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By Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik,
Kol Shearith Israel Congregation, Panama

Translated by Inés Baum - Proofreading by Ellen Zindler

Parashat Chayei Sarah starts with the death of the matriarch Sarah, and ends with Abraham’s death. In a short passage that appears immediately before our patriarch’s death, the Torah (Gen. 25:1) tells that Abraham took another wife, named Keturah, who bore him 6 sons, who represent the Arab and Midianite tribes.

Unlike Sarah, of whom the Torah tells that she was Abraham’s half-sister (Gen. 20:12), and Hagar, who was Egyptian (Gen. 16:1), the text says nothing about Keturah; and as we well know, where the Torah is silent, the midrashim and commentators rush to offer information. Of course, such information is not necessarily harmonious, and in this particular case, it is even contradictory.

One line of thought, possibly the most well-known, which appears on the midrash (Bereshit Rabbah 61:4) and is quoted by Rashi, is that of Rabbi Yehuda, who affirms that Keturah is none other than Hagar. That is to say, after Sarah’s death, Abraham takes up again his relationship with the concubine, who had been thrown out of his home at his wife’s request.

This interpretation is seemingly founded on a verse from 1 Chronicles (1:32), which refers to Keturah as Abraham’s pilegesh (concubine), (and not his wife). We find, in this same line, those who explain that people called Hagar “Keturah”, because her actions were as pleasant as the Ketoret, “incense” (Midrash Tanhuma Chayei Sarah 8).

A second opinion, issued by Rabbi Nehemia (Bereshit Rabbah 61:4), supported by several medieval commentators (Ibn Ezra and Rashbam among them) and more attached to the text, maintains that Keturah was Abraham’s third wife. It is written in the Torah: “And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah” (Gen. 25:1). The word “another” suggests that he added one more wife to the two previous ones. Ibn Ezra brings forth another literal basis that proves, in his opinion, that Keturah is not Hagar, based on the verse which says: “unto the sons of the concubines” (Gen. 25:6). If Hagar was Keturah, the Torah could not have referred to “the concubines”, in plural.

Another midrash (Yalkut Shimoni for Job 903) points in the same direction: "Abraham married three women: Sarah, the daughter of Shem; Keturah, the daughter of Japheth; and Hagar, the daughter of Ham."

This midrash not only confirms that Keturah is different from Hagar, but it even identifies her as Japheth’s daughter. Thus, we see how Abraham marries his three wives, each one a descendant of one of Noah’s sons, following the order in which they appear in the Torah (Gen. 6:9): “first the daughter of Shem, then the daughter of Ham, and finally the daughter of Japheth”.

This relation of Abraham’s three wives with the three sons of Noah is not a minor detail. After the flood, the human species is “reborn” from Noah’s children, who are the recipients of God’s blessing: “Be fruitful and multiply” (Gen. 9:1). In other words, they represent all the families of the human race.

From this perspective, by taking each one of his wives from each one of Noah’s sons, and bearing children with each one of them, the promise made by God to Abraham is fulfilled in its first call: “And in thee shall all the families of the earth be blessed” (Gen. 12:3). Likewise, the meaning of Abraham’s name becomes a reality: “the father of a multitude of nations have I made thee” (Gen. 17:5).

From this reading of his marriage to Keturah, Abraham is casted in a new dimension. Now, he is not just the patriarch of the Jewish people, but of the entirety of humanity. Abraham, the first monotheist, becomes the meeting point among the nations.

Those of us, who consider ourselves his descendants, are called to bear witness to his legacy. To be able to recognize ourselves and find ourselves again in him, so that each one of us, through our own convictions, may be able to see in each other, despite our differences, our own brother and sister.

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Forwarded by Rabbi Gustavo Kraselnik, from Kol Shearith Israel Congregation, Panama.
Translated by Inés Baum and proofread by Ellen Zindler, from B’nei Israel Congregation, Costa Rica.

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