Hidden Virtue
And Avraham took another wife and her name was Keturah. (Sefer Beresheit 25:1)
I. Avraham marries Keturah.
Parshat Chaye Sarah concludes the Torah’s discussion of Avraham. At the end of the parasha, the Torah records that after the death of Sarah and the marriage of Yitzchak to Rivkah,[1] Avraham remarried. The woman’s name was Keturah. Who was this Keturah? Rashi cites the position of our Sages that she was Hagar, the mother of Yishmael.[2]
Does the name Keturah have significance? If it has meaning, what is it? The Sages maintain that the name is significant and offer two interpretations. The first is that her actions were fragrant as ketoret – incense. The second is that the name is derived from k’tar – to tie. During the years of her separation from Avraham, she tied herself or restrained herself from seeking the companionship of a different husband. She remained faithful to Avraham even while banished from his household.[3]
These comments of our Sages need further study. The Sages focus on the meaning of the name. They do not explain why the Torah does not clearly reveal that Avraham remarried Hagar but instead, assigns to her a new name. Apparently, the Torah’s intention is to communicate something to us through use of this new name. What is its message?
And Sarai said to Avram, "Behold now, Hashem has restrained me from bearing; please come to my handmaid; perhaps I will be built up from her." And Avram hearkened to Sarai's voice. (Sefer Beresheit 16:2)
II. Avraham and Hagar
To answer this question, we must review the circumstances of Avraham’s initial marriage to Hagar. Sarah, Avraham’s wife, was apparently barren. She asked Avraham to take Hagar – her servant – as a wife. She hoped that Hagar would bear children for Avraham. Hagar conceived and gave birth to Yishmael.
Avraham did not select Hagar as his wife. He did not marry her because of virtues he perceived in her. He married her in response to Sarah’s request.
III. Keturah’s virtue
This explains why the Torah refers to Avraham’s last wife as Keturah and not Hagar. Had the Torah said that Avraham remarried Hagar, the reader might reasonably conclude that he took her back because she was familiar. He was accustomed to living with Hagar. Instead, the Torah refers to her as Keturah. Avraham selected Keturah – a name that communicates her virtue.
Let’s consider further each interpretation of the name Keturah. According to one opinion, the name communicates her general virtue and righteousness. The Torah is telling us, through this name, the message discussed above. Avraham did not decide to remarry Hagar because she was familiar. He tied his life to hers because of her virtue and righteousness.
According to the other explanation, the name Keturah communicates a specific virtue. She remained faithful to Avraham even after he sent her and her son, Yishmael, away from his home. To fully appreciate Hagar’s decision to remain faithful to Avraham, we must more carefully consider two incidents in her life.
And the angel of Hashem said to her: Return to your mistress, and allow yourself to be afflicted under her hands. (Sefer Beresheit 16:9)
IV. Hagar’s submission to Sarah
After conceiving, Hagar adopted a haughty attitude toward Sarah. Her mistress, during her many years married to Avraham, did not bear a child but she immediately conceived. Hagar interpreted this as a reflection upon their respective degrees of righteousness.[4] Sarah confronted Avraham, holding him responsible for Hagar’s behavior. Avraham responded that Hagar remains her servant and she should take the action she feels appropriate to correct Hagar’s attitude and behavior. Sarah restored Hagar’s status as a servant. Hagar, who had been a mistress of the household, experienced this as oppression and fled from Avraham and Sarah.
While in flight Hagar is addressed by an angel – a messenger of Hashem. He tells her to return to Sarah and accept her status. Her descendants will be too numerous to count. She will birth a son and should name him Yismael which means “that Hashem has heard your [cries of] oppression.”
The commentators differ in their judgment of Avraham’s and Sarah’s behavior. Was Sarah’s harsh treatment of Hagar appropriate? Was it proper for Avraham to facilitate or condone Hagar’s oppression by Sarah? Rabbaynu Ovadia Sforno defends Avraham and Sarah.[5] Ramban – Nachmanides – criticizes Sarah and Avraham. He contends that Hashem responded to Hagar because of the injustice of her treatment.[6]
According to Sforno, the angel’s instructions to Hagar make sense. Hagar descendants will have an important destiny. However, she will not displace Sarah as the matriarch of Avraham’s nation. Her son will not be his heir. Hagar was directed to return to Avraham and Sarah but she must resume her servitude. She must accept Sarah’s status as Avraham’s mate.
According to Ramban, these instructions are disturbing. Sarah had treated Hagar unjustly and Avraham was wrong to not intervene. Why did Hashem instruct her to return and subject herself to further injustice?
It seems that Hashem was not directing Hagar to resume her suffering. She must return despite the injustice of her treatment. The angel told her, “Return, even though you will be unjustly treated.” Radak – who shares Ramban’s position – explains that she must endure her suffering in exchange for an invaluable benefit. She and Yishmael will be members of Avraham’s household.
Hagar accepts Hashem’s counsel. She returns to Avraham and Sarah. She accepts her destiny.
What does this reveal about Hagar? She was told that she would be a servant in Avraham’s household. Her descendants would not be chosen to create the nation of Avraham. She returned to Avraham and Sarah, resumed the role of a servant, willingly endured her suffering, and accepted the destiny of her descendants. She did this because she recognized the truth of Hashem’s words. She would benefit herself and son more as a servant in Avraham’s household than as a free-woman among pagan idolaters.
And Avraham arose early in the morning, and he took bread and a leather pouch of water, and he gave [them] to Hagar, he placed [them] on her shoulder, and the child, and he sent her away; and she went and wandered in the desert of Be’er Sheva. (Sefer Beresheit 21:14)
V. Hagar’s banishment
Hagar returned to Avraham and Sarah. She gave birth to Yishmael. Sarah finally conceived and Yitzchak was born. Sarah was troubled by Yishmael’s behavior. The Torah does not record her exact observations. Rashi cites two opinions. One view is that she recognized that Yishmael disputed Yitzchak’s status as Avraham’s primary heir. He felt that as first born he was entitled to this status. Another view is that Sarah observed him engaged in unacceptable behaviors.[7] She needed to protect her son from Yishmael’s influence.
Sarah urged Avraham to remove Yishmael and Hagar from their household. Avraham hesitated but Hashem directed him to abide by Sarah’s wise counsel. Avraham sent away Hagar and Yishmael. Hagar and Yishmael left their home. They wandered in the wilderness and exhausted their supply of water. Hagar hopelessly awaited the death of her son, when an angel spoke to her. He assured her that Yishmael would survive their journey; he would be the father of a great nation, and the angel directed her to water.
VI. Hagar’s return
What does this incident reveal about Hagar? She had returned to Avraham’s home to endure the humiliation of servitude. She surrendered to her suffering so that she might secure for herself and her son the benefits of being members of Avraham’s household. After making terrible sacrifices, she was banished from Avraham’s home. One can imagine her anguish and anger. Hagar’s experience of her banishment is expressed in a comment of Rashi. He says that after her rejection, she returned to the idolatry of her father.[8]
The meaning of this comment is evident only when it is considered in its larger context. Rashi describes Hagar as a person of great virtue and faithfulness. These qualities led to her reunion with Avraham. Avraham would not have remarried Hagar if she were an idolater. Rashi does not mean that Hagar actually returned to idolatry. He is describing her reaction to banishment. As she and her son wandered in the wilderness, homeless and rejected, her commitment to the teachings of Avraham faltered. She was tempted to abandon Avraham’s faith and resume the life of a pagan. But, as Rashi’s subsequent comments reveal, she did not follow this impulse. She did not revert to idolatry. She remained committed to the teachings of Avraham. She practiced kindness and charity. And she remained faithful to Avraham – unwilling to become a member of a lesser person’s household.
Who was Keturah? What was her great virtue? She accepted servitude and endured suffering. She acknowledged that her beloved son would not be Avraham’s heir. She was rejected and banished from the home she loved and for which she made horribly painful sacrifices. Despite these many trails, she remained committed to the truths she learned from Avraham.
VII. Lessons from Hagar
Hagar is a minor character in the Torah. With his comments on the name Keturah, Rashi brings Hagar’s story to a conclusion, ties together its assorted chapters, and brings to our attention her virtue and righteousness.
We are each confronted with challenges to our commitment to the Torah and observance. We experience disappointments we feel we do not deserve. We endure injustices. We make sacrifices that seem unrequited. Sometimes we wonder, where is the reward for our good deeds, the mitzvot we perform, for our faithfulness to the Torah. What counsel would Keturah offer us?
[1] The marriage of Avraham appears in the Torah’s narrative after the marriage of Yitzchak and Rivkah. Narrative order does not always represent actual chronology. However, Chizkuni 25:2, based upon the midrash, explains that in this instance the narrative order is consistent with the chronology.
[2] In Midrash Rabbah 61:4 this issue is debated. Rabbayu Avraham ibn Ezra rejects the opinion that Keturah was Hagar.
[3] Midrash Rabba Sefer Beresheit 61:4. The Midrash presents these explanations of her name as alternatives. Rashi combines them into a single explanation of the name.
[4] Rabbaynu Shlomo ben Yitzchak (Rashi), Commentary on Sefer Beresheit 16:4.
[5] Rabbaynu Ovadia Sforno, Commentary on Sefer Beresheit 16:7 & 9.
[6] Rabbaynu Moshe ben Nachman (Ramban / Nachmanides), Commentary on Sefer Beresheit 16:6.
[7] Rabbaynu Shlomo ben Yitzchak (Rashi), Commentary on Sefer Beresheit 21:9.
[8] Rabbaynu Shlomo ben Yitzchak (Rashi), Commentary on Sefer Beresheit 21:14.