1 Abraham married another wife, whose name was Keturah. 2 She gave birth to Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 3 Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. Dedan’s descendants were the Asshurites, Letushites, and Leummites. 4 Midian’s sons were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Eldaah. These were all descendants of Abraham through Keturah.
5 Abraham gave everything he owned to his son Isaac. 6 But before he died, he gave gifts to the sons of his concubines and sent them off to a land in the east, away from Isaac.
7 Abraham lived for 175 years, 8 and he died at a ripe old age, having lived a long and satisfying life. He breathed his last and joined his ancestors in death. 9 His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah, near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite. 10 This was the field Abraham had purchased from the Hittites and where he had buried his wife Sarah. 11 After Abraham’s death, God blessed his son Isaac, who settled near Beer-lahai-roi in the Negev.
Genesis 25:1-11 (NLT)
Mission accomplished
His storied life comes to an end. He’s hit 175 years. Abraham has demonstrated very clearly what it means to believe in the Lord, to put our faith in Him and fully trust Him. He is known as the father of faith. Of course, as a human, he’s had his setbacks and sins. But rising up out of and above these failures is the man of faith, standing on the promises of Almighty God.
As God’s chosen to start “the people of God”, Abraham had one unique life purpose that provided the context for much of his faith exploits. This was the birth of and raising of Isaac. Once he had accomplished this, his mission was accomplished.
Additional descendents
It’s not quite clear why Moses (the presumed writer of Genesis) included this postword about Abraham. It’s at least to explain the origins of some of the tribes that related to the Israelites later. In particular are the Midianites. Moses later married a Midianite woman and his father-in-law was known as “a priest of Midian” (Exodus 2:16) This, “indicates that the Midianites, at least during Moses’ time, still retained the knowledge of the God of their father Abraham (cf. Jethro’s words and actions in Exodus 18).” (gotquestions.org) Later, the Midianites became enemies of Israel. For more on Midian, read that article.
Blessing for Isaac
Moses makes a point of noting that, although Abraham had other descendents through his other wife and concubines, the focus of blessing was on Isaac. Isaac is the promised son. Through him, the promise of a blessing for all the nations would come.
RЯeflection
- “Even Abraham had nothing but what he had received; from the free unmerited mercy of God proceeded all his excellences; but he was a worker together with God, and therefore did not receive the grace of God in vain. Go thou, believe, love, obey, and persevere in like manner.” (clarke commentary)
