HEBREW WORD STUDY – QETURAH – קטורה Qop Teth Vav Resh Hei
Genesis 25:1: “Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name [was] Qeturah.”
Who was Qeturah? I had not intended to do a series on women in the Bible but for some odd reason I kept turning to passages of Scripture that speak of women that we rarely, if ever, hear about in sermons and teachings and yet are mentioned in the Bible. Today I came to Genesis 25:1 and ran across a name I had researched some time ago but just felt led to do a study on this woman all over again. That was Abraham’s second wife or maybe third wife Qeturah. I say third wife as Hagar was considered a wife to Abraham but was really just a concubine.
I am sure you remember the story of Hagar, Sarah’s handmaid. When Sarah could not bare a child she gave Hagar to Abraham to spend the night with her and she became pregnant and bore a son named Ishmael. Later Sarah became pregnant and bore Isaac and Ishmael lost his standing in the family and in fact caused so much disruption that Sarah convinced Abraham to force Hagar and Ishmael to leave.
Now we advance through the story and come to the time that Sarah passes away. Abraham has now been married off. The custom was that when a man was widowed with older children he would usually wait until his older children were married before he would remarry.
There are many Jewish commentators who believe that the woman Abraham married was not a third wife but a second, Qeturah was really Hagar. The main proponent of this idea is the renowned Jewish scholar Rashi. In an earlier study I reviewed Rashi’s evidence and I concluded that he is right, Abraham married his old concubine Hagar. The meaning of the name is uncertain. It is possibly an Egyptian word meaning flight, bound or one living in fear. Actually, all meanings of the word tells her story. She was forced to leave her home, take flight from Abraham and Sarah to live in fear most of her life living unmarried yet bound to Abraham and his monotheistic faith.
According to Rashi she left the faith for a time but returned and remained faithful to God. It was Isaac who played matchmaker and went to Hagar after his mother Sarah passed away and convinced Hagar to return and marry his father which she did even if he was an old geezer at 145 years of age but yet she bore him five more children. A rather strange but cute love story.
What is interesting is that she bares a new name, now not one of flight and fear but Qeturah which means sweet smelling perfume. In its root form it is qatar which is the smoke of a sacrifice. That is really a fitting name for Hagar, after years of suffering from being banished she returns and now all her sacrifices have turned to just smoke. The smoke rising from a sacrifice is really a sign of acceptance of the sacrifice and the redemption it brings. Her sacrifices have brought her redemption. Her faithfulness to God brought her joy during the final years of her life, vindication and acceptance. Hagar’s story is one with a happy ending where she truly lived happily ever after.
It is an old story I hear many times. People who have lived a difficult life but remained true to God reach the final years of their lives truly happy and rewarded. I have heard many different interpretations of I Corinthians 2:9: “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”
However, whether I am taking the verse out of context or not I believe the story of Hagar teaches us that if we truly love God He has prepared something wonderful for us after we go through our dark valley. If not here, then surely in heaven.
There was a man of a God that came to one of our three day conferences and he was one of the speakers. One of his trade marks was he would have a special ministry time during the conference when he would take you to heaven i.e. pray for you and you would experience heavenly or spiritual things. About thirty of us jumped out of our seats to go! We all held hands in a large oblong circle and he prayed. After ten minutes or so we were all asked to share what happened. I was struck by some of the experiences. I will only mention mine. What I was seeing (with my eyes closed) almost immediately after he started praying was smoke. Lots of smoke swirling all around me and drifting upwards which he interpreted as intercessory prayer, the incense of prayer etc. I never realized the smoke as it is connected to what you shared,
“What is interesting is that she bares a new name, now not one of flight and fear but Qeturah which means sweet smelling perfume. In its root form it is qatar which is the smoke of a sacrifice. That is really a fitting name for Hagar, after years of suffering from being banished she returns and now all her sacrifices have turned to just smoke. The smoke rising from a sacrifice is really a sign of acceptance of the sacrifice and the redemption it brings.
You made my day!
“then again Abraham took a wife”… would suggest otherwise not Hagar.
Actually my sources are Jewish commentators. They are fully aware of Hagar’s age but unlike Christian commentators they have no problem with God repeating the miracle He did for Sarah at 90. As always i share these off the reservation thoughts for your consideration.
Curious as to your thoughts. Why would a concubine not become a wife? Are youy saying in Hebrew a concubine can also be translated as wife (which it can) and therefore he was already married to Hagar. But by banishing her it would be considered a divorce and perhaps he remarried her.
I am curious as to why you think a concubine could not become a wife. It was pretty common in those days. Concubine in Hebrew can also mean a wife but if that were the case Abraham likely divorced here and remarried her after Sara died.
In 1 Chronicles 1:32 Keturah was called Abraham’s concubine. In Genesis 25:1 she is called his wife.
I do enjoyed it very informative
Keturah is clearly stated to be Abraham’s concubine in 1 Chron. 1:32.The bible does not state that Abe had more than one concubine, so it makes sense that she was also Hagar.
Chaim, I love your insights, you are such a blessing!
In this piece, though, I am puzzled. If Abraham was 145 years old, then Ishmael would have been nearly 60. Even if Hagar was 14 when she had Ishmael, she would then be 74 and therefore past childbearing, so to have five more children would have been miraculous. It’s a lovely thought that she would be restored, but the figures don’t match for me.
Do the Jewish commentators have anything to say about it?
Actually my sources are Jewish commentators. They are fully aware of Hagar’s age but unlike Christian commentators they have no problem with God repeating the miracle He did for Sarah at 90. As always i share these off the reservation thoughts for your consideration.
This story reminds me of my Mother’s life and her resistance to the holy spirit and the wonderful grace given to us by Jesus, right up to the end. Early in her life she accepted Jesus but fell away. However a couple weeks before she passed away her faith was renewed and she ended passing away in peace. It is unfortunate that she missed the peace she could have had. This story is sadly true for so many people.
I was wondering should you ever be looking for a word to study. I have a suggestion. There is a growing group of Christians (?) “Truthers” who use Isiah 40 22 to say the world is flat. Yeah don’t laugh. They are serious. I was wondering what the Hebrew says about the circle of the earth? We are planning on lookiing at this ourselves but I thought you might find it interesting. Regards. Stephen and Diane Ray
Hi Chaim
What a truly lovely story. I was not expecting Quterah to be Hagar! That’s amazing! I have your Word Study books (Hebrew Word Study Beyond The Lexicon, and the other 3) on my phone, my Nook. Lol. I really love learning from them. Thank you very much sir.
Blessings Algene
Wonderful devotional
Thank you
If she turely went back, why didn’t she convince her son Ishmael to forgive and be part of the family? I’m referring to the issues in the middle east today. It has been taught that the groups of people fighting today are family. One connected to Isaac and the other Ishmael. Just wondering if restitution was obtained by Hagar for being kicked out, I guess Ishmael still held a grudge.
Is it possible that if Abraham “remarried” Hagar, that her children believed that they were also lawful heirs of the promise to Abraham therefore creating/continuing the struggles/opposition with the descendants of Issac?
Amen! Oh how sweet this Amen.
James 5:11 Voice
Look, we bless and honor the memory of those who persevered under hardship. Remember how Job endured and how the Lord orchestrated the triumph of his final circumstances as a grand display of His mercy and compassion.