Perhaps the most enigmatic of all the descendants of Abraham are the Sons of Keturah. Their names are recorded in Genesis 25:2-4 and 1Chronicles 1:32-33.

Genesis 25:1-4 Abraham took another wife, whose name was Ketu'rah. ²She bore him Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Mid'ian, Ishbak, and Shuah. ³Jokshan was the father of Sheba and Dedan. The sons of Dedan were Asshu'rim, Letu'shim, and Le-um'mim. ⁴The sons of Mid'ian were Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abi'da, and Elda'ah. All these were the children of Ketu'rah. (RSV)

The six sons were probably born in the first half of the 1800s BCE. The identities of their descendants down to the present day have largely remained a mystery, however, there are some clues in the historical records. Surah 11:95 in the Qur’an says that one of the sons, Midian, was “removed from sight” – perhaps until these Last Days. Midian was the most notable son, in that his descendants are mentioned more often in the Bible, the Qur’an and in secular records than any of his brothers’ descendants. Hence, more will be written about Midian and the tribes descended from him. The basis is that Midian was the tribe of the father-in-law of Moses and thus closest to Israel in importance and location.

The Surahs of the Qur’an, written about four years before the Hijrah, deal with the concept of the revelation of God through the prophets.

Surah 10 titled “Jonah” draws its name from the reference to the people that Jonah witnessed to and who believed (S. 10:99). The next Surah deals with the transmission of prophecy through the Arab prophets and also through the sons of Keturah in Midian. The Surah 11, “Hud”, refers to the Arabian prophet Hud not mentioned in the Bible. He was of the tribe of A’ad. The Surah also mentions two other prophets, Salih of the tribe of Thamud, and Shu’eyb of Midian, who Pickthall says is identified with Jethro. Both Surahs then devolve authority on Moses and Aaron.

If Shu’eyb is indeed Jethro, the Qur’an is explaining further the transfer of the transfer of

authority of the Scriptures to Israel through Moses and Aaron. The Tribe of Midian was used to effect that process through Moses’ sojourn in Midian and the preparation for the Exodus. Midian is then shown as being removed after a catastrophe that befell the unjust, saving only Shu’eyb and those who followed him. In other words, only the faithful were saved at that time. The Arabs, however, were continually paganised for millennia.

We will deal more with Jethro below.

Keturah

Keturah is one of the most evocative names in the Bible. It means perfumed or incense (SHD 6989), and brings to mind the burning aroma of the sacrifices and the incense smoke that ascended as a sweet offering to the Lord. The word qetorah (SHD 6988, from 6989), found only in Deuteronomy 33:10, also means smoke of sacrifice or incense. The Arabic name for Keturah is Saffurah, who was described as a Kushiyat (i.e. a Cushite, as with Moses’ wife in Num. 12:1, RSV).

Some commentaries, including rabbinic literature, claim that Keturah is simply another name for Hagar, the concubine/wife of Abraham and mother of Ishmael.

However, the two women and their various offspring are mentioned quite separately on several occasions – in Genesis 25:6, for example. Here Hagar and Keturah are each referred to as concubine, namely piylegesh (SHD 6370). Messrs E. Hirsch and M. Seligsohn, in their article on Keturah in the Jewish Encyclopedia, dismiss the idea of her being synonymous with Hagar.

Still it seems that such was not the opinion of the Talmudic doctors; for the children of Ishmael and the children of Keturah are kept distinct in the story of their complaints against the Jews before Alexander the Macedonian (Sanh. 91a).E. G. H. M. Sel.

It appears also that Abraham married Keturah about 65 years after taking Hagar as concubine. Traditionally the Temple records also claim that Keturah was descended from Japheth. Thus the reference to Kushite must refer to the robber tribes that inhabited the area of Babylonia, some of whom were Medes and sons of Japheth rather than the sons of Cush (see below).

The Yakult Midrash makes a not unreasonable assertion concerning all three wives of Abraham.

Abraham married three wives – Sarah, a daughter of Shem; Keturah, a daughter of Japheth; and Hagar, a daughter of Ham. (ibid., chpt. 8)

J.A. Selbie in A Dictionary of the Bible (James Hastings, publ. by T & T Clark, Edin., 1899) adds this comment on the sons of Keturah:

From the meaning of the name Keturah, ‘frankincense’, Sprenger [in Geog. Arab. 295] suggests that the ‘sons of Keturah’ were so named because the author of Gn. 25 1ff. knew them as traders in that commodity.

According to Selbie, Arab genealogists maintain there was a tribe called Katura living in the neighbourhood of Mecca. Herodotus (ca. 490-425 BCE) stated that: “Arabia is the last of inhabited lands towards the south, and it is the only country which produces frankincense, myrrh, cassia, cinnamon, and ledanum” (Histories, III, 107), and adds: “Concerning the spices of Arabia let no more be said. The whole country is scented with them, and exhales an odour marvellously sweet” (ibid., 113).

Frankincense (lebonah: SHD 3828) was found almost exclusively in Arabia. The prophet Jeremiah mentions incense coming from Sheba (Jer. 6:20).

It was one of the four ingredients of the specially prepared holy incense (Ex. 30:34) used in both the Tabernacle and the Temple (cf. Lk. 1:9-10).

Frankincense was also uniquely used with the sacrifice offerings along with fine flour and oil (Lev. 2:1-2), but its use was forbidden with sin offerings (Lev. 5:11) or jealousy offerings (Num. 5:15). It was to be burned for a memorial, an offering made by fire on the two piles of 6 loaves each of unleavened bread upon the ‘pure’ table within the Tabernacle and the Temple (Lev. 24:5-7).

Myrrh is often referred to in conjunction with frankincense, and is associated with both the birth and death of Messiah (see Mat. 2:11; Mk. 15:23; Jn. 19:39-40).

Song of Solomon 3:6 What is that coming up from the wilderness, like a column of smoke, perfumed with myrrh and frankincense, with all the fragrant powders of the merchant? (RSV)

Psalm 45:7b-8 Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your fellows; ⁸your robes are all fragrant with myrrh and aloes and cassia. (RSV)

This refers to the normal custom in the East of perfuming a bridegroom; in this particular case, the Messiah has been anointed above his fellow elohim. We see also in Nehemiah 13:5 that frankincense was considered one of the Temple treasures.

Sons of Abraham by Keturah

In Chronicles 1, Keturah is referred to as Abraham’s concubine, meaning a woman taken for the purpose of bearing sons. She is later referred to as a wife showing a change in status (cf. Gen. 25:1). She obviously became Abraham’s second wife perhaps on the death of Sarah, but it may have been beforehand.

1Chronicles 1:32-33 The sons of Ketu'rah, Abraham's concubine: she bore Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Mid'ian, Ishbak, and Shu'ah. The sons of Jokshan: Sheba and Dedan. ³³The sons of Mid'ian: Ephah, Epher, Hanoch, Abida, and Elda'ah. All these were the descendants of Ketu'rah. (RSV)

The sons of Keturah came to be organised into a sub-group of six tribes, a major element of which was Midian that occupied the east and south of the area of Palestine. This view was adopted as fact by the Hebrews and we may thus take it as reasonably certain (see Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, art. “Keturah’, Vol. 3, p. 8).

Zimran

Zimran was the first son of Abraham by Keturah; his name means musical or musician (SHD 2175). The main city occupied by Zimran and his descendants was called Zabram, supposedly located west of Mecca. It is thought to be the same as the Zimri of Jeremiah 25:25. It is mentioned by Jeremiah for destruction along with Elam and the kings of the Medes. Thus we are dealing with the destruction of the Saudi Arabian coastlands. Jeremiah 25 deals with the entire destruction of the Middle East commencing with Jerusalem and the princes of Judah to make them a hissing and a curse and from there on to Egypt and all the Middle East, nation by nation. We will examine this aspect separately.

Hastings’ Dictionary says of the place name Zimran:

Possibly Knobel is right in connecting it with Zabram of Ptolemy (VI.vii.5), W. of Mecca, on the Red Sea. We may perhaps compare also ZIMRI of Jer 25²⁵. The name is derived from zemer, ‘mountain-sheep or -goat,’ this animal having doubtless been the totem of the clan. (p. 982)

We can see that the sons of Keturah moved into the Arabian peninsular before Israel even went into Egypt, and some remained there at least until Jeremiah.

Jokshan

He was the second-born son, whose name can mean snarer (BDB), hence by implication a birdcatcher; alternatively, insidious (Strong: SHD 3370).

Hastings’ Dictionary thinks it is quite plausible that Jokshan is identical with Joktan (see Tuch): “The two forms might represent respectively the Hebrew and the Aramaic pronunciation of the same word …” (ibid., p. 743). However, this is biblically impossible and Cohen finds the equation phonetically difficult. He does however identify him as the father of Sheba and Dedan (Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, art. ‘Jokshan’, Vol. 2, p. 963).

Joktan was the brother of Peleg and the Hebrews descended from him moved much further abroad. The error, however, may explain another link made between two areas, one in Arabia and the other in the Hindu Cush (see the paper Sons of Shem: Part I (No. 212A)).

On Cohen’s analysis Jokshan may also be the person called Kahtan or Qahtan by the Arabs. Jokshan produced two sons, Sheba and Dedan (Gen. 25:2-3; 1Chr. 1:32), and the tribes from these brothers settled in northern Arabia.

Another Sheba and Dedan are mentioned together in Ezekiel 27; however, these are of a different lineage, being the sons of Raamah (cf. v. 22) who was a son of Cush.

The major Arab tribes are the Qahtan Arabs who came from the Yemen. They are not Ishmaelites. They are the sons of Ya’rub bin Yashjub bin Qahtan. They regard themselves as pure Arabs, while the sons of Ishmael are called Arabized Arabs. These Arabized Arabs are the progeny of Ishmael and are regarded as being adopted into the progeny of the pure Arabs and these Ishmaelites from Northwest Arabia are called ‘Adnanian Arabs.

Sheba and Dedan

The second son of Keturah by Abraham, Jokshan, had two sons Sheba and Dedan, as mentioned previously. Dedan is recorded as being the progenitor of the Asshurim, the Letushim and the Leummim (Gen. 25:3).

Confusion can arise with several of these names. For instance: although the term Asshurim here is related to Asshur (SHD 804), it refers to a different people from the Assyrians (also 804), who were descendants of Asshur son of Shem. Similarly, Sheba was the name given generations earlier to one of thirteen sons of Joktan, son of Eber (from whom the Hebrews are named).

Asshurim (SHD 805) means steps in the sense of taking steps to go somewhere. In later Jewish literature the Asshurim are described as ‘travelling merchants’.

Letushim (SHD 3912) means hammered or oppressed (Strong), directly related to a word (3913) meaning to sharpen, hammer, whet (BDB), that is, the Letushim were occupied in the sharpening of cutlery and weaponry.

Leummim (SHD 3817) means peoples or communities, from a root word meaning to gather. In later Jewish writings the Leummim are described as the ‘chief of those who inhabit the isles’, perhaps alluding to the Greek islands.

This would also help to further explain the two major Semitic Haplogroups of the Greeks being J and I with the later major haplogroup being the Hamitic E3b from North African occupation there. These sons of Keturah may be the Laconian Greeks or Spartans although they did not inhabit the islands rather the mainland. Thus two branches of the sons of Keturah may be involved in Greece.

We see with the Asshurim and Letushim that they are travellers, merchants and tinkers, all terms which could be applied to the modern-day Roma[ny] people or Gypsies. The Gypsies, however, cannot be tied to the sons of Keturah, although we can demonstrate their Semitic origin (see the paper Sons of Shem: Part I (No. 212A)).

Origin of the Name Arab

These sons of Keturah who were to become the Pure Arabs were divided into many tribes, but the ones we know as the main two lineages of the sons of Ya’rub or the Arab sons of Jokshan were:

1. Himyar of whom the most famous septs were: Zaid Al-Jamhur, Quda’a and Sakasic.

2. Kahlan whose most famous septs were: Hamdan, Anmar, Tai’, Mudhhij, Kinda, Lakhm, Judham, Azd, Aws, Khazraj, and those who became the kings of old Syria, namely the descendants of Jafna.

A tribe of the Himyar called the Quda’a moved from the Yemen and on to the Samawa semi-desert on the borders of Iraq.

Kahlan septs emigrated from the Yemen into the different parts of the Arabian peninsular prior to the breach of the Ma’rib Dam, which is referred to as the Great Flood (Sail Al’’Arim). The area of the Queen of Sheba in Southwest Arabia in that part of the Yemen was very rich while the dam there was operational. Its gates are still there today, with the nearby town buildings in varying states of decomposition. The last repairs to the dam wall were built from part of the town buildings. This shows that the city and area was in decline even then. The dam was built ca. 600 BCE and collapsed ca. 600 CE, by which time it and the culture there were no longer of importance. During its rule from before the Kingdom of Israel until the Romans suppressed its influence, it also controlled the land across the Red Sea in the Horn of Africa and that accounts for the extension of the legends of Sheba into Africa.

Joskshan was the father of Sheba and his lands were centred on the area and his people built that dam.

These Kahlan septs were forced to relocate because of Roman occupation of Egypt and Syria and the disruption of the long-standing trade routes under Roman pressure.

We will now divide the Kahlan septs into four groups:

1. Azd

2. Lakhm and Judham

3. Banu Tai’

4. Kinda

The Azd, under the leadership of ‘Imran bin ‘Amr Muzaiqb (ca. 146), wandered in the Yemen and after despatching pioneer scouts moved north. This immigration broke into four main sections.

The first section under Tha’labah bin ‘Amr moved to Hijaz and lived between Tha’labiyah and Dhi Qar. On gaining strength he headed for Madinah (Medina) where he remained and his descendant Haritha bin Tha’labah had two sons, Aws and Khazraj, who were famous at Madinah.

The second section or group was headed by the son of ‘Amr named Halitha bin’Amr, but known as Khuza’a. He wandered with his people in Hijaz and settled in Mar Az-Zahran subsequently conquering the Harram and, after driving the original occupants of Makkah, the tribe of Jurhum, then settled in Makkah (Mecca).

Of the other two groups the one under Jafna bin’Amr went to Syria where he established the Kingdom of Ghassan, which was named for a spring of water in Hijaz where they had stopped for a time.

The fourth group under ‘Imran bin ‘Amr went to ‘Oman where the tribe of the Azd became entrenched and the descendants inhabited Tihama and became known as Azd of Shanu’a. Thus the major section of the inhabitants of Mecca and Medina and Oman and the rulers of Syria are all of the sept of the Azd of the sons of Jokshan, son of Abraham by Keturah.

Of the second major group Lakhm and Judham, we see the kings of Heerah established by Nasr bin Rabi’a, father of Manadhira.

The Banu Tai’ also moved north to the Aja and Salma mountains, which were subsequently renamed the Tai’ mountains.

The fourth group, the Kinda, dwelt in Bahrain until they were expelled to Hadramout and Najd, from where the tribe faded into oblivion.

These are the sons of Jokshan from whom the Arabs are named.

Early Arabs

The earliest Arabs are called the Perishing Arabs of whose history little is known. These were ‘Ad, Thamasam, Jadis, Emlaq, and others.

The sons of Keturah fit into this amalgam and are perhaps often misclassed as sons of Ishmael or as sons of Ya’rub bin Yashub, bin Qahtan. Some are certainly from the other sons of Keturah but draw their names from this founder of the Arabs who are named for him (see also the table to the paper Descendants of Abraham Part III: Ishmael (No. 212C)).

Thus the Perishing Arabs are older and from less successful tribes and even from the Canaanites that are also mislabelled Kushites. The Palestinians, for example, are not all the same people and are comprised of at least three groups of genetic diversity. The same holds true for the Lebanese who are also K2 descendants of Japhethite Tarshish seamen, the allies of the Phoenicians of Tyre and Sidon. The Pure Arabs we now know as Qahtanian Arabs are from the grandson of Jokshan, son of Keturah, son of Abraham. The prophecy of Ishmael breaking free of his brethren has a new meaning. Ishmael is subject to the sons of Keturah who form the ruling class of the Arabs and will be liberated when Messiah comes.

Famous Arab families of the Qahtanite groups can be recognised by the surnames such as: Alqahtani, Alharbi, Alzahrani, Alghamedey, Aws and Khazraj (Alansari or Ansar), Aldosari, Alkhoza’a, Morra, Alojman and so on.

These sons of Keturah did not speak the early forms of Arabic such as East Aramaic. Instead they spoke the South Semitic languages such as Sabaic (from Sheba), Minaic, Qatabanic and Hadramatic (cf. article ‘Arab’ on Wikipedia).

Other groups that reject the label Arab are the Berbers of North Africa and many branches of the Lebanese and the Egyptians, both Muslims and Copts. Likewise, Kurds do not define themselves as Arabs. However, some Berbers might also call themselves “Arabs.”

In medieval times ibn Kaldun defined as Arab only the nomadic Bedouin that can trace themselves to one of the original tribes, such as the Saudi Arabians and those in the modern Gulf States. He contrasted this with the urban lifestyles where people were likely to be of Arabized descent. Such distinction is still widely used.

On its formation in 1946 the Arab League defined an “Arab” as follows:

“An Arab is a person whose language is Arabic, who lives in an Arabic speaking country, who is in sympathy with the aspirations of the Arabic speaking peoples”.

Our job is to unravel this broad-brush picture and trace the origins of the people.

Religions

Before the coming of Islam the Arabs were crossed between paganised Arabs and Christianised Arabs. Islam is itself a version of Unitarian Christianity and the founders of Islam were Christians (see the Introduction to the Commentary on the Koran (QI)).

The most prominent Christian kingdoms were found among the sons of Keturah in the Ghassanid and Lakhmid Kingdoms.

Some individuals such as the hanifs had adopted a monotheism and rejected the polytheism of the paganised Arabs. These pagans worshipped a number of deities such as Hubal, Wadd, Al-lat, Manat and Uzza. Many were Nestorians. And the prophet ‘Muhammed’ was a baptised Christian of one sect where he was referred to as Abu Qasim before he was baptised into the Unitarian faith of the Churches of God.

Modern Muslims are broken into Sunni, Shiite, Ibadhite, Alawite, Ismaili. Some consider the Druze as a Muslim sect; others do not.

Modern Christian Arabs are Coptic, Maronite, Greek Orthodox, or Greek Catholic. The Unitarian faith became absorbed into Islam. Nestorianism disappeared.

Some Arabs are also Jews.

In the late 4^th century the Himyarite kings were converted to Judaism and their vassals, the Kindites, also converted to Judaism. There is a large section of J1 YDNA Haplotypes among both Arabs and Jews.

Sunni Islam dominates completely in North Africa while Shi’a Islam is prevalent in Bahrain, southern Iraq and southern Iran and adjacent parts of Saudi Arabia, southern Lebanon, parts of Syria, northern Yemen and the Al-Batinah region of Oman.

Christians make up some 9.2% of the population of the Near East and 39% of Lebanon and 10 to 15% of Syria. Christians comprise roughly 10% of the Arab Israeli population and 6% of the Egyptian population.

Two thirds of Arabs who migrate to the Americas and Australia are Christians.

Until the pro-Nazi and anti-Jewish actions of the 1930s and 1940s, Jews in Iraq and elsewhere considered themselves as Arabs of the Jewish faith. Today Jews such as Mizrahi and Yemenite Jews are not considered as Arabs.

Before Mizrahi was coined as a term, Arab Jews were called Yehudin ‘Aravim or “Arab Jews.” The term is rarely used today.

Language

The Hebrew Bible refers to the Arvi (or Arabs) in connection with the inhabitants of the Syrian Desert and in Arabia long before the Qahtanian Arabs of South Arabia emerged.

Proto-Arabic, which was ancient North Arabian, was not written in Arabic script but in the epigraphic South Arabian Musnad. That began in the 8^th century BCE with the Hasaean inscriptions of eastern Saudi Arabia and the Thamudic texts of Arabia and the Sinai which were not connected with the Thamud.

Safaitic inscriptions did not emerge until the first century BCE. The Nabatean inscriptions are written in Aramaic but contain many Arab names.

Pre-classical Arabic emerged in the second century BCE from Qaryat-al-Faw near Sulayyil.

From the fourth century CE we see the emergence of the Christian kingdoms of the Lakhmids of southern Iraq and the Ghassanids in southern Syria. The Lakhmids allied with the Sassanid Empire and the Ghassanids allied with the Byzantine Empire.

The Kindite kingdom of Central Arabia allied with the Himyarite Empire of South Arabia. These Arabs converted to Judaism and had extensive influence across the Red Sea in Africa. It was this rise in power there in the fourth century that saw the reaction of Arab Jews to the Unitarian Christian faith in the seventh century and the rise of Islam. The immense success of Islam saw the Khazars decide to convert to Judaism in the Russian Steppes ca. 740 CE.

It is important to note that the Qur’an does not use the word ‘Arab, only the adjective ‘arabiyyun where is refers to itself as clear mubinun (Clear) Book in ‘arabiyyun (Arabic) (e.g. Ayyat 43:2-3).

The prophet says the Clear Book was rendered in Arabic so that they might understand. Thus Arabic became the language of the Arabs from its use in the Qur’an.

The terminology used referred to sedentary Arabs living in cities such as Mecca and Media as ‘arab. The nomadic Arabs or Bedouin were referred to as ‘a’rab. This term carried a negative connotation from the text in the Qur’an. The Qur’an refers to the Lost Arabs al-‘Arab al-ba’ida and says that they were lost as a punishment for their idolatry or disbelief. They were thus regarded as the true Arabs as sons of Keturah, while the later Northern Arabs, including the tribes of Mecca, were the sons of Ishmael, being Arabized Arabs.

This distinction was to lead to real enmity between the northern Qays and the southern Kalb especially in Spain. The Himyarite language, which was described by Al-Hamdani (d. 946), seems to be the north Arabic dialect probably of the Qays, which became spoken in the south, and influenced by Old South Arabic, which was a Sabaean dialect of the sons of Keturah.

Arabic thus was spread through Arabization under conquest from France to China. Identifying these groups and tribes is a difficult task.

Now back to the sons of Keturah.

Medan

The third of Keturah’s six sons, Medan carries a name meaning contention, discord or strife (SHD 4091). He apparently founded a number of northern Arabian tribes, and his name is preserved in the town of Madan, which lay slightly west of south of modern Taima. Madan or Medan is also mentioned in the inscriptions from the reign of the Babylonian Tiglath-pileser III (ca. 732 BCE), where it was referred to as Badan. The consonants b and m are often interchanged in Arabic and its predecessors, Chaldean and Eastern Aramaic. The Medans did not speak Chaldean but the Assyro-Babylonians did.

Madan was perhaps turned into an Arabian god under the ancient system of ancestor worship, and Abd-al-Madan is commonly seen in the Arab systems as a family name. (cf. also S. Cohen, Interp. Dict., art. ‘Medan’, Vol. 3, p. 318).

There seems also to be a link with Midian as seen below.

Midian

Although only the fourth son of Abraham and Keturah, Midian was the progenitor of perhaps the most important of all six brother tribes. As such his descendants will be dealt with in greater detail than any of the others. Midian’s name means strife, brawling or contention (SHD 4080), as with his brother Medan. Some commentators say that Midian’s name may in fact be derived from the Semitic word for judgment.

The Midianite tribes were referred to in Egyptian and other literature; Ptolemy, for example, calls them Modiana.

The story of Moses’ flight to Midian is provided in Exodus 2. It is also recounted in the Qur’an at Surah 28:22-28. (See also Acts 7:29 cf. Ex. 2:15.)

Exodus 2:15-21 When Pharaoh heard of it, he sought to kill Moses. But Moses fled from Pharaoh, and stayed in the land of Mid'ian; and he sat down by a well. ¹⁶Now the priest of Mid'ian had seven daughters; and they came and drew water, and filled the troughs to water their father's flock. ¹⁷The shepherds came and drove them away; but Moses stood up and helped them, and watered their flock. ¹⁸When they came to their father Reu'el, he said, "How is it that you have come so soon today?" ¹⁹They said, "An Egyptian delivered us out of the hand of the shepherds, and even drew water for us and watered the flock." ²⁰He said to his daughters, "And where is he? Why have you left the man? Call him, that he may eat bread." ²¹And Moses was content to dwell with the man, and he gave Moses his daughter Zippo'rah. (RSV)

Zipporah means a bird (SHD 6855). She bore two sons to Moses: Gershom, meaning exile (SHD 1648), and Eliezer, meaning God is help (SHD 461) (see 1Chr. 23:15). The incident with Moses and the circumcision of his son (Ex. 4:25) shows a reinforcement of the act as performed on Isaac at the eighth day, as it was not done by Moses initially; and Moses was going to be punished for that negligence. The term circumciser and circumcised for father-in-law and son-in-law seems to have entered the Hebrew language without retaining the connotation of which it originally had (see Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics (ERE) Vol. 3, pp. 661, 662).

The term circumciser is first used in the Bible in the sense of the future father-in-law, and circumcised in the sense of “daughter’s husband” in relations to both the Midianites (Ex. 3:1; 4:18,25ff; Num. 10:29 and Jdg. 1:18; 4:11) and also the Sodomites (Gen. 19:13,14). Thus we can infer that circumcision was performed by the father-in-law in both these people being the sons of Canaan and the sons of Shem. Yet that was not the precedent set by Abraham and seemingly Jethro did not perform that rite and certainly not on his grandsons.

It should also be noted that the south-western Arabs circumcise in multiples of seven days from birth, and Muslims circumcise from two years of age onwards, generally up to eight years in Kashgar and up to ten years in Turkistan. The Turks circumcise between six and thirteen years. It is only the sons of Ishmael among the Arabs that circumcise at the later age of twelve to thirteen years. No Semites circumcise later than this age. The Sarakolese of West Africa do likewise and the Mandingo of the Sudan wait for between twelve and fourteen years. The Wydah and Coast region of West Africa wait until 12 to 16 years and sometimes as late as 20.

Thus the circumcision practice among Semites also provides clues as to their origins. Most people assume Arabs are sons of Ishmael and circumcise at thirteen years of age; as shown above, however, that is very far from the truth.

Only the ancient Egyptians circumcised at 14 years and the Angaardi of the Murchison River in Western Australia do likewise from 14-16 years. Some South Australian tribes have adopted to wait until hairs appear on the face.

Ishbak

Ishbak was the fifth son of Abraham by Keturah. His name means he releases (BDB) or he will leave (Strong: SHD 3435). Apparently he and his descendants settled in the lands to the east of Canaan, however, very little else is known about this tribe from either the Bible or secular sources.

Hastings’ Dictionary has this to say about Ishbak on page 501:

Frd. Delitzsch (Z SKF ii.92) identifies it with Iasbuk of the cuneiform inscriptions, where it is mentioned as a land (mat) whose king was allied with Sangara (Shamgar?) of Gargamis (Carchemish) and others against Assur-nazir-pal and Shalmaneser II (c. 859 B.C.).

This may be correct as the two Septuagint sources use Iesbok (LXXA) or eosbak (LXXB) (cf. Interp. Dict., art. ‘Ishbak’, Vol. 2, p. 747).

Shuah

Also called Shuach, this sixth and last of Keturah’s sons has a name meaning variously wealth (BDB) or dell, sink, incline (Strong: SHD 7744).

He was the progenitor of the Shuhites, the most notable of whom was Bildad, son of Shuach, and one of Job’s ‘comforters’ (Job 2:11). Matthew Poole makes some interesting comments on this verse in Job.

They were persons then eminent for birth and quality, for wisdom and knowledge, and for the profession of the true religion, being probably of the posterity of Abraham, and akin to Job, and living in the same country with him. (A Commentary on the Holy Bible, 1685, reprint by Banner of Truth Trust, London, 1962; emphasis added).

Shuah’s descendants were also well known to the Assyrians, who referred to them as Suhu, and described their land as being on the right bank of the Euphrates River, south of Carchemish and between the Balikh and Khabur rivers (cf. Dillmann, Holzinger, et al). Ptolemy calls the latter Chaboras, which is probably one of the two Chebar rivers referred to by Ezekiel (Ezek. 1:1ff.). The name Shuhite is Sauchaioon in Greek.

Thus their lands are well known.

The lineage of all six brothers is further extended in Chapter 25 of the apocryphal and perhaps spurious Book of Jasher and includes several names not found in the Bible. According to Jasher, Keturah is said to have come from the land of Canaan and is therefore most likely descended from the Patriarch Ham rather than Japheth, a view in line with Arabic opinion that she was a Cushite (also from Ham) but which is contradicted by most other authorities.

In his Antiquities of the Jews, Josephus claims that the descendants of Abraham by Keturah went into Arabia and into a land called Troglodytes (from which we get the term Troglodyte, meaning a cave-dweller). This is repeated in Book II, chapter 10 where the main areas of habitation of the various children of Abraham are given, according to Josephus.

That he left to Ismael and to his posterity the country of Arabia; as also to his sons by Ketura, Troglodytis; and to Isaac, Canaan. (Ant. Jews, ibid.)

The Victorian explorer Richard Burton says that a race called the Beni Thamud were also described as Troglodytes (The God-Mines of Midian, Kegan Paul & Co., London, 1878); these may have displaced the descendants of these sons of Keturah, or they may in fact have been descended from them.

Josephus claims that by the time of Isaac’s wedding Keturah’s sons had moved away.

Accordingly Isaac married her, the inheritance being now come to him; for the children by Keturah were gone to their own remote habitations. (Ant. Jews, Bk. I, 16, iii)

This is confirmed somewhat by the Scripture saying that only Ishmael and Isaac buried their father Abraham (Gen. 25:9); presumably the sons of Keturah had already relocated elsewhere.

The Kadmonites

There is another tribe of interest when discussing possible descendants of Keturah: the Kadmonites. Hastings’ Dictionary has this to say about them:

Kadmonites … Ewald [in History of Israel] and many following him regard the Kadmonites as equivalent to the Bene Kedem, children of the East … descendants (?Gn 25⁶) of Abraham by Keturah (Gn 29¹, Jg 7¹², 1 K 4³⁰, Job 1³, Is 11¹⁴, Jer 49²⁸, Ezk 25^4-10). In that case, Kadmonite would be the designation of no particular tribe, but of the Keturaean Arabs, as distinguished from the Ishmaelites. The children of the East are represented in the passages referred to as occupying Paddan-aram, associated with the Midianites and Amalekites, inhabiting Kedar, neighbours and conquerors of the children of Ammon, coupled with the Egyptians in their fame for wisdom, … Job is regarded as one of them. It seems better to regard the Kadmonites as a particular tribe like the other nations named in this list. Whether they are to be viewed as a branch of the Ishmaelitish or of the Keturaean Arabs is not clear (p. 831).

Speculation that Job was a Kadmonite may be misplaced as he is listed in Genesis as being either the grandson or great-grandson of the Patriarch Issachar, son of Jacob. If he was also a Kadmonite it could only be by association with the Midianites and other sons of Keturah among whom he lived.

Bullinger lists them as part of the Nephilim in Appendix 25 to The Companion Bible from Genesis 15:18-21. This view is quite incorrect as the tribes mentioned are other tribes of the sons of Noah and only one or two are Nephilim (see also the paper The Nephilim (No. 154)).

We can, however, be sure that Kadmonite became an area term rather than a specific tribal group, and the people there were absorbed into the sons of Abraham from the text in question. Any Nephilim were exterminated.

The Land of Midian

In his second book The Land of Midian (Revisited) (C. Kegan Paul & Co., London, 1879), Burton estimated that Midianite territory at one time covered quite an extensive area.

In the days of the ancient Midianites the frontiers were so elastic that, at times, but never for a continuity, they embraced Sinai, and were pushed forward even into Central Palestine. (p.295)

In Genesis 25 we see that Abraham sent the sons of Hagar and Keturah away from Isaac presumably in order not to confuse their inheritances.

Genesis 25:5-6 Abraham gave all he had to Isaac. ⁶ But to the sons of his concubines Abraham gave gifts, and while he was still living he sent them away from his son Isaac, eastward to the east country. (RSV)

The same Hebrew word qedem (SHD 6924) is used for both eastward and east which seems an unnecessary repetition, unless the latter when combined with country is intended to signify an unspecified ancient land. As Abraham was later buried at Mamre it could be speculated that he and his offspring were living near Hebron at the time, so that by sending them “east” they would have to move in either a north-easterly or south-easterly direction to avoid the Salt (Dead) Sea, which would have effectively sent them towards Ammon and Edom respectively.

The Historians’ History of the World (Vol. 2, p. 7), holds that Cushan-Rishathain of Judges 3:8-11 was named for a tribe and was in fact a Jerahmeelite king who they identify with the Amalekites and Edomites, who were dominant in northern Arabia at the time. The domination was finished by aid of a friendly clan of Kenizzites.

In 1Chronicles 1:46 we also see Midian being defeated in the land of Moab, hence there was great fluidity of movement and perhaps some overlapping in the tribal areas. It is said of Hadad the Edomite that he “arose out of Midian” (1Kgs. 11:18). It may therefore have been much later and perhaps as a result of tribal over-crowding to the east of Jordan that at least one of the Keturan tribes, Midian, relocated directly south toward the Red Sea.

The land loosely referred to as “Midian” in Bible atlases extends for up to 200 miles in a coastal strip alongside the Gulf of Aqaba and the Red Sea, and varies between 24 and 70 miles (40-110 km) in depth.

Burton and his party took many geological samples from the land of Midian, which was found to be very rich in minerals and in turquoise stones. When analysed the samples were found to contain gold, silver, copper, iron, lead (cf. Num. 31:22), as well as zinc, wolfram (tungsten), antimony and titanium ores. Burton also maintained there were vast iron ore deposits to be found in the area. Extensive remains of industrial activity such as gold extraction were noted by him. In fact, it appears that the Egyptians had operated gold mines and smelters in the area for centuries.

Ptolemy locates Modiana on the eastern shore of the Red Sea, i.e. the Gulf of Aqaba. He also refers to another city Modiama but this is situated inland in northern Midian. Apparently Modiama was second only in importance to Petra, which was described as being Pharaoh’s Treasury at one time. The ancient pre-Islamic city of Madyan is now Magha’ir Shu’aib, from the Arabic name for Jethro, although local tradition during E.H. Palmer’s exploration of the area identified the city of Midian (Madyan) with the extensive ruins of El Midayen, about ‘three days distant’ from Mecca.

Sons of Midian

Midian was the father of five sons: Ephah, Epher, Henoch (Chanoch), Abida(h) and Eldaah. No further lineages are mentioned in the Bible, however, the Book of Jasher adds numerous sons produced by these five grandsons of Abraham.

Ephah, meaning darkness or gloomy (SHD 5891), was the father of the tribes which settled in the northwest of the Arabian peninsula, roughly in modern Ghuwafa, south-west of Tebuk. The Babylonian king Tiglath-pileser III calls this tribe the ’Ayappa, or the Khayappa Arabs, as noted above. The last known reference to them is found in an inscription dated to ca. 715 BCE, the time of Sargon II.

Another Ephah is also mentioned twice in the genealogical records of the tribe of Judah (1Chr. 2:46,47).

Epher, meaning a calf (SHD 6081), was the second son of Midian, and was known to the Arabs as ’Ofr. His descendants in turn were called the Apparu as inscriptions from the time of King Assurbani-pal of Assyria show. The Epherite city of Ghifar, close to Medina, still carries the name of its founder. As with Ephah above, the name Epher appears in the genealogy of Judah (1Chr. 4:17) as well as among the half-tribe of Manasseh across the Jordan (1Chr. 5:24).

Hanoch, has the notable meaning of dedicated or [God’s] follower (SHD 2585). He was purported to be the father of the Kenites, who were famed metalworkers or smiths. These tribes originally settled in the south-west region beside the Gulf of Aqaba.

Abida(h), meaning my father knows or father of knowledge (SHD 28), was the fourth son of Midian. In Yemen, at the south-west foot of the Arabian peninsula, there are Minean inscriptions of ca. 9^th century BCE which refer to these people as the Abiyadi’.

Eldaah, meaning God has known or called of God (SHD 420), was the progenitor of tribes referred to as the Yada’il in ancient Sabean inscriptions. As with their brother tribe, they apparently settled in the area of south-western Arabia, now modern Yemen.

The Early Midianites

Josephus’ Antiquities of the Jews (Bk. II, chp. 11) describes Moses’ introduction to Midian, and expands a little upon the text in Exodus 2. According to Josephus, the Midianites were cattle herders in accordance with the biblical account in Judges 6. They are mentioned in the Bible as being allied with the Moabites against Israel (Gen. 36:35; Num. 22:1ff.; 25:1ff.), and perhaps with the Amorites as well (Jos. 13:21).

The first recorded contact between the Israelites and the Midianites is noted in Genesis 37.

Genesis 37:23-28,36 So when Joseph came to his brothers, they stripped him of his robe, the long robe with sleeves that he wore; ²⁴and they took him and cast him into a pit. The pit was empty, there was no water in it. ²⁵Then they sat down to eat; and looking up they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites [SHD 3459] coming from Gilead, with their camels bearing gum, balm, and myrrh, on their way to carry it down to Egypt. ²⁶Then Judah said to his brothers, "What profit is it if we slay our brother and conceal his blood? ²⁷Come, let us sell him to the Ish'maelites, and let not our hand be upon him, for he is our brother, our own flesh." And his brothers heeded him. ²⁸Then Mid'ianite [SHD 4084] traders passed by; and they drew Joseph up and lifted him out of the pit, and sold him to the Ish'maelites for twenty shekels of silver; and they took Joseph to Egypt. … ³⁶Menwhile the Mid'ianites [SHD 4092] had sold him in Egypt to Pot'i-phar, an officer of Pharaoh, the captain of the guard. (RSV)

We see here an apparent contradiction in that the Midianites are referred to as Ishmaelites. There are two different Hebrew words used for Midianite in the text. The term used for these merchants in Genesis 37:28 is Midyaniy (SHD 4084) which is a native of the land of Midian. In Genesis 37:36 we see that the Midianites (SHD 4092, Medaniy) sold him in Egypt. This is a version of Midianite according to Strong but may well be another of the sons of Keturah of the Medani or sons of Medan. Numbers 25:17 and 31:2-3 both use SHD 4084 in referring to Midianites. However, in every other instance in the OT texts the use of the word translated as Midianite is SHD 4080, which refers to Midyan himself, the son of Abraham. We can thus assume that the caravan that took Joseph to Egypt was made up of people dwelling in the land of Midian, which included Ishmaelites and also perhaps Medanites.

By the time of Joseph and the other tribal Patriarchs, we see the intermixing of the two main branches of the Arabs referred to above; the sons of Keturah regarded as the Pure Arabs and the sons of Ishmael regarded as the Arabized Arabs. These, with the ancient Arab tribes now disappearing and the Amorites, may be the ancient Hyksos we see later in Egyptian history in the Nile Delta.

The people of Midian are mentioned many times in the Qur’an, and several Surahs highlight the disasters that befell them after their rejection of the messengers, both angelic and human, sent by God. The person Shu’eyb here is Jethro, priest of Midian and Moses’ father-in-law. Midian is mentioned in the following Surahs: 9:70,71; 11:84 cf. 26:175; 15:78; 28:45; 50:14; et al.

Surah 22.42-44,54 If they deny thee (Muhammad), even so the folk of Noah, and (the tribes of) A'ad and Thamud, before thee, denied (Our messengers); ⁴³And the folk of Abraham and the folk of Lot; ⁴⁴(And) the dwellers in Midian. And Moses was denied; but I indulged the disbelievers a long while, then I seized them, and how (terrible) was My abhorrence! … ⁵⁴And that those who have been given knowledge may know that it is the truth from thy Lord, so that they may believe therein and their hearts may submit humbly unto Him. Lo! Allah verily is guiding those who believe unto a right path. (Pickthal)

We see here that those inhabiting Midian had been given the true teachings of God at one time. Surah 11 makes an interesting comment concerning the Midianites.

⁸⁶Now hath an evident demonstration come unto you from your LORD. Therefore give full measure and just weight, and diminish not unto men aught of their matters: neither act corruptly in the earth after its reformation. This will be better for you, if ye believe. ⁸⁷And beset not every way, threatening the passenger, and turning aside from the path of GOD him who believeth in him, and seeking to make it crooked. And remember, when ye were few and God multiplied you: and behold what hath been the end of those who acted corruptly.

Although it is difficult to know whether the Prophet is speaking to the original Midianites or to the Ishmaelites, or a combination of the two tribes, it appears that a distinctive feature of some known as ‘Midianites’ is that they are merchants or traders. One of their crimes was in deceitful business practices, in that they used two different kinds of weights and measures – buying by one and selling by the other (cf. Baidhawi, Tafsir-i-Raufi). The above injunction in the Qur’an to deal only in lawful and just weights and measures echoes that in the Bible (Lev. 19:36; Prov. 20:10).

In Genesis the Midianites are similarly portrayed as traders (Gen. 37), whereas in Exodus they are noted as being pastoralists (Ex. 2). In addition, the Kenites, as a sub-tribe of Midianites, are seen as metal-smiths from their very name.

The Midianites were to prove a troublesome people to Israel, and God often used them purposely to punish the Israelites, who were forced at times to become cave-dwellers (Troglodytes) like the Kenites.

Judges 6:1-2,6a The people of Israel did what was evil in the sight of the LORD; and the LORD gave them into the hand of Mid'ian seven years. ²And the hand of Mid'ian prevailed over Israel; and because of Mid'ian the people of Israel made for themselves the dens which are in the mountains, and the caves and the strongholds….⁶And Israel was brought very low because of Mid'ian; (RSV)

Princes and Kings of Midian

As recorded in Numbers 31:1ff., however, shortly before his death Moses was told to “take vengeance on the Midianites for the children of Israel”. All the male Midianites and most of their females were killed, including their five kings, Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur, and Reba. The Midianites were very rich in livestock as the booty taken from them showed: six hundred and seventy-five thousand sheep, seventy-two thousand cattle, sixty-one thousand donkeys (vv. 32-34). They also possessed much gold, as the portion of plunder that the Israelites offered to the Lord amounted to sixteen-thousand seven-hundred and fifty shekels in the form of fashioned ornaments, such as armlets, bracelets, signet rings, earrings and necklaces (v. 52).

The text in Joshua 13:21 also mentions the princes (nasiy: SHD 5387) of Midian, namely Evi, Rekem, Zur, Hur and Reba, who are called kings (melek: SHD 4428) in Numbers 31.

Joshua 13:21 that is, all the cities of the tableland, and all the kingdom of Sihon king of the Amorites, who reigned in Heshbon, whom Moses defeated with the leaders of Mid'ian, Evi and Rekem and Zur and Hur and Reba, the princes of Sihon, who dwelt in the land. (RSV)

Josephus claims that the second of these kings or sheiks, Rekem, gave his name to the “most conspicuous city among the Arabs, called to our day under every King, Arecema [El-Rekem], and by the Greeks, Petra” (Ant. Jews, iv.7,1). Petra was the ‘chief city and capital of all Arabia’ called in Hebrew Ha-Sela, the cliff (2Kgs. 14:7).

The telling comment of the Bible text was who dwelt in the land and thus we are dealing with the Midianites that dwelt in the land there. The Midianites stretched along the coast for 200 miles and the army that was defeated was not all of the Arabian forces and families of Midian but those mustered there and the families from Petra living there.

Zur of Midian was the father of princess Cozbi, the one who consorted provocatively with a prince of Israel. Both were killed by Phinehas in righteous indignation, and in so doing he turned away God’s wrath. God subsequently blessed Phinehas for his decisive action on behalf of Israel (Num. 25:11-15). Verse 15 says that Zur was “head over a people and of a chief house of Midian”.

Two other princes of the Midianites, Oreb (meaning raven) and Zeeb (wolf), are mentioned in Judges 7:25. They were killed by the Ephraimites after being pursued by Gideon and the other Israelite warriors.

Judges 7:25 And they took the two princes of Mid'ian, Oreb and Zeeb; they killed Oreb at the rock of Oreb, and Zeeb they killed at the wine press of Zeeb, as they pursued Mid'ian; and they brought the heads of Oreb and Zeeb to Gideon beyond the Jordan. (RSV)

There are also two kings of Midian mentioned in Judges 8:5, namely Zebah and Zalmunnah (meaning sacrifice and deprived of protection, respectively), who had tried to invade Palestine but were defeated by Gideon.

Thus Midian occupied territory from the lands of Edom along the coast of Arabia south and east from Aqaba for 200 miles. Other sub-tribes were linked to them.

Early Midianite Religion

Werner Keller in The Bible as History (Hodder & Stoughton Ltd, Bantam rev. ed., New York, 1982) briefly touched on some aspects of the Midianite religious system.

The Israelites are supposed to owe the strange cult of the brazen serpent to Reuel [aka Jethro]. It is not without a touch of dramatic effect that we note that it was at an archaeological site showing signs of Midianite occupation that Benno Rothenberg found an idol in the form of a brazen serpent five inches in length and partly decorated with gold. … this small bronze serpent was found in the Holy of Holies of a tabernacle! … It was found on the site of an older, Egyptian place of worship dedicated to the goddess Hathor. The Midianites who, following the Egyptians, were mining copper on their own account at Timna, converted this place of worship into a shrine of their own religion. (p. 147-8)

The fact that Abraham instructed all his sons in the worship of the One True God makes it hardly surprising that monotheism and the worship of Yahovah of Hosts was found amongst them. That they all slipped from the Faith is a matter of record.

Jethro: priest of Midian

Moses’ father-in-law was called Hobab, who was the son of Reuel or Raguel (Num. 10:29). Although there is much confusion over these names, it seems that Hobab was also known as Jethro (meaning his excellence).

Numbers 10:29-32 And Moses said to Hobab the son of Reu'el the Mid'ianite, Moses' father-in-law, "We are setting out for the place of which the LORD said, `I will give it to you'; come with us, and we will do you good; for the LORD has promised good to Israel." ³⁰But he said to him, "I will not go; I will depart to my own land and to my kindred." ³¹And he said, "Do not leave us, I pray you, for you know how we are to encamp in the wilderness, and you will serve as eyes for us. ³²And if you go with us, whatever good the LORD will do to us, the same will we do to you." (RSV)

Exodus 3:1a Now Moses was keeping the flock of his father-in-law, Jethro, the priest of Mid'ian; (RSV)

The name Hobab (SHD 2246) means cherished or loved fervently, perhaps by God, just as much as his own people, which would explain the inspired advice he later gave to Moses regarding judgments given to the Israelites. According to Josephus, Hobab had “Iothor [i.e. Jethro] for a surname”. Jethro’s descent is given as: son of Nawil, son of Rawail, son of Mour, son of Anka, son of Midian, son of Abraham.

Josephus (Ant. Jews, III, iii) claimed that Raguel (also Reuel, as in v. 29) was Moses’ father-in-law, however, Judges 4:11 (see below) clearly states that he was known as Hobab. Matthew Poole gives a reasonable explanation for this discrepancy in his comment on Exodus 2:18 below. Other commentators claim that Jethro was an honorary title, while Reuel was his personal name. Hence, as with the Keturah/Hagar question, there is some contradictory opinion over identity and this perhaps sums up the rather mysterious nature of the sons of Keturah and their descendants.

Reuel (SHD 7467, Re’uw’el) means Friend of God and is a title given to Abraham and was carried by Jethro as Priest of Midian. Raguel is simply another version of this title (see Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary). It was obviously carried by the Priest of Midian as it was carried by the father of Hobab and by Hobab/Jethro himself.

Chobab (SHD 2246) means cherished and is derived from 2245: hide as in the bosom; to cherish.

Yithrow (SHD 3503) means His excellence coming from Yithrah (SHD 3502, excellence). Thus we are looking at Hobab the name and Jethro the title. His Excellence, Hobab, the Friend of God is the rendering of the names of Jethro, Hobab, Reuel or Reguel.

It is thus beyond doubt that he was sheik and High Priest of Midian and hereditary religious leader of the tribe.

Another Reuel mentioned in the Bible is a son of Esau by Bashemath, daughter of Ishmael (Gen. 36:4ff.). See the paper Law and the Seventh Commandment (No. 260).

Burton in The Gold-Mines of Midian has this to say in his footnote on page 332:

Jethro’s Moslem title is “Khatib el-Anbiya,” or Preacher to the Prophets, on account of the words of wisdom which he bestowed upon his son-in-law (Exod. ii. 18) … Some writers have made him the son of Mikhail, ibn Yashjar, ibn Madyan; but they are charged with ignorance by Ahmed ibn Abd el-Halim. El-Kesai states that his original name was Boyun; that he was comely of person, but spare and lean; very thoughtful, and of few words (Sale’s Koran, p. 117). Other commentators add that he was old and blind. In the “Berakhoth,” Jetro [sic.] and Rahab are Gentiles, or strangers, affiliated to Israel on account of their good deeds (p. 48, M. Schwab’s version. Paris: Imprimerie Nationale, 1871).

E.H. Palmer in The Desert of the Exodus (Deighton, Bell & Co., Cambridge, UK, 1871) repeats the assertion that Jethro/Hobab was blind, and had been given a commission to preach the true Faith.

Sho‘eib, as the Arabs call Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, is said to have been blind, notwithstanding which infirmity he was divinely commissioned to preach the true religion lately revealed unto Abraham, and to convert the people of his native city Midian. They rejected his doctrine and mocked the blind prophet, for which sin they were destroyed by fire from heaven, while Midian was laid waste by an earthquake, Jethro alone escaping alive. He fled to Palestine, and is said to be buried near Safed. (ftnt. p. 539; emphasis added)

It appears that Jethro/Hobab, The Friend of God (Raguel: Josephus) took the fact of the supremacy over the Egyptians in the Red Sea as proof positive of the power of the Angel of Yahovah acting for the One True God, with Israel as the people of God (Ex. 18:11). He was already a priest of Midian and it is obvious that he is observing the activities of the Being sent to Israel as proof of the birthright promises given to Isaac. That view was to continue down to the writing of the Qur’an and is reflected in the Qur’an. The Kuturah or Pure Arabs, as well as the sons of Ishmael, resent that birthright to this very day.

Exodus 18:1-12 Jethro, the priest of Mid'ian, Moses' father-in-law, heard of all that God had done for Moses and for Israel his people, how the LORD had brought Israel out of Egypt. ²Now Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, had taken Zippo'rah, Moses' wife, after he had sent her away, ³and her two sons, of whom the name of the one was Gershom (for he said, "I have been a sojourner in a foreign land"), ⁴and the name of the other, Elie'zer (for he said, "The God of my father was my help, and delivered me from the sword of Pharaoh"). ⁵And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, came with his sons and his wife to Moses in the wilderness where he was encamped at the mountain of God. ⁶And when one told Moses, "Lo, your father-in-law Jethro is coming to you with your wife and her two sons with her," ⁷Moses went out to meet his father-in-law, and did obeisance and kissed him; and they asked each other of their welfare, and went into the tent. ⁸Then Moses told his father-in-law all that the LORD had done to Pharaoh and to the Egyptians for Israel's sake, all the hardship that had come upon them in the way, and how the LORD had delivered them. ⁹And Jethro rejoiced for all the good which the LORD had done to Israel, in that he had delivered them out of the hand of the Egyptians. ¹⁰And Jethro said, "Blessed be the LORD, who has delivered you out of the hand of the Egyptians and out of the hand of Pharaoh. ¹¹Now I know that the LORD is greater than all gods, because he delivered the people from under the hand of the Egyptians, when they dealt arrogantly with them." ¹²And Jethro, Moses' father-in-law, offered a burnt offering and sacrifices to God; and Aaron came with all the elders of Israel to eat bread with Moses' father-in-law before God. (RSV)

There are also some noteworthy parallels in the encounter between Moses and Jethro (Ex. 18:1ff.) and the one between Abraham and Melchisedek recorded in Genesis 14.

Genesis 14:17-20 After his return from the defeat of Ched-or-lao'mer and the kings who were with him, the king of Sodom went out to meet him at the Valley of Shaveh (that is, the King's Valley). ¹⁸And Mel-chiz'edek king of Salem brought out bread and wine; he was priest of God Most High. ¹⁹And he blessed him and said, "Blessed be Abram by God Most High, maker of heaven and earth; ²⁰and blessed be God Most High, who has delivered your enemies into your hand! (RSV)

· Abraham had just defeated Chedorlaomer, king of Elam, while Moses had earlier witnessed the defeat of Pharaoh, king of Egypt.

· Melchizedek was the priest of the Most High God; Jethro was the priest of Midian.

· Both Melchizedek and Jethro ‘blessed’/gave praises to God for their deliverance using very similar language (cf. verse 20 above and Ex. 18:10).

· Melchizedek brought bread and wine for a ceremonial meal with Abraham; Jethro also arranged a sacrificial meal and bread to be eaten with Moses, Aaron and all the elders of Israel.

· &