Глава 25

Gen. 25:1–6. “And Abraham took a wife again, and her name was Keturah. And she bore him Zamram, Ieskan, Madan, Midian, Iesbok and Sue. Ieskan gave birth to Saba and Dadan. The sons of Dadan were Asurim, Latusim, Aaomim. The sons of Midian were Jethar, Apher, Enoch, Abida and Aledea. They are all sons of Keturah. And Abraham gave everything that he had to Isaac, and he gave gifts to the sons of the concubines that he had and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he was still alive, to the East, to the eastern land.” Keturah in Hebrew means “bound” or “joined.” For this reason, the Jews make the proposal that Keturah is the same Hagar who changed her name. After Sarah's death, she became a wife from a concubine. And, perhaps, the age of the already decrepit Abraham removes from the old man the suspicion that after the death of his old wife he decided to entertain himself with a new marriage. But, leaving the vague, I will only say that the sons of Abraham, born of Keturah, according to the writers of the history of the Jews, occupied Τρωγλοδύτην and Arabia, which is now called Εὐδαίμων, right up to the borders of the Red Sea. Moreover, they say that one of the descendants of Abraham, whose name was Apher, led an army against Libya and settled there after defeating his enemies. And his descendants gave the name to Africa after their ancestor. Witnesses to this are Alexander, called Polyhistor, and Cleodemus, called Malchus, who retold the history of the barbarians in Greek. And regarding the words of Scripture: “The sons of Dadan were Asurim, Latusim and Laomim,” there is an opinion that Asurim is translated as “traders,” Latusim is “smiths of copper and iron metals,” and Laomim is ϕύλαρχοι, that is, “the ancestors of many tribes and peoples.” Others, on the basis of this verse, argue that the name Asurim belongs to the Syrians, and most of the sons of Abraham from Keturah settled the regions of India. Gen.25:8. “And Abraham died in a good old age, aged and full, and was gathered to his people.” Not good Seventy interpreters added “and Abraham grew weak and died,” since it was not fitting for Abraham to become weak or weakened. Also, in place of the words “in a good old age, aged and filled” in the Greek books there is “filled with days.” Although this insertion seems to clarify the meaning of the expression with the additional remark that Abraham slept filled with “life and the affairs of days,” the simple reading “filled” is more useful for ἀναγωγή (revealing the spiritual content). Gen. 25:13–18. “And these are the names of the sons of Ishmael, according to their names and according to their genealogy. Ishmael’s firstborn was Nebaioth, then Kedar...” and the remaining sons, mentioned up to the point where it is said: “They lived from Havilah to Sur, which is before Egypt, as you go to Assyria. In the face of all his brothers he fell." Twelve sons are born to Ishmael, of whom Nebaioth was the firstborn. After his name, the entire region from the Euphrates to the Red Sea is still called Nawathea (this is part of Arabia), because the families of the inhabitants of this region, their cities, villages, small fortresses and their tribes are widely known by this name. From one of the sons of Ishmael it received its name Kedar in the desert, from another - Duma in another region, from the third - Thema in the south and from the fourth - Kedma on the eastern side. And what we read at the end of this verse, according to the translation of the Seventy, “in the face of all his brothers he lived,” would be more correct as we translated it: “in the face of all his brothers he rested.” This means that Ishmael died in the arms of all his sons, that is, his children outlived their father, and none of them were snatched away by death before him. They can call them brothers instead of sons. Jacob also shows this to Laban when he says: “What is my sin that you should pursue me and search all my things? What did you find out of all the things in your house? Let it be set before my brothers and your brothers, and let them judge between us” (Gen. 31:36-37). After all, let us not assume that Jacob had other brothers besides his children, as Scripture relates. Gen.25:21–22. “And Rebekah his wife conceived; and her children moved inside her." Instead of “moved,” the Seventy Interpreters put ἐσκίρτων, that is, “played, kicked.” Aquila translated this as “the sons smashed each other in her womb,” and Symmachus translated it as διέπλεον, that is, “they rushed like a ship on the surface of the water.” Gen.25:25. “And the first one came out all red, like a skin, hairy.” Where we put “hairy,” the Hebrew text says seir (שֵׂעָ ֑ ר). Therefore Esau, as we think elsewhere, is called Seir, that is, “hairy.” Gen.25:30. “And Esau said to Jacob, “Give me a taste of this red boiled food, for I am hungry.” Therefore it was called by the name Edom." "Red" or "red-haired" in Hebrew is edom (אדם). Thus, because Esau sold his birthright for red food, he received the name Edom, that is, “red.”