And she bare him Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and Ishbak, and Shuah.
The verse names the six sons Abraham had through Keturah as Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. It belongs to the account of God's providential dealings with Abraham's family as the chosen family through which the promised Seed would come. It shows that Abraham had multiple lines of descendants through Keturah, distinct from the line of Hagar and the line of Esau, while the promise concerned one specially chosen personal posterity. The children listed are Abraham's children by his later wife, distinguished from Isaac, the one seed of promise, and the promised inheritance and the divine Seed, Jesus Christ, do not come through them but through Isaac.
Although these six sons descended from Abraham, their exclusion from the people identified as Israel shows that descent by itself does not determine who receives Israel's promises. Some of the descendants of these six sons became nations of considerable repute. The naming of Shuah identifies Bildad, one of Job's friends, as Shuah's son and thus Abraham's grandson.
Midian and Medan were sons of Keturah, one of Abraham's later wives, making them cousins of Ishmael and relatives of Joseph. This explains why the men who bought Joseph are called both Ishmaelites and Midianites or Medanites, since Ishmael was the chief of the tribes so all are called Ishmaelites while descendants of Ishmael were among them, and it means those who bought Joseph were sons of faithful Abraham and his own relatives. Abraham's fathering of many sons by Keturah reflects patriarchal tribal life, where safety and strength depend on family size because outside walled cities there is no effective government protection and no spiritual or moral restraint, so the family is the real unit. Immediate relatives form a large circle, related circles form a clan, clans form a sub-tribe, sub-tribes form a tribe, and even great tribes are related, and though families, clans, sub-tribes and tribes quarrel and shed blood among themselves, they unite against a common foe in proportion to nearness of relationship, so many sons multiply protectors and avengers in time of need. The verse also illustrates Oriental polygamy and the different esteem in which different wives were held.
The verse names the six sons Abraham had through Keturah as Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. It belongs to the account of God's providential dealings with Abraham's family as the chosen family through which the promised Seed would come. It shows that Abraham had multiple lines of descendants through Keturah, distinct from the line of Hagar and the line of Esau, while the promise concerned one specially chosen personal posterity. The children listed are Abraham's children by his later wife, distinguished from Isaac, the one seed of promise, and the promised inheritance and the divine Seed, Jesus Christ, do not come through them but through Isaac.
Although these six sons descended from Abraham, their exclusion from the people identified as Israel shows that descent by itself does not determine who receives Israel's promises. Some of the descendants of these six sons became nations of considerable repute. The naming of Shuah identifies Bildad, one of Job's friends, as Shuah's son and thus Abraham's grandson.
Midian and Medan were sons of Keturah, one of Abraham's later wives, making them cousins of Ishmael and relatives of Joseph. This explains why the men who bought Joseph are called both Ishmaelites and Midianites or Medanites, since Ishmael was the chief of the tribes so all are called Ishmaelites while descendants of Ishmael were among them, and it means those who bought Joseph were sons of faithful Abraham and his own relatives. Abraham's fathering of many sons by Keturah reflects patriarchal tribal life, where safety and strength depend on family size because outside walled cities there is no effective government protection and no spiritual or moral restraint, so the family is the real unit. Immediate relatives form a large circle, related circles form a clan, clans form a sub-tribe, sub-tribes form a tribe, and even great tribes are related, and though families, clans, sub-tribes and tribes quarrel and shed blood among themselves, they unite against a common foe in proportion to nearness of relationship, so many sons multiply protectors and avengers in time of need. The verse also illustrates Oriental polygamy and the different esteem in which different wives were held.