1 Tawarikh 1:32

Keturah’s Descendants

1:32 The sons to whom Keturah, Abraham’s concubine, ¹  gave birth:

Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, Shuah.

The sons of Jokshan:

Sheba and Dedan.

Yesaya 21:13

The Lord Will Judge Arabia

21:13 Here is a message about Arabia:

In the thicket of Arabia you spend the night,

you Dedanite caravans.

Yeremia 25:23-24

25:23 the people of Dedan, Tema, Buz, ²  all the desert people who cut their hair short at the temples; ³  25:24 all the kings of Arabia who ⁴  live in the desert;

[1:32]  ¹ sn A concubine was a slave woman in ancient Near Eastern societies who was the legal property of her master, but who could have legitimate sexual relations with her master. A concubine’s status was more elevated than a mere servant, but she was not free and did not have the legal rights of a free wife. The children of a concubine could, in some instances, become equal heirs with the children of the free wife. After the period of the Judges concubines may have become more of a royal prerogative (2 Sam 21:10-14; 1 Kgs 11:3).

[25:23]  ² sn Dedan and Tema are mentioned together in Isa 21:13-14 and located in the desert. They were located in the northern part of the Arabian peninsula south and east of Ezion Geber. Buz is not mentioned anywhere else and its location is unknown. Judgment against Dedan and Tema is mentioned in conjunction with the judgment on Edom in Jer 47:7-8.

[25:23]  ³ tn For the discussion regarding the meaning of the terms here see the notes on 9:26.

[25:23]  sn See Jer 9:26 where these are mentioned in connection with Moab, Edom, and Ammon.

[25:24]  ⁴ tc Or “and all the kings of people of mixed origin who.” The Greek version gives evidence of having read the term only once; it refers to the “people of mixed origin” without reference to the kings of Arabia. While the term translated “people of mixed origin” seems appropriate in the context of a group of foreigners within a larger entity (e.g. Israel in Exod 12:38; Neh 13:3; Egypt in Jer 50:37), it seems odd to speak of them as a separate entity under their own kings. The presence of the phrase in the Hebrew text and the other versions dependent upon it can be explained as a case of dittography.

[25:24]  sn See further Jer 49:28-33 for judgment against some of these Arabian peoples.