Kettner, Fuiedricii Ernst, a German theologian, was liiirn at Leipzig .Ian. 21, 1671, and educated at the imivcrsity of that ]ilace. He was licensed in 1697, and became shortly after superintendent in Qne(Ilinburg,and first court preacher. He died July 21, 1722. His writ- ings are mainly confined to local Church History. — All- gemeines /list. Lex. iii, 22.
Ketu'rah {Heh. Keturah', fi'^^'.Z'^, girdled, other- wise incense ; Sept. Xf rro/'fjo), " the second wife, or, aa she is caUed in 1 Chron. i, 32, the concubine of Abra-
KEUCHENIUS
59
KEY
ham ; by her he had six sons, whom he lived to see grow to man's estate, and whom he estabHslied ' in the east countrj',' that they might not interfere with Isaac (Gen. XXV, 1-G). B.C. cir. l'J'J7 et post. As Abraham was 100 years old when Isaac was born, who was given to him by the special bounty of Providence when ' he was as good as dead' (Heb. xi, 12) ; as he was 140 years old when Sarah died ; and as lie himself died at the age of 175 years, it has seemed improbable that these six sons should have been born to Abraham by one woman after he was 140 years old, and that he should have seen them all grow up to adult age, and have sent them forth to form independent settlements in tliat l^st and feeble period of his life. It has therefore been suggested that, as Keturah is called Abraham's ' concubine' in Chroni- cles, and as she and Hagar are probably indicated as his ' concubines' in Gen. xxv, G, Keturah had in fact been talieu by Abraham as his secondary or concubine wife before the death of Sarah, although the liistorian relates the incident after that event, that his leading narrative might not be interrupted. According to the standard of morality then acknowledged, Abraham might quite as properly have taken Keturah before as after Sarah's death" (Kitto) ; althougli, it is true, this would hardly have been in keeping with his usual regard for Sarah's feelings, and would have been likely to introduce into the family another scene of discord such as he had seen with Hagar. In opposition to these and similar argu- ments, however, which are maintained by Prof. Bush (A'o/e on Gen. xxv, 1), Dr. Turner justly lu-ges (Com- 2utnion to Geiiesis, p. 293 sq.) the evident order of the narrative, the occasion offered by the death of Sarah, wliich preceded Abraham's demise thirty-six \-ears, and the emphatic manner in which Keturah is introduced as a fidl ^cij'e, with lawful heirs, although of less esteem than Sarah. As to the objection drawn from the impo- tence of Abraham in consequence of advanced age, it is readily removed by the implied renewal of his vigor at the promise of an heir by Sarah (compare Ilcb. xi, 11) ; and, if sound, it would prove too much, for it would re- quire the birth of all the six sons bj- Keturah to be dated before that of Isaac. Sec Abkahaji.
On tlie Arabian affinities of Keturah, see the Journal Aniutique, Aug. 1838, p. 197 sq. '" Her sons Avere ' Zim- ran, and Jokshan, and Jlcdan, and Jlidian, and Ishbak, and Shuah' (Gen. xxv, 2) ; besides tlie sons and grand- sons of Jokshan, and the sons of Midian. They evi- dently crossed the desert to tlie Persian Gulf, and occu- pied the whole intermediate country, where traces of their names are frequent, while Midian extended south into the peninsida of Araljia I'roper. In searching the works of Arab writers for any information respecting these tribes, we must be contented to find tlicm named as Abrahamic, or even Ishmaelitish, for under the latter appellation almost all the former are confounded by their descendants. Keturah herself is by them mentioned xcry rarely and vaguely, and evidently only in quoting from a rabbinical writer. (In the Kdnn'is the name is said to be that of the Turks, and that of a young girl [or slave] of Abraham ; and, it is added, lier descendants are the Turks!) jNI. Caussin de Perceval {Essai. i, 179) has enileavored to identify her witli the name of a tribe of the AmaleUites (the 1st Amalek) called Katihri, but his arguments are not of any weight. They rest on a weak etymology, and are contradicted by the statements of Arab authors, as well as by the fact tliat the early tribes of Arabia (of wliich is Katura) have not, with the single exception of Amalek, been identified with any historical names; while the exception of Amalek is that of an apparently aboriginal people whose name is re- corded in the Bible ; and there are reasons for supposing that these early tribes were aboriginal" (Smith). See
AlSAI'.IA.
Keuchenius, Pktrus, a learned Dutch theologian, was born at Bois-le-Duc August 22, 1654, and studied at Leyden and Utreclit. He was successively minister at Alem, Tiel, and Arnheim. He died ]\Iarch 27, 1G89. He
wrote A nnotata in omnes A\ T. lihros, the second and only complete edition of which, superintended by Al- berti, appeared at Leyden in 1755. " The author's aim in these annotations is to throw light on the N. Test, by determining the sense in which -words and phrases were used at the time it was written, and among those with whom its writers were famihar. For this purpose he compares the language of the N. Test, with that of the Septuagint, and calls in aid'from the Chaldee and Syriac versions. His notes are characterized by sound learn- ing and great good sense. Alberti commends in strong terms his erudition, his candor, solidity, and impartial- ity."— Kitto's Bihlicul Cijdop(ediu, ii, 729.