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Genesis Chapter 23 deals with Sarah and her burial; Genesis chapter 24 discusses Rebekah and her marriage
to Isaac, and chapter 25 talks about Keturah.
"Isaac brought her to the tent of Sarah, his mother."
Sarah's death left a vacuum on two levels: Abraham was left without a wife and Isaac without a mother. The
first was filled by Keturah, Abraham's new wife, while the second was filled by Rebekah. Rebekah entered Sarah's tent as Isaac's
wife, and survived Sarah as the second matriarch of Israel for all future generations.
Rebekah may be perceived as filling the void left by Sarah, even though she did not marry Abraham. Proof
of this is to be found in Abraham's command to his servant, as to how to evaluate a bride suitable for his son:
"The servant said to him: Perhaps the woman will not agree to follow me to this land; shall I then take
your son back to the land from which you came? Abraham said to him: Guard yourself lest you take my son back there. Yahveh,
the Elohim of the heavens, who took me from my father's house and from the land of my birth, and who spoke to me and promised
to me, saying, 'To your seed I shall give this land', He will send His angel before you, and you will take a wife for my son
from there. And if the woman will not agree to follow you, you will be free of this oath; only do not take my son there." Genesis 24:5-8
The woman destined to be Isaac's wife was tested as to her willingness to leave her birthplace in Haran and to journey
to an unknown land. Thus, she too, fulfilled the commandment that was given to Abraham: "Go
from your land and from your birthplace and from your father's house, to the land, which I will show you." Without this test of faith, she was not worthy of inheriting Sarah's heritage and becoming Abraham's daughter-in-law.
Abraham's servant tested Rebekah in another character trait so important to Abraham - hospitality.
"Behold, I am standing by the well, and the daughters of the townspeople are coming out to draw water. Let the girl to
whom I shall say, 'Please let down your pitcher and let me drink,' and she will answer, 'Drink, and I shall water your camels,
too', let her be the one whom you have destined for your servant for Isaac; thereby shall I know that You have shown kindness
to my master." Genesis 24:13-14
Rebekah, Abraham's daughter-in-law, was thus evaluated in terms of the two founding pillars of the Nation of Israel:
Kindness and Faith.
Why Did Abraham Remarry?
Why did Abraham marry Keturah in his old age, and had six more children by her, only to send them away, just
as he did with Hagar and Ishmael?
"Abraham gave all that he had to Isaac. And to the children of the concubines, Abraham gave gifts, and he sent them away
from Isaac his son, while he was still alive, eastwards, to the land of the east." Genesis 25:5-6
Perhaps Abraham's need to bear more children was related to the difference between the two covenants that Yahveh made
with him. In the context of his circumcision, Yahveh told him explicitly: "I shall establish My covenant with Isaac, whom
Sarah will bear to you at this time next year." This covenant will be established only with his consecrated seed, Isaac, Sarah's
son. This covenant promised Abraham the land of Canaan, to be given to Isaac's descendant - Jacob, and to be settled by Jacob's
descendants, divided into inheritances for the tribes. This was the Holy Land, promised to Israel:
"It shall be for you alone, no strangers will inherit it with you." Proverbs 5:17
But Yahveh also made another covenant with Abraham, the "covenant of the parts" (b'rit bein ha-betarim), where He mentioned
not "the land of Canaan" but rather "the land" from the Nile to the Euphrates. The content of this covenant does not discuss
the sanctity of Abraham's descendants, but rather the historical process that they will endure in exile, as strangers in servitude
and oppression, until they build up their independent kingdom in their own land, no longer under foreign rule.
The land of Canaan lies between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea. It is holy ground, and concerning it the
Torah teaches, "The land has become defiled and I have visited its iniquities upon it, and the land shall spew out its inhabitants."
(Numbers 18:25) But such a tiny land seems inadequate for the establishment of an independent sovereignty.
Throughout the Biblical period, so long as these were the borders of the Kingdom of Israel, independence was short-lived,
and it was subject to whatever the reigning empire was at the time. The situation in modern times bears out the same conclusion:
The State of Israel in its borders between the Jordan and the Mediterranean (the so-called "Greater Land of Israel") is not
an independent entity. It relies upon the favor of foreign powers, especially that of the U.S.
The land representing the independent kingdom of Israel lies between
the Nile and the Euphrates. If we look at a map, we note that this is not a particularly large area. This entire expanse constituted
only one province out of the one hundred and twenty provinces comprising the Persian Empire. During the reign of David
and Solomon, when these were the actual borders, Israel was entirely independent. Therefore, when discussing the inheritance
of the people of Israel from an historical point of view, and the transition from being strangers to political independence, we
refer to the complete Land of Israel from the Nile to the Euphrates.
However, Israel will not populate the wide expanses of this land and its wildernesses until Yahveh fulfills His
promise to increase Israel's number a thousand-fold over the number that originally entered the land - six hundred thousand.
(Deuteronomy 1:11)
This may be the reason why Abraham wanted to remarry and have more children. It also explains why he later sent
all of them away from Isaac. Ishmael was sent to the wilderness of Sinai, leading on to Egypt and Keturah's children
were sent to the eastern wilderness, which stretches up to the Euphrates. In this way, Abraham tried to fill the land between
the Nile and the Euphrates with his offspring - the children of Ishmael, the children of Keturah and the children of
Lot - Ammon and Moab, who were also considered his descendants. All would live in "The Land" between the Nile and the Euphrates,
but only Isaac, with whom Yahveh established the covenant of circumcision, would live in the Holy Land of Canaan. Only later
in the Torah, it becomes clear that the entire great land was given to Israel.
In Deuteronomy chapter 11, it becomes clear that the entire Great Land
was given to Israel.
"If you will guard well all of these commandments which I command you to do, to love Yahveh your Elohim, to walk in all
His ways and to cleave to Him, then Yahveh will drive out all of these nations from before you, and you will possess nations
greater and mightier than you. Every place where your feet tread, shall be yours, from the wilderness and Lebanon, from the
great River Euphrates up to the furthermost sea shall be your border. No man shall be able to stand up to you. Yahveh will
put the fear of you and dread of you upon all the land where you will tread, as He has spoken to you." Deuteronomy 11:22-25
It was given to the descendants of Jacob, to rule this Great Land and to make it their kingdom, yet they
were told that together with them will dwell all the descendants of Abraham.
"Nations will serve you and peoples will bow down to you. You shall rule over your brethren
and your mother's children will bow down to you. Those who curse you will be cursed, and those that bless you will be blessed."
Genesis 27:29
The children of Keturah and the children of Ishmael, and later on the children of Esau could dwell in those areas of
the great land that lie outside of the Land of Canaan only, on condition that they accept Israel's sovereignty
over them, according to the Torah.
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