After Abraham and his wife Sarah married and had lived together for some time childless, Abraham took Hagar, his wife's Egyptian maidservant, as his concubine. He did so at the insistence of Sarah. Hagar subsequently bore Abraham a son named Ishmael (Genesis 16:11). According to Jewish and Muslim tradition, Ishmael is the ancestor of the Arabs. Sarah then became pregnant by Abraham and gave birth to Isaac, who had one wife his entire life and no concubines.

After Sarah died, Abraham took Keturah as his wife (Genesis 25:1). But the Bible seemingly contains a contradiction when a few verses later in Genesis 25:5–6, it states: “And Abraham gave all that he had unto Isaac. But unto the sons of the concubines, which Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts, and sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, unto the east country.” So Keturah, though not mentioned by name, is nevertheless The everything Women of the bible book linked with Hagar as Abraham's concubine. In 1 Chronicles, Keturah is again referred to as Abraham's concubine.

Keturah remained with Abraham until he died. Isaac and Ishmael buried Abraham in the cave of Machpelah, in the field that he had purchased when Sarah died. There, the men placed their father next to the great love of his life. Keturah never reached the status of Sarah, even after Sarah was dead. But because of Sarah, Hagar, and Keturah, Abraham became the “father of many nations,” as God had promised, by means of his sons and their descendants.