Keturah Meaning in the Bible

Keturah is the Hebrew Qeturah (קְטוּרָה), from qetoret, 'incense, smoke of sacrifice,' and the root qatar, 'to burn incense.' The name is usually rendered 'incense' or 'perfumed.' It is a name from the vocabulary of worship rather than of family life, which is unusual and, given her descendants, almost prophetic.

Genesis 25:1 introduces her plainly: 'Then again Abraham took a wife, and her name was Keturah.' She is easily the most overlooked matriarch in Scripture — Abraham fathered six more sons after Sarah's death: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. 1 Chronicles 1:32 calls her Abraham's concubine, and Genesis 25:6 records that he gave gifts to these sons and 'sent them away from Isaac his son... eastward, unto the east country.'

Those sons became the Arabian tribes of the incense road. Midian is the most consequential — Moses' father-in-law Jethro was a priest of Midian, and Midianite traders carried Joseph into Egypt. Isaiah 60:6 later gathers the Keturah line into a vision of worship: 'the dromedaries of Midian and Ephah... they shall bring gold and incense; and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.' The woman named 'incense' has descendants prophesied to bring incense to Zion.

As a modern name Keturah is rare, sits comfortably alongside Hadassah and Tirzah, and offers something few biblical girls' names do — a figure who is unambiguously important genealogically and almost entirely unclaimed in modern naming.