Keturah

Keturah (meaning incense or she who makes fragrant smoke) was the wife Abraham married after Sarah's death, by whom he had six sons: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. She is described as Abraham's wife in Genesis 25:1 and as his concubine in 1 Chronicles 1:32, a difference that may reflect her subordinate legal status relative to Sarah or a later tradition distinguishing her from Abraham's primary wife.

Through her sons Abraham became the ancestor of numerous Arabian and Midianite peoples. Midian, her fourth son, became the ancestor of the Midianites—the tribe of Moses's father-in-law and the nation that later oppressed Israel in Gideon's time. Jokshan's son Sheba gave his name to the Sabaean people of southern Arabia, from whom the Queen of Sheba came. Abraham gave gifts to all his sons by Keturah and sent them east, away from Isaac, to whom he gave everything he had (Genesis 25:5–6). Keturah's sons thus represent the broader Semitic family radiating outward from the Abrahamic center, with Isaac as the chosen line of promise.