Abraham's Further Descendants

After Sarah's death, Abraham, the patriarch who had been described as an old man unable to have any more children, took another wife, not a legitimate wife, but a concubine. Her name was Keturah. She bore Abraham six sons whose names the Scriptures records, to explain the origins of a group of Arab tribes.

Keturah's children were endowed by Abraham; he gave them flocks, and as soon as possible, took care to see that they left the camp. During his lifetime, Bereshith tells us, he sent them away from his son Yitschaq eastward, to the east country. According to tradition the sons of Keturah became the ancestors of the tribes of southern Arabia. Ishmael, the son of Hagar the concubine, was sent away from the camp, as we know; down in the wilderness of Haran he was to appear as the ancestor of the Ishmaelite Arabs.

In fact the promise made by YAHWEH to Abraham applied only to Yitschaq, the patriarch's sole heir; in his veins ran pure Hebrew blood, free from any taint of misalliance. And indeed it was necessary for the accomplishment of this stage of the mission that there should be only one leader. After Abraham came Yitschaq; after Yitschaq, Yacob; to form the succession of Scriptural patriarchs.

Abraham Joins Sarah In The Cave Of Machpelah

 Abraham, the Scriptures informs us, breathed his last dying at a ripe old age, an old man who had lived his full span of years. We are told that for the patriarch's burial, Ishmael, probably warned in good time, hastened to his half-brother Yitschaq to pay funeral honours to his father. The heavy boulder obstructing the entrance to the cave of Machpelah was rolled aside and, on a stone shelf next to that on which Sarah's body lay, the mortal remains of Abraham, the one loved by YAHWEH, were laid to rest in the curled position favoured by tradition.

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