Genesis 25:2

She bare. Abraham was 137 years of age at the death of Sarah, and 140 at the marriage of Isaac. He who blessed the aged patriarch with a son at the century mark of life now granted him the joy of additional sons and daughters. Nothing could make the sunset hours of life brighter for the Oriental heart than to be surrounded by a large and happy family. With one exception the Keturah sons of Abraham, as far as can be identified, settled in Arabia. Like Ishmael, they migrated to the south and east of the Negeb.

Zimran. Possibly meaning “antelope,” and tentatively identified with the Arabian town of Zambran, between Mecca and Medina.

Jokshan, and Medan, and Midian. Though nothing is known concerning the first two sons, other than their names, the tribe of Midian appears often, both in the Bible and in inscriptions. This tribe settled in the northern part of the Sinai peninsula and in northwestern Arabia across the Gulf of Aqaba. Moses later found refuge among them, in the house of Jethro, who worshiped the true God (Exodus 2:15; 3:1; 18:1-6). During the time of the Judges the Midianites repeatedly attacked the people of Israel (Judges 6 to 8).

Ishbak and Shuah. Ishbak may be identified with the people of Jasbuqu, mentioned in cuneiform inscriptions. Shuah seems to have been the ancestor of a tribe to which Bildad, one of Job’s friends, belonged (Job 2:11; 8:1; etc.). If this is correct, the tribe of Shuah settled down in northern Mesopotamia instead of in Arabia with the other sons of Keturah. The cuneiform texts mention a land Suchu, south of Carchemish on the Euphrates.