Keturah

Chayye Sarah

Gen. 23:1-25:18

Précis: The parasha begins with the counting the days of the life of Sarah (chayye Sarah) and with her death. It continues with a detailed description of the purchase of the cave of Machpela by Abraham for a family burial site. Abraham orders his servant to go to Abraham’s ancestral home to obtain a wife for Isaac, and after a series of fulfilled signs, the servant finds Rebecca. Rebecca returns with the servant; she and Isaac meet, fall in love at first sight, and become man and wife. The parasha ends with the death of Abraham, and his burial by Isaac and Ishmael in the family plot.

Gen.  25:1 “Abraham took another wife, whose name was Keturah.” 

            It may be more than a little interesting, although rarely talked about much, that Abraham remarries in his old age, and then proceeds to father 6 sons, all of whom become the fathers themselves of nations, helping to fulfill Abraham’s prophesized role as the father of “nations.”  The text tells us almost nothing about his wife, Keturah. As is often the case when our text omits particulars about which the reader would be interested, the Sages provide a rich set of Midrashim to tell us about this mysterious woman who becomes the wife (not concubine!) of Abraham. Many suggest that Keturah was in fact Hagar, mother of Ishmael.

            Rashi suggests through some Hebrew wordplay that this in fact is the case. The name “Keturah” has the same Hebrew root (k-t-r) as the Hebrew word for “incense” and the Aramaic verb “to bind.” He states: “She was called Keturah because her deeds were as pleasing as incense…. from the day she left Abraham, she did not couple with any man,” suggesting that Hagar remained “bound” (loyal) to Abraham. Through this display of loyalty, she received a new name. This idea is rejected by the Rashbam (Rashi’s grandson and an eminent commentator himself) who says that the plain meaning of the text tells us that Keturah is not Hagar.  

            But if we consider Hagar as Keturah, we can see another example of how the Sages stressed the importance and possibility of reconciliation, a theme displayed so often in our text. And that sense of reconciliation is enhanced by the concluding episode of this week’s reading, when Ishmael and Isaac together bury Abraham. A lesson on the need and hope for familial reconciliation, indeed.