Tanach · Rishonim on Tanach · Ibn Ezra · Torah
Ibn Ezra on Genesis 25:1/אבן עזרא על בראשית כ״ה:א׳
אקטורה. איננה הגר, כי כתוב ולבני הפילגשים אשר לאברהם נתן אברהם (בראשית כה ו), ופי' פלגש שפחה וזה השם איננו נופל על זכר, ונוכל לפרש על פילגשים נשים:
1KETURAH. Keturah is not to be identified with Hagar1 61:4; also Rashi’s comments. because Scripture explicitly states, But unto the sons of the concubines (pilagshim), that Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts (v. 6).2 (concubine) refers exclusively to a handmaid to forestall the argument that verse 6 refers to male slaves (pilagshim has a masculine ending) and therefore negate his argument that Abraham had more than one concubine. The meaning of pilegesh (concubine) is a handmaid. This term cannot refer to a male. We can explain upon concubinage (Ezek. 23:20) as referring to females.3 has a masculine ending it refers to females (Weiser). However, Filwarg and Krinsky, as well as Weiser himself, point out that I.E. may be alluding to Ezek. 23:20, And she doted on concubinage (pilagshehem) with them, whose flesh is as the flesh of asses, and whose issue is like the issue of horses. The words be-saram (whose flesh) and zirmatam (whose issue) are masculine; hence the concubines spoken of in this verse appear to be males. Indeed, Kimchi in his comments on Ezek. 23:20 quotes an opinion which maintains that the concubines referred to in this verse are male slaves. Therefore I.E. points out that pilagshim refers only to females. Filwarg suggests amending our texts of I.E. to read pilagshehem, as in Ezek. 23:20. In this case the allusion to Ezekiel would be unmistakable. The fact of the matter is that Vat. Ebr. 38 reads al pilagshehem, and we have translated accordingly.