Midrasz do Rodzaju 25:1

And at that time Abraham again took a wife in his old age, from the land of Canaan, and her ‎name was Keturah; and she bare unto him: Zimran, and Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian, and ‎Ishbak, and Shuah—six sons. And the sons of Zimran were: Abihen, and Molech, and Marim. ‎And the sons of Jokshan were: Sheba and Dedan. And the sons of Medan were: Amido, and ‎Joab, and Gochi, and Elisha, and Notach. And the sons of Midian were: Ephah, and Epher, and ‎Chanoch, and Abi da, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ishbak were: Makiro, and Bejodua, and ‎Tator. And the sons of Shuah were: Bildad, and Mamdad, and Meman, and Mehan. All these ‎are the families of the children of Keturah, the Canaanitish woman, which she bare unto ‎Abraham, the Hebrew. And Abraham sent all of them away, giving them gifts, and they went ‎away from Isaac his son, to locate wheresoever they should find a suitable place; and they ‎went all unto the mountains eastward and they built unto themselves six cities and they dwelt ‎therein even unto this day. And the children of Shebah and Dedan, the sons of Jokshan, did ‎not dwell with their brethren in their cities, and they journeyed about camping in the countries ‎and in the deserts even unto this day; and the children of Midian, son of Abraham, went ‎eastward of the land of Cush, where they discovered a large valley in the country of the east, ‎and they located there and built a city, and they dwelt in it. That is the land of Midian unto this ‎day. And Midian dwelt in the city which he built, with his five sons and all belonging unto him; ‎and these are the names of Midian's sons, according to their names and their cities: Ephah, ‎and Epher, and Chanoch, and Abida, and Eldaah. And the sons of Ephah were: Methach, and ‎Meshar, and Avi, and Tzanua. And the sons of Epher were: Ephron, and Zur, and Alirun, and ‎Medin. And the sons of Chanoch were: Reuel, and Rekem, and Azi, and Alyoshub, and Alad. ‎And the sons of Abida were: Chur, and Melud, and Keruy, and Molchi. And the sons of Eldah ‎were: Miker, and Reba, and Malchiyah, and Gabol. These are the names of the Midianites ‎according to their families; and afterwards the families of Midian spread throughout the land ‎of Midian. And these are the families of Ishmael, the son of Abraham, whom Hagar, Sarah's ‎handmaid, bare unto Abraham. - - And Ishmael took a wife from the land of Egypt, and her ‎name was Ribah, the same is Meribah. And Ribah bare unto Ishmael: Nebayoth, and Kedar, ‎and Adbeel, and Mibsam, and their sister Bosmath. And Ishmael disowned his wife Ribah, and ‎she went from him and returned to Egypt to the house of her father, and she dwelt there, for ‎she had been very wicked in the sight of Ishmael, and in the sight of his father Abraham. And ‎Ishmael afterward took a wife from the land of Canaan, and her name was Malchuth, and she ‎bare unto him: Nishma, and Dumah, and Masa, and Chadad, and Tema, and Yetur, and ‎Naphish, and Kedma. These are the sons of Ishmael, and these are their names, twelve ‎princes according to their nations; and the families of Ishmael spread forth,

And Abraham took another wife (Gen. 25:1). May our master teach us: How many times should one pray each day? R. Samuel the son of Nahman declared: Since there are three periods in each day, a man should pray three times every day—in the morning, when the sun is in the east; at noon, when the sun is at its zenith; and in the afternoon, when the sun is in the west. R. Joshua the son of Levi stated: Abraham established the morning prayer, as it is said: And Abraham arose early in the morning (Gen. 22:3); Isaac instituted the afternoon prayer, as it is said: And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at eventide (ibid. 24:63); and Jacob introduced the evening prayer, as it is said: And he lighted upon the place and tarried there all night because the sun was setting (ibid. 28:1).

And Abraham took another wife (Gen. 25:1). Scripture states elsewhere: Though thy beginning was small, yet thy end shall greatly increase (Job 8:7). This verse alludes to Moses. R. Samuel the son of Nahman explained it as follows: For seven days the Holy One, blessed be He, endeavored to persuade Moses, from the midst of the burning bush, (to fulfill his duty), but he tried to avoid it, as it is said:: O Lord, send, I pray Thee, by the hand of him Thou wilt send (Exod. 4:13), and it is written: O Lord, I am not a man of words (ibid., v. 10), and it states elsewhere: And Moses hid his face (ibid. 3:6). Yet thy end shall greatly increase (Job 8:7). This verse refers to him, since it is written: The likeness of the Lord doth he behold (Num. 12:8). R. Simeon the son of Yohai was of the opinion that Moses beheld the likeness of the Holy One, blessed be he, as soon as the Holy One spoke to him out of the burning bush.

And Abraham took another wife (Gen. 25:1). Scripture states elsewhere in allusion to this verse: But as for me, I will hope continually and will praise Thee, yet more and more (Ps. 71:14). R. Yudan stated: It is written: Only he shall not multiply horses to himself (Deut. 17:16). When Solomon was crowned king, he did not possess a single horse, and was compelled to ride upon an ass, but later on he obtained numerous horses.

(Gen. 25:1:) THEN ABRAHAM TOOK ANOTHER WIFE. This text is related (to Eccl. 12:1): REMEMBER YOUR CREATOR. What is the meaning of YOUR CREATOR? This is the Holy One. Aqavya ben Mahalal'el says: Look at three things [and you will not come to the point of transgression, etc.:²⁸Avot 3:1; Lev. R. 18:1; Eccl. R. 12:1:1. See also ySot. 2:2 (18a), which does not list the three things. Where have you come from? From a fetid (seminal) drop. Where are you going? To a place of dust, worms, and maggots. Before whom are you going to render account and reckoning? Before the Supreme King of Kings, the Holy One, Blessed be He.] R. Joshua of Sikhnin said in the name of R. Levi: And the three of them are in this verse: REMEMBER YOUR CREATOR (BWR'K, rt.: BR'). This is the Holy One. YOUR {WELLS} [WELL] (rt.: B'R). This is a well that comes forth out of fetid (seminal) fluid. {YOUR CREATOR} [YOUR PIT (BWRK)] < corresponds > to the place where you are going to render account and reckoning.²⁹For a more logical proof text, see Lev. R. 18:1; Eccl. R. 12:1:1. Ergo (in Eccl. 12:1): REMEMBER < all the above >.

(Ibid., cont.:) AND THE GRASSHOPPER DRAGS ITSELF ALONG. These < the old > are one's feet when they are swollen. (Ibid., cont.:) AND THE CAPER BUSH FAILS.³²The caperberry was considered to be an aphrodisiac. Even sexual desire ceases. All these things happen to the one who is old. But in the case of Abraham, although it is written of him (in Gen. 24:1): NOW ABRAHAM WAS OLD, his sexual desire had not ceased. Thus it is stated (in Gen. 25:1): THEN ABRAHAM TOOK ANOTHER WIFE.

And Abraham took another wife (Gen. 25:1). What is written previously concerning this matter? And Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent (Gen. 24:67). You learn from this that if a man’s wife should die, leaving him sons, he should not remarry until his sons are betrothed. Only then should he remarry. Abraham did so. After Sarah’s death, he first betrothed Isaac and then took a wife for himself. Where do we learn this? It is written: Isaac brought her into his mother Sarah’s tent, and after: Abraham took another wife. Isaac said to himself: “I have taken a wife, but my father is without a wife.” What did Isaac do? He went and bought him (Abraham) a wife. Rabbi said: Hagar and Keturah were one and the same person. Why then was she called Keturah? Because she had been bound up (keshurah) like a water bag.⁸Indicating that she was a virgin.

Another interpretation (of Gen. 25:1): THEN ABRAHAM TOOK ANOTHER WIFE. This text is related (to Eccl. 11:6): SOW YOUR SEED IN THE MORNING, < AND DO NOT WITHHOLD YOUR HAND IN THE EVENING >, because you do not know which of them {will protect you} [will be made to succeed for you].³³See Tanh., Gen. 5:6; Gen. R. 61:3; Eccl. R. 11:6:1. If you have learned a lot of Torah in your youth, do not become idle in your old age. Why? (Ibid., cont.:) BECAUSE YOU DO NOT [KNOW WHICH WILL SUCCEED]. R. Joshua says: If a religious obligation presents itself to you in the morning, SOW YOUR SEED. Do not say no. And if [a religious obligation] presents itself to you in the evening, DO NOT WITHHOLD YOUR HAND IN THE EVENING, BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW WHICH of them will endure for you, whether that of the morning, that of the evening, (ibid., cont.): OR WHETHER THEY BOTH [ARE EQUALLY GOOD]. R. Aqiva says: SOW YOUR SEED IN THE MORNING. If you have raised up disciples in your youth, do not become idle in raising others up in your old age.³⁴Yev. 62b. < There is > a story about R. Aqiva, who had three hundred disciples in his youth, and all of them died. If he had not raised < others > up in his old age, he would not have had a single disciple. But he had applied < Eccl. 11:6 > to himself: SOW YOUR SEED IN THE MORNING < … >.

Another interpretation: R. Dostay³⁵Gk.: dositheos. said: If you take a wife who bears < a child > and dies, do not be idle in your old age without a wife. Why? (Eccl. 11:6:) BECAUSE YOU DO NOT KNOW WHICH WILL SUCCEED. From whom do you learn < this fact >? From Abraham, who in his youth only sired one < child > but in his old age sired twelve. R. Levi said: He is the one to whom the Holy One said: (in Gen. 12:3): AND IN YOU ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH SHALL BE BLESSED. Thus God arose in the generation of the dispersion and dispersed them into thirty families, as stated (in Gen. 11:8): SO THE LORD DISPERSED THEM…. R. Levi said: The Holy One said: I am producing them out of you. He is the one to whom the Holy One had said: AND IN YOU < ALL THE FAMILIES OF THE EARTH > SHALL BE BLESSED. So from him he produced thirty families; and they are the following: twelve princes which he produced from Ishmael (Gen. 25:13-16), the sixteen descendants of Keturah (Gen. 25:1-4), and (according to Gen. 25:23) TWO NATIONS ARE IN YOUR (Rebekah's) WOMB, for a total of thirty families. Ergo (in Gen. 25:1): THEN ABRAHAM TOOK ANOTHER WIFE.

What is written before this passage (Gen. 25:1)? (Gen. 24:62:) NOW ISAAC HAD COME BY WAY OF BEER-LAHAI-ROI.³⁶See Tanh., Gen. 5:8; cf. Gen. R. 60:14; 61:4. And afterwards < it is written > (in Gen. 25:1): THEN ABRAHAM TOOK A WIFE AGAIN.³⁷This translation of the verse, which is somewhat more literal than the usual English renderings, suggests how Rabbi could interpret it to mean that Abraham had remarried Hagar. It is simply that when Isaac took Rebekah, Isaac said: Let us go and bring a wife to my father. Hagar and Keturah are the same person < according to > the words of Rabbi, but our masters say he took another wife. What is the logic of Rabbi? Hagar and Keturah are the same person because it is written (in Gen. 24:62): NOW ISAAC HAD COME BY WAY OF BEER-LAHAI-ROI. < Here is a reference to > the same woman about whom it is written (in Gen. 16:14): THEREFORE THE WELL WAS CALLED BEER-LAHAI-ROI.³⁸The context suggests that Beer-lahai-roi might have been where Hagar had settled.

(Gen. 25:1:) THEN ABRAHAM TOOK AN ADDITIONAL³⁹Again the translation of the verse has been changed to fit the midrashic context. WIFE. This text is related (to Job 8:7): THOUGH YOUR BEGINNING WAS TRIFLING, YOUR END SHALL GREATLY FLOURISH. R. Simeon ben Laqish said in the name of R. Eleazar: You learn from here that an addition of the Holy One is more than the original.⁴⁰Below, 7:20; see Gen. R. 61:4. Abraham had previously sired no one but Isaac. When the Holy One made an addition for him, he made his addition < even > more, as stated (in Gen. 25:2): AND SHE BORE HIM < ZIMRAN, JOKSHAN, MEDAN, MIDIAN, ISHBAK, AND SHUAH >. Thus you find in the case of the first Adam that when < Eve > gave birth, she bore Cain (Gen. 4:1). Then afterwards (in Gen. 4:2): AND IN ADDITION SHE BORE < HIS BROTHER ABEL >. And so you find in the case of Rachel that she bore Joseph and said (in Gen. 30:24): MAY THE LORD ADD ANOTHER SON FOR ME. He added Benjamin for her and his twin sister. Where is it shown to be so? Here (in Gen. 35:17), < where > "This is a son for you" is not written, but FOR THIS ALSO IS A SON FOR YOU. And so you find in the case of King Hezekiah, all the days of his reign were fourteen years; but when the Holy One made an addition for him, he added fifteen years. (Is. 38:5; cf. II Kings 20:6:) SEE, I AM ADDING [FIFTEEN YEARS] TO YOUR LIFE. Now when the prophets saw that an addition of the Holy One was more than the original, they began to bless Israel with an addition. Moses said (in Deut. 1:11): MAY THE LORD [GOD OF YOUR ANCESTORS] ADD TO YOUR NUMBERS A THOUSAND TIMES [MORE THAN YOU ARE]…. David said (in Ps. 115:14): MAY THE LORD ADD TO YOUR NUMBERS. Also in the world to come the Holy One has procured an addition (rt.: YSP) for his people, as stated (in Is. 11:11): AND IT SHALL COME TO PASS IN THAT DAY, THE LORD WILL EXTEND (rt.: YSP) HIS HAND A SECOND TIME < TO PROCURE THE REST OF HIS PEOPLE >.

MAY PEOPLES SERVE YOU. These are the children of Noah.
AND MAY NATIONS BOW DOWN TO YOU. These are the children of Keturah (Gen. 25:1-4).
BE MASTER OVER YOUR BROTHERS. These are the children of Ishmael.
AND MAY YOUR MOTHER'S CHILDREN BOW DOWN TO YOU. These are the children of Esau.
CURSED BE THOSE WHO CURSE YOU. These are Balaam and his colleagues.
AND BLESSED BE THOSE WHO BLESS YOU. These are Moses and his colleagues.

Again after three years Abraham went to see his son Ishmael, having sworn to Sarah as on the first occasion that he would not descend from the camel in the place where Ishmael dwelt. He came there at midday, and found there Ishmael's wife. He said to her: Where is Ishmael? She replied to him: He has gone with his mother to feed the camels in the desert. He said to her: Give me a little bread and water, for my soul is faint after the journey of the desert. She fetched it and gave it to him. Abraham arose and prayed before the Holy One, blessed be He, for his son, and (thereupon) Ishmael's house was filled with all good things of the various blessings. When Ishmael came (home) his wife told him what had happened, and Ishmael knew that his father's love was still extended to him, as it is said, || "Like as a father pitieth his sons" (Ps. 103:13). After the death of Sarah, Abraham again took (Hagar) his divorced (wife), as it is said, "And Abraham again took a wife, and her name was Keturah" (Gen. 25:1). Why does it say "And he again"? Because on the first occasion she was his wife, and he again betook himself to her. Her name was Keturah, because she was perfumed with all kinds of scents.

"And Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah, his mother-" All the days that Sarah was alive, a cloud was connected (lit. tied) to the entrance of her tent. When she died, the cloud stopped [resting at her tent.] And when Rebecca came, the cloud returned. All the days that Sarah was alive, the doors were open wide. When she died, the wideness stopped. And when Rebecca came, the wideness returned. And all the days that Sarah was alive, there was a blessing in her dough, and when Sarah died, that blessing ended. When Rebecca came, [the blessing] returned. All the days that Sarah was alive, there was a candle that would burn from Sabbath Eve to [the next] Sabbath Eve, and when she died, the candle stopped [burning for so long]. And when Rebecca came, [the week-long flame of the candle] returned. And as soon as [Isaac] saw her, that she did the deeds of his mother, separating her challah in purity and separating her dough in purity, he brought her into the tent. Rabbi Yudan said, "The Torah teaches you, that if a man has grown-up sons, he should marry them off first and then he should marry. Who do you learn [this teaching] from? From Abraham: first, "And Isaac brought her into the tent of Sarah his mother," and afterwards, "And Abraham took another wife, and her name was Keturah."

And her name was Keturah: Rav said, "She is Hagar." Rabbi Nechemiah said to him, "And is it not written, 'he added.'" He said to him, "[That signifies that] he [now] married her according to the [Divine] word; like that which you say (Isaiah 8), 'And the Lord added to speak to me more.'" He said to him, "And is it not written, 'And her name was Keturah?'" He said to him, "[It is] since she was fragrant (mekuteret) with commandments and good deeds." He said to him, "And is it not written, 'And to the sons of the concubines that Avraham had?'" He said, "It is [actually] written, 'concubine' (in the singular, such that there only be one concubine - Hagar)." "While he was still alive (chai)" - [this is a reference to] the one that sat by the well and said to the Life (chai) of the worlds, "Look at my embarrassment!" Rabbi Berakhia said, "Even though you say (Genesis 21:14), 'and she went and strayed in the wilderness, etc., [such that] you would say that she was suspected with any [other man]; hence we learn to say, 'And her name was Keturah' - like a type of knot (ketur) like this, [with which] he seals a storehouse and opens it with a seal, [that is] tied and sealed." Bar Kapra said, "The addition of the Holy One, blessed be He, is greater than the main part: Kayin was was the main part and as a result of Hevel being the addition - as it is is written (Genesis 4:2), 'And she added to give birth' - he and his two twins were born; Yosef was the main part, and as a result of it being written, addition, with Binyamin, he established ten [children], as it is written (Genesis 46:21), ' And the children of Binyamin were Bela and Becher, etc.'; Er was the main part, and as a result of Shelah being [born] with the language of addition, he established ten [courts], behold, it is written in I Chronicles 4:21, 'And the sons of Shelah the son of Yehudah were Er, the father (a term that is also used for the head of a court) of Lecha, and Ladah, the father of Maresha, and the families of the house Avodat HaButs of the house of Ashbea'; the main part of the years of Iyov were only seventy years, [and] one hundred and forty years were added to him, as it is written (Job 42:16), 'And Iyov lived after this one hundred and forty years'; the main part of the reign of Chizkiyahu was only fourteen years, and fifteen years were added to him, as it states (Isaiah 38:), 'behold, I will add fifteen years to your days; Yishmael is the main part, and as a result of the children of Keturah being [born] with the language of addition, 'And she gave birth for him to Zimran, etc.'"