Genesis 22:24

And his concubine, whose name [was] Reumah,.... Not an harlot, but a secondary wife, who was under the proper and lawful wife, and a sort of a head servant in the family, and chiefly kept for the

And it came to pass after these things, that it was told Abraham, saying, Behold, Milcah, she hath also born children unto thy brother Nahor; It was told Abraham ... Milcah, she hath also born

A concubine was an inferior kind of wife, taken according to the common practice of those times, subject to the authority of the principal wife, and whose children had no right of inheritance, but were endowed with gifts. See 25:6. Maachah, a name common both to man, as , and woman, as .

Genesis 22:24 And his concubine, whose name [was] Reumah, she bare also Tebah, and Gaham, and Thahash, and Maachah.Ver. 24. His concubine.] Or half-wife, as the word signifies; one that was between a servant and a wife.

(24) Maachah.—This name appears as that of a small Aramaic people, in Deuteronomy 3:14; Joshua 12:5; 2 Samuel 10:6.

Verse 24. His concubine] We borrow this word from the Latin compound concubina, from con, together, and cubo, to lie, and apply it solely to a woman cohabiting with a man without being legally married. The Hebrew word is פילגש pilegesh, which is also a compound term, contracted, according to Parkhurst, from פלג palag, to divide or share, and נגש nagash, to approach; because the husband, in the delicate phrase of the Hebrew tongue, approaches the concubine, and shares the bed, c., of the real wife with her. The pilegesh or concubine, (from which comes the Greek παλλακη pallake, and also the Latin pellex,) in Scripture, is a kind of secondary wife, not unlawful in the patriarchal times though the progeny of such could not inherit. The word is not used in the Scriptures in that disagreeable sense in which we commonly understand it. Hagar was properly the concubine or pilegesh of Abraham, and this annuente Deo, and with his wife's consent. Keturah, his second wife, is called a concubine, Genesis 26:15; 1 Chronicles 1:32; and Pilhah and Zilhah were concubines to Jacob, Genesis 35:22. After the patriarchal times many eminent men had concubines, viz., Caleb, 1 Chronicles 2:46; 1 Chronicles 2:48; Manasses, 1 Chronicles 7:14; Gideon, Judges 8:31; Saul, 2 Samuel 3:7; David, 2 Samuel 5:13; Solomon, 2Kg 11:3; and Rehoboam, 2 Chronicles 11:21. The pilegesh, therefore, differed widely from a prostitute; and however unlawful under the New Testament, was not so under the Old. FROM this chapter a pious mind may collect much useful instruction. From the trial of Abraham we again see, 1. That God may bring his followers into severe straits and difficulties, that they may have the better opportunity of both knowing and showing their own faith and obedience; and that he may seize on those occasions to show them the abundance of his mercy, and thus confirm them in righteousness all their days. There is a foolish saying among some religious people, which cannot be too severely reprobated: Untried grace is no grace. On the contrary, there may be much grace, though God, for good reasons, does not think proper for a time to put it to any severe trial or proof. But grace is certainly not fully known but in being called to trials of severe and painful obedience. But as all the gifts of God should be used, (and they are increased and strengthened by exercise,) it would be unjust to deny trials and exercises to grace, as this would be to preclude it from the opportunities of being strengthened and increased. 2. The offering up of Isaac is used by several religious people in a sort of metaphorical way, to signify their easily-besetting sins, beloved idols, c. But this is a most reprehensible abuse of the Scripture. It is both insolent and wicked to compare some abominable lust or unholy affection to the amiable and pious youth who, for his purity and excellence, was deemed worthy to prefigure the sacrifice of the Son of God.

24. Reumah] The children of the concubine denote a less intimate tribal relationship than the children of the legal wife. Maacah] See 2 Samuel 10:6. A region to the north of Mount Hermon; cf. the mention of the Maacathites in Joshua 13:11; Joshua 13:13.