Reasoniong The Scriptures

Keturah-
Keturah- Is She a Type of the New Covenant ???
By M.S.Mariadas and Y.R.Dinakaran
Bible Students, M.B.S.A

Keturah is mentioned twice in the Scriptures. Once in Genesis the 25th chapter and
secondly in 1 Chronicles 1:32.

Genesis 25:1-
25:1-6
1
Abraham took
took {Or had taken} another wife, whose name was Keturah.
2
She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak and Shuah.
3
Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan; the descendants of Dedan were the
Asshurites, the Letushites and the Leummites.
4
The sons of Midian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these
were descendants of Keturah.
5
Abraham left everything he owned to Isaac.
6
But while he was still living, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and
sent them away from his son Isaac to the land of the east. (NIV)

1 Chronicles 1:28-
1:28-34
28
The sons of Abraham: Isaac and Ishmael.
29
These were their descendants:
descendants Nebaioth the firstborn of Ishmael, Kedar,
Adbeel, Mibsam,
30
Mishma, Dumah, Massa, Hadad, Tema,
31
Jetur, Naphish and Kedemah. These were the sons of Ishmael.
32
Keturah Abraham's concubine: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan,
The sons born to Keturah,
Midian, Ishbak and Shuah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. (NIV)
33
The sons of Midian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida and Eldaah. All these were
descendants of Keturah.
34
Abraham was the father of Isaac. The sons of Isaac: Esau and Israel. (NIV)

Question no. 1: Does the fact that Keturah is first mentioned some two chapters
after Sarah's death is stated give us sufficient grounds and proof
to say that Keturah came into Abraham's life after Sarah's death?

Answer: No. To do so would be an assumption. In Gen. 25:1 "Abraham took

another wife" (NIV) can also be translated according to the marginal
reference as "Abraham had taken another wife....". Young's Literal
Translation says, "And Abraham addeth and taketh a wife.."
Genesis 25:1 in the KJV says, " Then again Abraham took a wife, and
her name was Keturah."
The word "Then" of the KJV, if it were used alone would infer that
what follows in the 25th Chapter comes after the narrative of the 24th
Chapter, but that is not the case in this context. "Then" is directly
associated with its adjacent word "again". "Then again" is used as
one thought and is not meant to connect what preceded it.

Keturah-
Keturah- Is She a Type of the New Covenant ???
Reasoning The Scriptures

The death of Sarah at the age of 127 is stated in Gen. 23:1 while
Keturah is not mentioned until the 25th Chapter of Genesis.
To insist that the 25th Chapter would of necessity have to follow the
23th and the 24th in sequence of time would present some problems
with other incidents in the accounts of Abraham's life. For instance, in
Chapter 25, verses 7 & 8 we read that Abraham died. Later in
Chapter 25, verse 26 Esau and Jacob are born. The account has the
death of Abraham coming before the birth of Esau and Jacob. If we
were to use the same logic that because the 25th chapter follows the
24th it must therefore occur at a later time period then the 24th,
24th then
we must for consistency sake also conclude that Abraham was dead
when Esau and Jacob were born since his death is recorded before the
birth of Esau and Jacob. To make this assumption would be to make
an error,
error because Abraham lived yet another 15 years after the birth of
Esau and Jacob. This can be confirmed by using the ages specified in
the following three scriptures:

Genesis 21:5 "Abraham

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac
was born to him. " (NIV)

Genesis 25:7-
25:7-8 "Altogether, Abraham lived a hundred and seventy-
seventy-
five
five years. Then Abraham breathed his last and
died at a good old age, an old man and full of years;
and he was gathered to his people." (NIV)

Genesis 25:26 "After this, his brother came out, with his hand grasping
Esau's heel; so he was named Jacob. {Jacob means he
grasps the heel (figuratively, he deceives).} Isaac was
sixty years old when Rebekah gave birth to them."
(NIV)
Calculations:
100 Abraham's age when Isaac was born. Gen. 21:5
+ 60 Isaac's age when Esau and Jacob were born. Gen. 25:26
-------
160 Abraham's age when Esau and Jacob were born.

175 Abraham's age when he died. Gen. 25:7

- 160 Abraham's age when Esau and Jacob were born.
-------
15 Number of years that Abraham lived after the birth of Esau and
Jacob.

Conclusion: Since it would have been a bad assumption,

assumption, as shown
above, to insist that Abraham died before the birth of Esau
and Jacob because the account tells us of Abraham's death
first, it would likewise not make it a safe assumption to
conclude that Keturah came into Abraham's life after
Sarah's death just because Sarah's death is mentioned
first. Since the book of Genesis is not a "chronicle"

2
Reasoning The Scriptures

history but a history of the events and lives of certain

individuals, a particular feature or story is sometimes
brought to its completion without regard to the chronology
of other concurrent events.

Question no. 2: Is there any significance in the sequence of the listings of

Abraham's descendants in 1 Chronicles 1:28-
1:28-34?

Answer: Let us note that the Chronicles is a historical record from Adam to
Abraham. This being so, then the sequence of recorded information is of
prime importance. Since Chronicles is a historical record, let us note the
sequence in which the descendants of Abraham's wife and concubines are
listed:
Hagar's descendants was listed first in verses 29-
29-31.
Keturah's descendants were listed second in verses 32 and 33.
Sarah's descendants were listed last in Verse 34.

It should be noted in 1 Chronicles, Chapter 1, that verse 28 says that

the sons of Abraham were Isaac and Ishmael. Keturah's sons are not even
mentioned. This is a very interesting point and may have some significance
that is unknown to the writer of this paper at this time.

Conclusion: Since the sequence of chronological sequence is important in

Chronicles and since we know that Ishmael was born first, the
fact that Keturah's sons are listed second could very well infer
that Abraham had taken Keturah, another concubine
(Gen. 25:6 & 1 Chron. 1:32), who bore him six sons prior to
the birth of Isaac. Some commentators have concluded that
Keturah was another concubine of Abraham, having replaced
Hagar, and who lived with them while Sarah was still alive.

Question no. 3: Would not the births of Keturah's sons likewise have had to been
miraculous if they were born after Sarah died and Isaac was
married since Isaac was born miraculously in Abraham and Sarah's
old age and since Abraham would be at least 140 years of age when
Keturah's firstborn came
came upon the scene?

Answer: Abraham and Sarah were already aged at the time they were told by the angel
that they would have a son and even doubted their ability to have children
at that time.

Genesis 18:11 "Abraha

Abraham
Abraham and Sarah were already old and well advanced
in years,
years and Sarah was past the age of childbearing." (NIV)

Genesis 17:17 "Abraham fell facedown; he laughed and said to himself,

"Will
"Will a son be born to a man a hundred years old?
old Will
Sarah bear a child at the age of ninety?"
ninety (NIV)

3
Reasoning The Scriptures

Genesis 21:5 "Abraham

Abraham was a hundred years old when his son Isaac was
born to
t him." (NIV)

Genesis 23:1 "Sarah lived to be a hundred and twenty-

twenty-seven years old."
old
(NIV) Since Abraham was ten years older than Sarah, he
would have been 137 years old when she died.

Genesis 25:20 "Isaac was forty years old when he married Rebekah
daughter of Bethuel the Aramean from Paddan Aram..."
(NIV)

90 Age of Sarah when Isaac was born. (Gen. 17:17)

+4 0 Age of Isaac when he married Rebekah. (Gen. 25:20)
-------
130 Age of Sarah if she had been alive when Isaac married Rebekah.
- 127 Age of Sarah when she died. (Gen. 23:1)
------
3 Number of years Sarah was dead when Isaac married Rebekah.
+ 137 Age of Abraham when Sarah died. (Abraham was 10 yrs. older than Sarah-
(Gen.17:17)
-------
140 Age of Abraham when Isaac married Rebekah.

Conclusion: Isaac's birth was miraculous because he was born after their
child bearing age. If Keturah became Abraham's wife after
Sarah died and after Isaac was married, Abraham would have
been at least 40 years older when Isaac was born.. Even
at 100 years of age he questioned his ability to produce
children. Since so much was written about the miraculous
birth of Isaac, would not it seem reasonable that the
Scriptures would also at least make some mention that the birth
of Keturah's sons were also miraculous?

Question no. 4: Are we on safe ground to use a type to prove a New testament
doctrine when the type is not mentioned even once in the New
Testament?

Answer: If Keturah was to be a type that pictured the New Covenant, it would
definitely have been mentioned or at least inferred somewhere in the
writings of the New Testament.

Conclusion: Since there is no mention or even any inference by any

of the writers of the New Testament Scriptures, it is mere
speculation and an assumption that is totally void of
any "thus saith the Lord" to teach that Keturah is a
type of the New Covenant.