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John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.
Genesis 25:1
INTRODUCTION TO GENESIS 25
This chapter contains an account of Abraham's marriage with another woman, and of the children he had by her and of their posterity
Ge 25:1; of Abraham's disposal of his substance; and his sons,
Ge 25:5; of the years of his life, his death and burial,
Ge 25:7; of the children of Ishmael, and of the years of his life, and of his death, Ge 25:12; and of the sons of Isaac the fruit of prayer, and of the oracle concerning them before they were born, and of their temper and disposition, conduct and behaviour, Ge 25:19.
Ver. 1. Then again Abraham took a wife,.... Three years after the death of Sarah, and when his son Isaac was married, and he alone, and now one hundred and forty years of age:
and her name [was] Keturah; who she was, or of what family, is not said. An Arabic writer {z} says she was a daughter of the king of the Turks; another {a} of them calls her the daughter of King Rama; and another {b} the daughter of Pactor, king of Rabbah; but there were then no such people in being. Very probably she was one of Abraham's handmaids born in his house, or bought with his money, perhaps the chief and principal of them. The Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem say she is the same with Hagar, and so, Jarchi; but this is rejected by Aben Ezra, since mention is made of Abraham's concubines, Ge 25:6; whereas it does not appear he ever had any other than Hagar and Keturah, and therefore could not be the same; and besides, the children of Hagar and Keturah are in this chapter reckoned as distinct. Cleodemus {c}, a Heathen writer, makes mention of Keturah as a wife of Abraham's, by whom he had many children, and names three of them. Sir Walter Raleigh {d} thinks, that the Kenites, of whom Jethro, the father- in-law of Moses, was, had their name from Keturah, being a nation of the Midianites that descended from her.
{z} Abul. Pharag. Hist. Dynast. p. 14. {a} Elmacinus, p. 34. apud Hottinger. Smegma, p. 309. {b} Patricides, p. 19. in ib. {c} Apud Euseb. Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 20. p. 422. {d} History of the World, l. 2. c. 4. sect. 2. p. 157.
Genesis 25:2
Ver. 2. And she bare him Zimran,.... That Keturah should bear children who probably, was a young woman, is not strange; but that Abraham, whose body forty years before this was dead should now have any bore to him, may seem difficult to account for, and only can be attributed to the fresh vigour his body was endued with at the generation of Isaac; and which still continued for the fulfilment of the promise to him of the multiplication of his seed. But if the notion of a late learned bishop {e} is right, there will be no need to have recourse to any thing extraordinary; which is, that Abraham took Keturah for his concubine, about twenty years after his marriage with Sarah, she being barren, and long before he took Hagar; though not mentioned till after the death of Sarah, that the thread of the history might not be broken in upon; and there are various things which make it probable, as that she is called his concubine, 1Ch 1:32, which one would think she should not be, if married to him after the death of Sarah, and when he had no other wife, and seeing before he died he had great grandchildren by her, and the children of her are reckoned down to the third generation; whereas there are only mention of two generations of Hagar, as in Ge 25:1; and therefore seems to have been taken by him before Hagar, and even when he was in Haran, and the children by her are thought to be the souls gotten there; nor does it seem very probable that he should take a wife after the death of Sarah, when he was one hundred and forty years of age, and was reckoned an old man forty years before this; and Dr. Lightfoot {f} is of opinion, that Abraham married her long before Isaac's marriage, or Sarah's death; and if this was the case, the difficulty of accounting for Abraham's fitness for generation vanishes. The first son of Keturah, born to him, was called Zimran, from whence came the Zamareni, a people in Arabia Felix mentioned by Pliny {g}; and hereabout the sons of Keturah settled, being sent by Abraham into the east country, even into Arabia, which lay east of the place where he then was; and very probably Zabram; or it may be rather Zamram, a royal city in the country of the Cinaedocolpites, a part of Arabia Felix, as placed by Ptolemy {h}, may have its name from this man: five more of Abraham's sons by Keturah follow,
and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah: some think that the first of these is the same with Cahtan, whom the Arabs call the father of their nation; but that Cahtan rather seems to be Joktan the son of Eber, see Ge 10:25. Philostorgius {i} speaks of a nation in his time, called Homerites, who were a people that sprung from Keturah, and inhabited Arabia Felix, and who used circumcision on the eighth day: and Bishop Patrick observes from Theophanes, a chronologer of the ninth century, that the Homerites, who lived in the interior parts of Arabia, descended from Jectan, which he conjectures should be read Jocshan, though perhaps he is no other than the Joktan before mentioned. From Medan and Midian sprung the Midianites, so often mentioned in Scripture; their posterity seem to be confounded together, for the same people are called Medanites and Midianites, Ge 37:28; from these men the towns in Arabia might have their names, as the Modiana and Madiana of Ptolemy {k}: as for Ishbak, there is no tracing of his name anywhere, unless, as Bishop Patrick observes, some footsteps of it are to be found in Bacascami, a town of the Zamareni, who descended from his brother Zimran, and in the people Backliltae, both mentioned by Pliny {l}; though Junius think that Scabiosa Laodicea, in Laodicene of Syria, has its name from him; which seems not likely. The name of Shuah or Shuach may be traced in Socacia, Soaca, and Socheher, cities placed by Ptolemy {m} in Arabia Felix: though some think the posterity of this man are those whom the geographers call Sauchites, Sauchaeans, and Saccaeans, who settled in Arabia Deserta, and from whom Bildad the Shuhite, Job 2:11, descended; which is not improbable. But others have been of opinion, that the town of Suez, which Pliny calls Suaza, had its name from this Shuah, situate at the extremity of the Red sea {n}.
{e} Dr. Clayton's Chronology of the Hebrew Bible, p. 83, &c.; {f} Observations on the Book of Genesis in his Works, vol. 1. p. 695. {g} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. {h} Geograph. l. 6. c. 7. {i} Eccl. Hist. l. 3. sect. 4. p. 477. {k} Ut supra. ({h}) {l} Ut supra. ({g}) {m} Ut supra. ({h}) {n} See Egmont and Heyman's Travels, vol. 2. p. 184.
Genesis 25:3
Ver. 3. And Jokshan begat Sheba and Dedan,.... Bochart {o} is of opinion, that the posterity of this Sheba are the same with the Sabeans who inhabited at the entrance of Arabia Felix, not far from the Nabathaeans; and who, by Strabo {p}, are mentioned together as near to Syria, and used to make excursions on their neighbours; and not without some colour of reason thought to be the same that plundered Job of his cattle, Job 1:15. From Dedan came the Dedanim or Dedanites, spoken of with the Arabians in Isa 21:13; Junius thinks Adada in Palmyrene of Syria had its name from this man, and in which country is the mountain Aladan or Alladadan. Bochart {q} more probably takes Dedan, a city in Idumea, to derive its name from him. There is a village called Adedi in the country of the Cassanites, a people of Arabia Felix, which Ptolemy {r} makes mention of, and seems to have some appearance of this man's name:
and the sons of Dedan were Asshurim, and Letushim, and Leummim; these names being plural are thought not to be proper names of men, but appellatives, descriptive of their places of abode, or of their business: hence the Targum of Onkelos represents them as such that dwelt in camps, in tents, and in islands; and the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem call them merchants, artificers and heads of the people: however, Cleodemus {s} the Heathen historian is wrong in deriving Assyria from Asshurim, whom he calls Ashur; since Assyria and Assyrians are so called from Ashur, the son of Shem, Ge 10:22.
{o} Phaleg. l. 2. c. 9. col. 227. {p} Geograph. l. 16. p. 536. {q} Phaleg. l. 4. c. 6. col. 219. {r} Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 6. c. 7.) {s} Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. 9. c. 20. p. 432.)
Genesis 25:4
Ver. 4. And the sons of Midian,.... The fourth son of Abraham by Keturah; he had five sons next mentioned, who were heads of so many tribes or families in Midian: hence we read of five kings of Midian;
Nu 31:8; their names follow,
Ephah, and Epher, and Hanoch, and Abidah, and Eldaah: the two first of these, whom Cleodemus {t} calls Aphra and Apher, and makes them to be sons of Abraham by Keturah, when they were his grandsons, he says, from them the city Aphra, and all Africa, had their names, and that these accompanied Hercules into Lybia, he having married a daughter of Aphra. Ephah is mentioned along with Midian in Isa 60:6; but of the rest no notice is taken in Scripture. Ptolemy {u} makes mention both of a mountain, and of a village, near Madiana in Arabia Felix, called Hippos, which perhaps had their name from this man. Some trace of Epher is thought to be in Taphuron which Philostorgius says {w} was the metropolis of the Homerites, before mentioned; and Arrianus, as Bishop Patrick observes, expressly says, the metropolis of the Homerites, is called Aphar: to which may be added, that Ptolemy {x} speaks of a people called Tappharites, near the Homerites. Hanoch, the next son, is thought to have some footsteps of his name in Cane, a mart, which Ptolemy {y} places in the country of the Adramites in Arabia Felix, and also in the country of Canauna in Arabia, mentioned by, Pliny {z}: near Cananua is placed, by the same writer, the island Devadae, called by Philostorgius {a} dibouv, "Divus", in which it is supposed there is some trace of the name of Abidah, by an inversion of the two last syllables; and perhaps also in Abissa, which Ptolemy {b} places in the country of the Sachalites in Arabia Felix. As for Eldaah, Bishop Patrick thinks there are no remains of this name, unless in the city of Elana, from whence there was a gulf called Elanites, and a people that lived there Elanitae; but one would think there are some traces of it in the cities Alata, Lattha, and Leaththa, all, according to Ptolemy {c}, in Arabia Felix:
all these [were] the children of Keturah; her children and grandchildren.
{t} Apud Euseb. ut supra. (Praepar. Evangel. l. 9. c. 20. p. 432.) {u} Ut supra. (Geograph. l. 6. c. 7.) {w} Eccl. Hist. l. 3. sect. 4. 478. {x} Ut supra. ({u}) {y} lb. {z} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. {a} Ut supra, ({w}) sect. 3. {b} Ut supra. ({u}) {c} lb.
Genesis 25:5
Ver. 5. And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. By his last will and testament; not all out of his own hand, while he lived, at least he reserved somewhat for himself, and for gifts to his other children; so his servant declared to the parents and friends of Rebekah, Ge 24:35; wherefore some render the words here "had given" {d}; or the sense is, that he had at that time purposed and promised to give all that he had to Isaac, and now he actually did it.
{d} Ntn "dederat", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Genesis 25:6
Ver. 6. But unto the sons of the concubines which Abraham had,.... These were Hagar and Keturah, though they are both called his wives,
Ge 16:3; yet they were concubines; so Keturah, 1Ch 1:32; they were, as some render the word, "concubine wives" {e}; they were half wives or secondary ones: the Jewish writers say that they were espoused, but not by writing, as wives were; they were under the lawful wife, when there were any, and a kind of head servants in the family, and their children did not inherit; now the sons of the concubines of Abraham were Ishmael by Hagar, and the six above mentioned by Keturah: to these
Abraham gave gifts; money, gold and silver, of which he had plenty: the Targum of Jonathan calls them substance and movable goods; by this it appears, that though he had sent Ishmael away without anything, yet he afterwards remembered him, and gave him a portion with the rest of the children of his, concubines:
and sent them away from Isaac his son; that they might not be troublesome to him and his family; and that there, might be no contention among them about inheriting the land of Canaan given to him and his seed: and this Abraham did
while he yet lived; or otherwise after his death a separation would not have been easily made; but his authority had weight with them: and they were sent by him
eastward, into the east country; into Arabia, and the parts thereabout, which lay east from the place where Abraham was; these are the children of the east, mentioned along with the Midianites, who sprung from Keturah, Jud 6:3.
{e} Myvglyph "concubinarum uxorum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Genesis 25:7
Ver. 7. And these [are] the days of the years of Abraham's life, which he lived,.... Being about to die, an account is given of his age, which was
an hundred threescore and fifteen years; one hundred and seventy years; so that Isaac was now seventy five years of age, for he was born when Abraham was an hundred years old, and Jacob and Esau must how be fifteen years of age at this time, since they were born when Isaac was sixty years of age, Ge 25:26; and Ishmael must be eighty nine years old; it may be observed, that as Abraham was seventy five years old when he went from Haran into the land of Canaan, Ge 12:4; he had been just an hundred years a sojourner in this country.
Genesis 25:8
Ver. 8. Then Abraham gave up the ghost,.... Very readily and cheerfully, without any previous sickness or present pain, but through the decay of nature by reason of old age, in a very easy quiet manner:
and died in a good old age, an old man; for quantity, in those times few arriving to a greater; for quality, not attended with those inconveniences and disadvantages with which old age generally is, and therefore called evil:
and full [of years]; in the original it is only, "and full"; the Targum of Jonathan adds, "of all good"; temporal and spiritual, with which he was filled and satisfied; or he had had enough of life, and was willing to depart, and was full of desires after another and better world:
and was gathered to his people; which is to be understood not of his interment, there being only the body of Sarah in the sepulchre in which he was laid; but of the admission of his soul into the heavenly state upon its separation from the body, when it was at once associated with the spirits of just men made perfect. The Arabic writers {f} say that he died in the month of Nisan, others say Adar, in the year of the world 3563; but, according to Bishop Usher, he died A. M. 2183, and before Christ 1821.
{f} Elmacinus, p. 34. Patricides, p. 21. Apud Hottinger. Smegma Oriental. p. 315.
Genesis 25:9
Ver. 9. And his sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah,.... Isaac, though the younger brother, is set first, because he was born of the lawful wife of Abraham, the free woman, whereas Ishmael was born of a concubine and a bondwoman; Isaac was heir not only to Abraham's temporal estate, but of the promise made concerning the Messiah, (not so Ishmael,) and was on all accounts the greater man. It appears from hence, that, though them had been a quarrel between Ishmael and Isaac, and the latter had been persecuted by the former, yet the difference was now made up, and they were reconciled, at least they agreed in this act of showing their last respect to their father; and that, though Ishmael had been expelled his father's house, yet he was not at any great distance from him, and there was a correspondence between him and his father; nor was he forgotten by him, as is clear from Ge 25:6; and he retained a filial affection for him; and Jarchi from hence concludes, that he was a penitent and a good man. The place where these two brothers buried their father was the cave of Machpelah,
in the field of Ephron, the son of Zohar the Hittite, which [is] before Mamre; see Ge 23:8; wherefore very false is the tradition of the Mahometans {g}, that Abraham's sepulchre is at Mecca, which they, now show, and stands about twelve paces from the temple there, enclosed with iron rails.
{g} Pitt's Account of the Religion of the Mahometans, c. 7. p. 93.
Genesis 25:10
Ver. 10. The field which Abraham purchased of the sons of Heth,.... Of one of them, Ephron, the rest being witnesses of it, Ge 23:16;
there was Abraham buried, and Sarah his wife; Sarah had been buried there thirty eight years before, which was the reason why his sons buried, him there; if he died in Beersheba, as seems probable, see
Ge 24:62; from thence to Hebron were sixteen miles {h}; so far was he carried to be interred.
{h} Bunting's Travels, p. 57.
Genesis 25:11
Ver. 11. And it came to pass, after the death of Abraham, that God blessed his son Isaac,.... Yet more and more, both with spiritual and temporal blessings; showing hereby, that, though Abraham was dead, he was not unmindful of his covenant, which should be established with Isaac, Ge 17:19:
and Isaac dwelt by the well Lahairoi; which was near the wilderness of Beersheba and Paran, where Ishmael dwelt; so that they were not far from one another, see Ge 16:14.
Genesis 25:12
Ver. 12. Now these [are] the generations of Ishmael, Abraham's son,.... Or the genealogy of his posterity; and which is given to show that the Lord was not unmindful of his promise made to Abraham, concerning the multiplication of his seed, Ge 16:10:
whom Hagar the Egyptian, Sarah's handmaid, bare unto Abraham; see
Ge 16:1.
Genesis 25:13
Ver. 13. And these [are] the names of the sons of Ishmael,.... After mentioned: by their names, according to their generations; which were imposed upon them at their birth, and are recited according to the order in which they were born, as follows:
the firstborn of Ishmael, Nebajoth: mentioned in Isa 60:7; and from whence a people of the Arabs are called Nabathaeans, and their country Nabathaea. Josephus {i} says, that all the country from Euphrates to the Red sea is called the Nabatene country. The posterity of this man inhabited part of Arabia Deserta and of Arabia Petraea, even to the entrance of Arabia Felix. Strabo {k} reckons the Nabataeans among the Arabians, and calls Petra the metropolis of Arabia Petraea, Petra Nabataea, and Petra of the Arabian Nabataeans, who he says dwelt about Syria, and often made excursions into it; and observes, that their country is populous and abounds with pastures; hence the rams of Nebaioth, mentioned in Isa 60:7; Pliny also {l} places them in Arabia, and says they inhabit the town called Petra, and that they border upon Syria.
And Kedar is the second son of Ishmael; and the posterity of this man and their country are reckoned in Arabia by Isaiah, Isa 21:13; and they are so well known to be Arabians, that the Arabic language is most frequently, in Jewish writings, called the language of Kedar. These are the people whom Pliny {m} names Cedrei, and mentions them along with the Nabathaeans, as near unto them, and indeed they dwelt in the same country, Arabia Petraea, and in tents, living by pasturage, hence they are sometimes called Scenites; and mention is made of the tents of Kedar in So 1:5; these are the Scenite Arabs, called Saracens by Ammianus Marcellinus {n}. Two other sons of Ishmael follow:
and Adbeel and Mibsam; of whom no mention is made elsewhere, nor are there any traces of their names, unless the Agubeni, placed by Ptolemy {o} near Arabia Felix.
{i} Antiqu. l. 1. c. 12. sect. 4. {k} Geograph. l. 16. p. 528, 534, 536. {l} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 11. & l. 6. c. 28. & l. 12. c. 17. {m} lbid. l. 5. c. 11. {n} L. 22. p. 228. l. 23. p. 250. Ed. Vales. {o} Geograph. l. 5. c. 19.
Genesis 25:14
Ver. 14. And Mishma, and Dumah, and Massa. Of Mishma and Massa, and of their posterity, there is not anything said elsewhere, unless the Masani, Ptolemy {p} places near Arabia Felix, came from Massa. Dumah seems to be the same Isaiah speaks of in Ge 21:11; and in Arabia Deserta, where some of Ishmael's posterity settled, is a place called Dumaetha, by Ptolemy {q}, which perhaps had its name from this son of his. The Targum of Jonathan translates these three names,
"hearing, silence, and patience;''
which the Jews use as a proverb, when they would signify that there are some things to be heard and not spoken of, and to be patiently borne. If Ishmael had in view to teach such lessons by the names he gave his children, he will seem to be a better man than he is usually thought to be.
{p} Georaph. l. 16. p. 528. 534. 536. {q} lbid.
Genesis 25:15
Ver. 15. Hadar and Tema,.... From the first of these the city Adra in Arabia Petraea, and from the other the city Themma in Arabia Deserta, both mentioned by Ptolemy {r}, may be thought to have their names; or the city Adari and the Athritae in Arabia Felix {s}; and the inhabitants of the land of Tema are mentioned as Arabians,
Isa 21:13; and Pliny {t} speaks of a people called Thimaneans, whom he says the ancients joined to the Nabathaeans: the troops of Tema mentioned in Job were of this people, Job 6:19; and Eliphaz the Temanite, Job 2:11, is thought by some not to be the descendant of Teman the grandson of Esau, but to be of this man's people and country. The three last sons follow:
Jetur, Naphish, and Kedemah; the two first of these are reckoned among the Hagarites, as the Ishmaelites were sometimes called, 1Ch 5:19; from Jetur came the Itureans, whom Pliny {u} places in Coelesyria; and their country Iturea is reckoned by Strabo {w} along with Arabia; and the Ithyreans with Virgil {x} are famous for their bows, as Ishmael and his posterity were for archery in all ages, and still are,
See Gill on "Ge 21:20". As for the posterity of Naphish and Kedomah, we have no account elsewhere, nor any traces of their names, unless those of the latter should be meant by the men of the east, or the men of Kedem, Jer 49:28, which is not improbable, since they are mentioned with the posterity of Kedar the second son of Ishmael; and the Nubaeans by Lebanon may be from Naphish.
{r} Geograph. l. 5. c. 17, 19. {s} Ibid. l. 6. c. 7. {t} Nat. Hist. l. 6. c. 28. {u} Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 23. {w} Geograph. l. 16. p. 520. {x} Georgic. l. 2. ver. 448.
Genesis 25:16
Ver. 16. These [are] the sons of Ishmael,.... The twelve before mentioned, Ge 25:13:
these [are] their names, by their towns and by their castles; their towns and their castles being called after their names, some of which we are able to trace at this distance, as the above notes show:
twelve princes according to their nations; these were princes, or heads of tribes, and there were twelve of them, and continued so, see
Ge 17:20; where is the prophecy, and here an accomplishment of it.
Genesis 25:17
Ver. 17. And these [are] the years of the life of Ishmael, an hundred and thirty and seven years,.... one hundred and thirty seven years old. So that he lived forty eight years after the death of Abraham,
Ge 25:8; and, though he did not live to be so old as he, yet it was a considerable age he attained unto, See Gill on "Ge 25:7":
and he gave up the ghost and died, and was gathered unto his people; some of the same expressions being used of him as of his father,
Ge 25:8, have led some to conclude that he was a penitent and died a good man, and was gathered to the same people; but these phrases are used both of good and bad men.
Genesis 25:18
Ver. 18. And they dwelt from Havilah unto Shur,.... That is, the posterity of Ishmael, whose country reached from one place to the other; not from India to Chaluza, as the Targums of Jonathan and Jerusalem; but the extent is that vast desert of Arabia, which eastward was called the wilderness of Havilah, and westward the wilderness of Shur; so that they inhabited it from east to west:
that [is] before Egypt, as thou goest to Assyria; which last place was over against Egypt, and bordered on that part where lies the way to the land of Assyria: