm 120:5; Isaiah 21:16-17; 42:11; 60:7; Jeremiah 2:10; 49:28-33; Ezekiel 27:21). Although, we also find the name Tema is identified with a town (see Job 6:19, Isaiah 21:14, Jeremiah 25:23) that appears in the writings of Ptolemy, Pliny, and other classic authors.
After each of the generations are listed, Ishmael’s death is recorded, dying at the age of 137. Note that the text also refers to him being “gathered to his people.” Some scholars believe this to be a reference to him trusting in God, although not in the sense of being the promised line.
The territory of Ishmael’s family is identified as from Havilah to Shur, bordering Egypt as you head towards Assyria. Havilah was the southeast border being in northeast Arabia and Shur being the southwest border (see Genesis 16:7), the territory would essentially encompass what we call the Arabian Peninsula today.
The last portion of verse 18, is translated in a variety of ways. The Hebrew word (‘nā·pāl’,[2] or ‘naphal’), translated here as ‘settled’, means “to fall”.[3] Some believe that this phrase has a double meaning, to live side by side and to live in a state of hostility.[4] The New International Version renders the verse this way, “And they lived in hostility toward all the tribes related to them.” (NIV) Referring to them living in hostility to those in the line of Isaac, both would be in fulfillment of Genesis 16:12.
Esau and Jacob
25:19 These are the generations of Isaac, Abraham’s son: Abraham fathered Isaac, 20 and Isaac was forty years old when he took Rebekah, the daughter of Bethuel the Aramean of Paddan-aram, the sister of Laban the Aramean, to be his wife. 21 And Isaac prayed to the LORD for his wife, because she was barren. And the LORD granted his prayer, and Rebekah his wife conceived. 22 The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the LORD. 23 And the LORD said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”
The announcement of the eighth generation begins the next major section of Genesis, we begin now to hear about the family of Isaac. He was 40 years old when he married Rebekah and we will soon see that he was 60 years old when Rebekah gave birth to Jacob and Esau (see verse 26). For twenty years Rebekah was barren, like Abraham and Sarah; Isaac and Rebekah would have to wait for God.
Rebekah is described as being an Aramean (someone from Aram, also known as northern Mesopotamia or Syria). Her family lived in the Paddan-aram (meaning the plain of Aram), where the cities of Haran and Nahor were located.
Being the child of Abraham, Isaac undoubtedly fully understood the promises he was inheriting, the most important promise being the line of which the coming Messiah would come through. Some believe that he took those promises for granted and was willing to wait for God, however, after 20 years without any child he was ready to ask. So, he prayed to God on behalf of Rebekah and soon she became pregnant.
In what may appear as a science-fiction plot, conflict arises in Rebekah’s womb. Even before they were born, relational problems have already begun. Apparently, the struggle was so intense at times that Rebekah wondered why this was happening to her. So unusual were these attacks, Rebekah even asked God what was going on. God told her that she was having twins, leaders of two different nations and they will continually bring division to the family. Then, God tells her that one of them will be stronger than the other and that the older will serve the younger.
Which one would be stronger than the other? This is not a reference to their physical strength or prowess. God gives us a strong hint on how to answer the question, He says the older shall serve the younger. The younger son will have a stronger nation than the older son. Since only one son can inherit the promises given to Abraham, God is letting Rebekah know that the younger son will receive the father’s inheritance.
In most scenarios, the Bible clearly teaches that the first-born son would receive the greater honor (spokesman for the family, before the law is given, they would also have some priestly duties) and they would be given a double portion of the inheritance. However, not in this situation; God chose Jacob (the second born) to be the recipient of promises given to Abraham and Isaac.
25:24 When her days to give birth were completed, behold, there were twins in her womb. 25 The first came out red, all his body like a hairy cloak, so they called his name Esau. 26 Afterward his brother came out with his hand holding Esau’s heel, so his name was called Jacob. Isaac was sixty years old when she bore them.
The first baby is red and hairy, so they named him Esau, which carries the meaning of being hairy. Later his people will be called Edom, a reference to the color red (verse 30 explains that was due to color of the beans that he sold his birthright to Jacob for). The second baby to appear was still wrestling with his brother as he was holding onto his heel, so they called him Jacob. Dr. Arnold Fruchtenbaum notes this about his name:
The word heel in Hebrew is akeiv, and this situation of heel-holding is also reflected in Hosea 12:3: In the womb he took his brother by the heel. Just as Esau was named by his appearance, Jacob was named based upon his action: His name was called Jacob, in Hebrew Yaakov, the same root as the word heel. The primary meaning of his name is “the one that takes by the heel” or “heel-holder,” and it carries no negative connotation. Only by a secondary meaning does it mean “supplanter,” “one who supplants.” But even then, it is itself a neutral term, neither positive nor negative. Whether it is positive or negative is based purely upon the context. However, at the time the name was given to Jacob, it had a positive connotation; but it lent itself to a negative one (Genesis 27:36, Jer. 9:4).[5]
Considerations
End of Rope - Beginning of God
All of mankind loves to do things their own way and then when something goes wrong, that is when they finally seek God. Sometimes that is the way God wants it to be, especially when there was no other natural solution available. In those cases, He wants all to see and understand that any and all blessings came from Him. Other times God just simply wants to hear from us. For some, the thought of talking to our Creator may seem at times intimidating, but we need to remember that it is He who wants us to pray (see Matthew 6:5-15; Luke 18:1-8; Romans 8:26-28; Ephesians 6:18; Philippians 4:4-7; Colossians 4:2-4; 1 Timothy 2:1-4).
God does indeed want us to pray to Him for our needs, and that includes praying for things already promised (see Daniel 9:4-19; Matthew 6:11; 7:11; Philippians 4:19; 2 Peter 1:4). In this story, God had already promised that Isaac would be the recipient of the promises previously given to Abraham, but He waited until Isaac prayed before acting. When Isaac prayed, God answered and shortly afterwards Rebekah gave birth.
Also, in this story we read about how God did not follow, what we will discover later, to be one of His own protocols; the privilege of birthright usually belongs to the first-born (see Numbers 3:12-13; 8:18; 18:15-16; Deuteronomy 21:15-17). Does that mean God is a capricious God or an unknowable God? No, as we discussed in the commentary under Genesis 7:1, God is very much the opposite, we could say that He delights in keeping His promises. However, we must remember a few things, the first one is that we are not God, which means we cannot fully understand God[6] and because we are not, we cannot reason like He does. The second thing we need to remember is that He is a sovereign God, and that He will do what He wants and will bless anyone He chooses (see Exodus 33:19. Psalms 115:3), but that doesn’t mean that He will arbitrarily change His mind or do something that is outside His nature or character (see Numbers 23:19; 1 Samuel 15:29). God always keeps His promises!
So why is this different? To help us understand, we need to remember two other important things about God. In the commentary for Genesis 1:1, we noted that God is outside the realm of time, He created time and is not in any way influenced by time. The second thing to remember is that God knows all, through His omniscience, He knows every thought of every person from the beginning of time. God, and only God, knows our true heart. In choosing leaders and those in the line of Messiah, God was selective. It is interesting to note that regarding the coming Savior, there were several in that line who were not first-born sons, including Seth, Isaac, Jacob, Judah, and David. God loved and chose Jacob and hated and rejected Esau (see Malachi 1:1-3 and Romans 9:10-13).
Who Needs a Birthright?
25:27 When the boys grew up, Esau was a skillful hunter, a man of the field, while Jacob was a quiet man, dwelling in tents. 28 Isaac loved Esau because he ate of his game, but Rebekah loved Jacob 29 Once when Jacob was cooking stew, Esau came in from the field, and he was exhausted. 30 And Esau said to Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!” (Therefore his name was called Edom.) 31 Jacob said, “Sell me your birthright now.” 32 Esau said, “I am about to die; of what use is a birthright to me?” 33 Jacob said, “Swear to me now.” So he swore to him and sold his birthright to Jacob. 34 Then Jacob gave Esau bread and lentil stew, and he ate and drank and rose and went his way. Thus Esau despised his birthright.
When the two grew up it seems that their birthday was the only thing they had in common. Esau was the outdoorsman, becoming a skilled hunter and, in doing so, he gained the attention and love of Isaac. The text reads that Jacob was a quiet man, the Hebrew word ‘tām’,[7] generally implies being complete or one with integrity, not necessarily ‘quiet’. The reference to Jacob being a “tent dweller” is not to be a derogatory comment, he undoubtedly stayed around home taking care of the family’s herds and flocks.
Verse 28 tells us that Isaac loved Esau “because he ate of his game,” the New Living Translation renders the verse, “Isaac loved Esau because he enjoyed eating the wild game Esau brought home, but Rebekah loved Jacob.” (NLT) This information will assist in understanding the events of Genesis chapter 27. Both Isaac and Rebekah knew that both the birthright and blessing were to be passed on to Jacob and not Esau. What happens next is the subject of much discussion and speculation. One question that is often raised is, did Jacob know this? Did he know that he would be the recipient of the blessing bestowed to his grandfather Abraham? If so, could he have heard something or otherwise believed that his father, due to his love for Esau, would try to give Esau what belonged to him? Some say that would be tragic as it appears that Esau had little to no interest in God nor His promises. Here again, human logic, but perhaps that was Jacob’s motivation, he fell for the same problem that mankind has been doing for years, believing they can ‘help’ God.
If Jacob knew about God’s promises, and there is no reason he would not have learned that from his parents by this time, he probably took that promise very seriously and desired to see God’s will accomplished. Here we see two brothers, one being responsible and taking family responsibilities seriously, while the other enjoys living off the land, being somewhat carefree. As discussed above, being the eldest son has several responsibilities and, in addition to the family responsibilities, God gave Abraham and his descendants the responsibility, “to keep the way of the LORD by doing righteousness and justice” (Genesis 18:19).
Jacob understood the importance and value of the birthright and from this story, we learn that Esau despised his birthright (the Hebrew word that is translated as ‘despised’ is ‘yi·ḇěz’,[8] meaning to consider something worthless or not respected). Jacob may have been waiting for an opportunity to discuss the birthright with his brother for some time and then one day, Esau appears from one of his outings, really hungry. Jacob, at the time, was cooking something red, probably some form of bean stew (the Hebrew text reads “hā ā·ḏōm hǎ ā·ḏōm,”[9] literally meaning red red, depending on Bible version; it has been widely translated, including red beans, red lentils, red stew, red stuff, and red pottage). Before continuing the narrative, the author offers a parenthetical statement that Esau became known as ‘Edom’ (‘Red’) from this incident. Was Esau so famished that he was willing to say or do anything? Some consider his plea for food being purely drama, while others consider it a legitimate issue, either way Jacob sees an opportunity. He offers what he is cooking for Esau’s birthright, perhaps to Jacob’s astonishment, Esau accepts the offer. Now, when most people read this story, they don’t necessarily believe that Esau was truly on the verge of dying, but when Esau asked Jacob, “Let me eat some of that red stew, for I am exhausted!,” he used the word ‘hǎl·î·ṭē’,[10] meaning to gulp or devour greedily and later after Jacob gave him the bread and lentil stew (the word translated as ‘lentil’ is indeed the word for what is best described today as a lentil, they were cultivated in Canaan, see 2 Samuel 23:11; the word for stew in this case is ‘nā·zîḏ’[11] referring to any food boiled); the text says he ate (the Hebrew word is ‘yō(`)’·ḵǎl’,[12] which does mean to eat, but it can also describe someone devouring something quickly), so he may have actually been near starvation.
Bible commentators often use these passages to convey a less-than-positive understanding of Jacob’s character; some say he was a “momma’s boy” and became a conniving and irresponsible person, always looking for a way to con someone. The Hebrew word we explored earlier, ‘tām’[13] (translated in the text here as ‘quiet’) is elsewhere translated as blameless, integrity, accomplished, and upright. His only crime to speak of, was that he underestimated God (lacked faith), as God would have intervened at some point. Before we judge Jacob for ourselves, we should probably first list all the times in our lives we pursued doing something for God, all while we thought we were doing the right thing. From God’s perspective, if there is a “bad guy” in this story it would have been Esau, as the author of Hebrews reminds us: “Strive for peace with everyone, and for the holiness without which no one will see the Lord. See to it that no one fails to obtain the grace of God; that no “root of bitterness” springs up and causes trouble, and by it many become defiled; that no one is sexually immoral or unholy like Esau, who sold his birthright for a single meal. For you know that afterward, when he desired to inherit the blessing, he was rejected, for he found no chance to repent, though he sought it with tears.” (Hebrews 12:14-17)
Considerations
Hebrew word ‘beḵō·rāṯ’,[14] right of firstborn, (first seen in Genesis 4:4 translated as firstborn) gives the eldest son the right to lead the household in the absence of the father, including the responsibility of providing for the family (see Genesis 27:29); a double portion of the inheritance (see Deuteronomy 21:17); and to be God’s representative for the family (often referred to as the ‘priesthood’ duties, such as officiate at the altar, teach God’s Word, etc., see Genesis 22:9; 26:25; 35:1). The birthright can be revoked by the father for disobedience (see Genesis 49:3-4), sold to a sibling as depicted in this story, or changed by God (see Genesis 48:17-22).
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[1] Strong’s Hebrew 622.
[2] Strong’s Hebrew 5307.
[3] See also commentary under Genesis 6:4
[4] Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (2008). Ariel’s Bible commentary: the book of Genesis (1st ed., p. 397). San Antonio, TX: Ariel Ministries.
[5] Fruchtenbaum, A. G. (2008). Ariel’s Bible commentary: the book of Genesis (1st ed., p. 401). San Antonio, TX: Ariel Ministries.
[6] See commentary under Genesis 6:5-6.
[7] Strong’s Hebrew 8537.
[8] Strong’s Hebrew 959.
[9] Strong’s Hebrew 122 (twice).
[10] Strong’s Hebrew 3938.
[11] Strong’s Hebrew 5138.
[12] Strong’s Hebrew 398.
[13] Strong’s Hebrew 8537.
[14] Strong’s Hebrew 1062.