How many wives did Abraham have?
Scripture names three women joined to Abraham: Sarah, Hagar and Keturah — yet the titles the Bible gives them are not identical, and one verse even speaks of his "concubines" in the plural. So the honest answer is three named women, with only one of them holding the place of wife in the full sense.
Sarah, the Wife of the Promise
Sarah is Abraham's wife from the start of his story to her death. God marked her out by changing her name, and one writer draws out what the change meant:
L. M. GrantGod does not only change Abraham's name, however, but tells him that Sarai's name is to be changed to Sarah. Sarai means "my princess," as being Abraham's property, but Sarah means "the princess," giving her the wider honour of being "a mother of nations."
Hagar, Taken When Patience Ran Out
Hagar was Sarah's Egyptian servant, and Genesis 16:3 does call her Abraham's wife. But the writers trace her entry to a failure, not to God's direction:
A. J. PollockIt is interesting to note in passing that it is as relating to Abraham the numeral ten is first mentioned in Scripture. It was after Abraham had dwelt ten years in Canaan that his faith broke down, and he tried to gain the fulfilment of God's promise that in his seed the earth should be blessed, by taking Hagar, the Egyptian, as his wife (Gen. 16:3).
The very wording that made Hagar a wife also defeated Sarah's plan, since a wife's son belongs to his own mother:
L. M. GrantSarai should surely have realized that a child born in this way would not be hers at all… In fact, her giving her maid to Abram is expressed in verse 3 as giving her to Abram "as his wife." Therefore the child could not possibly belong to Sarai.
Keturah, the Third Name
Genesis 25 opens with Abraham taking Keturah, who bore him six sons. An old Jewish tradition tried to reduce the count by saying Keturah was simply Hagar under another name; that is set aside, and the difference of rank is explained:
William KellyThe Jewish tradition which identifies Keturah with Hagar is not only without proof but set aside by verse 6, which speaks of "the sons of the concubines whom Abraham had"; and as Hagar was one, so Keturah was the other — not, as I think, to imply that she filled this relation during any part of Sarah's lifetime, but rather to affirm her inferiority of place. Keturah is expressly called Abraham's "concubine" in 1 Chronicles 1:32, while Hagar, on the other hand, is styled his "wife" in Genesis 16:3.
Wife or Concubine — and When
Commentators differ on the timing. Kelly holds that Keturah came only after Sarah died; others allow the marriage may have happened earlier and be recorded out of order. One suggestion holds the two titles together:
H. B. CoderNote: Gen. 25:6 speaks of concubines that Abraham had, and 1 Chron. 1:32 calls Keturah "Abraham's concubine." It may be that her sons were born before Abraham lost the power to father children, and that on the death of Sarah — who alone had the station of wife during her lifetime — Abraham raised Keturah, his concubine, to this place of higher standing.
Why the Count Surprises Us
Most readers know only Ishmael and Isaac, and are startled to find six more sons. One writer uses this to warn against assuming a Bible list is complete:
J. N. DarbyThus, if we had not Genesis 25, all Scripture would have led us to suppose that Ishmael and Isaac were all the sons Abraham had. Here we see he had six sons more when he was quite an old man, and nations sprang from them.
Three Families, Three Circles of Blessing
The three households are not merely a domestic tangle. They are read as a picture of how far God's blessing reaches:
H. B. CoderPolygamy was widespread everywhere then. Yet in the light of the circumstances surrounding Hagar and Ishmael, we incline to the thought that Sarah was the only wife during her lifetime… In Abraham's three families is seen the range of God's blessing. Ishmael, the slave woman's son, represents the people of God linked with the Jerusalem on earth; Isaac, the free woman's son, represents those linked with the Jerusalem above; the sons of Keturah represent the saved nations of the Gentiles blessed through the millennial reign of Christ.
Summary
- Three names. Sarah, Hagar and Keturah are the three women Scripture links to Abraham — but Genesis 25:6 speaks of "concubines," so the household was wider than three sons' mothers.
- One princess. Sarah alone carried the full rank of wife; her new name means "the princess," and she was to be "a mother of nations."
- One impatience. Hagar became a wife because faith broke down after ten years of waiting, and the very title that made her a wife meant her son could never be Sarah's.
- One late gift. Keturah, called a wife in Genesis and a concubine in 1 Chronicles, bore six more sons; commentators differ on whether this happened before or after Sarah's death.
- One widening blessing. The three families sketch God's reach — Ishmael for the earthly people, Isaac for the heavenly, Keturah's sons for the nations — with Isaac still the heir of all.