Cetura

CETURA (Hebrew Qetûrah). - Second wife of Abraham (Gen. 25:1), probably a Canaanite, whom Abraham is said to have married after Sarah's death. Since, however, he would then have been about 140 years old, whereas the sacred writer refers the wonder at his fruitfulness to the age of 100 (ibid. 17:17), and since little time would remain for the birth and growth of the children, some hold that the union with C. preceded Sarah's death.

By Abraham she had six sons (ibid. 25:2), the ancestors of as many tribes, among them the Midianites. Before dying, Abraham sent them all away, with gifts, from the land destined for Isaac alone, the heir of the divine promises, and they went, in accordance with the orders they had received, to dwell toward the east (ibid. 25:6). Abraham thus took care to secure for Isaac and his descendants the uncontested dominion of their territory, and he also preserved them from a contact that could prove dangerous as a means of moral and religious corruption.

Giorgio Castellino