Genesis 25:1

The Death of Abraham

25:1 Abraham had taken ¹  another ²  wife, named Keturah.

Genesis 38:6

38:6 Judah acquired ³  a wife for Er his firstborn; her name was Tamar.

Genesis 16:1

The Birth of Ishmael

16:1 Now Sarai, ⁴  Abram’s wife, had not given birth to any children, ⁵  but she had an Egyptian servant ⁶  named Hagar. ⁷ 

Genesis 22:24

22:24 His concubine, whose name was Reumah, also bore him children – Tebah, Gaham, Tahash, and Maacah.

Genesis 49:31

49:31 There they buried Abraham and his wife Sarah; there they buried Isaac and his wife Rebekah; and there I buried Leah.

¹ tn Or “took.”

² tn Heb “And Abraham added and took.”

³ tn Heb “and Judah took.”

⁵ tn The disjunctive clause signals the beginning of a new episode in the story.

⁶ sn On the cultural background of the story of Sarai’s childlessness see J. Van Seters, “The Problem of Childlessness in Near Eastern Law and the Patriarchs of Israel,” JBL 87 (1968): 401-8.

⁷ tn The Hebrew term שִׁפְחָה (shifkhah, translated “servant” here and in vv. 2, 3, 5, 6, and 8) refers to a menial female servant.

⁸ sn The passage records the birth of Ishmael to Abram through an Egyptian woman. The story illustrates the limits of Abram’s faith as he tries to obtain a son through social custom. The barrenness of Sarai poses a challenge to Abram’s faith, just as the famine did in chap. 12. As in chap. 12, an Egyptian figures prominently. (Perhaps Hagar was obtained as a slave during Abram’s stay in Egypt.)