Rebekah first saw Isaac as he was coming from the way of
Beer-lahai-roi, the dwelling-place of Hagar, whither he had gone after
the death of his mother, for the purpose of reuniting his father with
Hagar,[308] or, as she is also called, Keturah.[309]
Hagar bore him six sons, who, however, did scant honor to their father,
for they all were idolaters.[310] Abraham, therefore, during his own
lifetime, sent them away from the presence of Isaac, that they might
not be singed by Isaac's flame, and gave them the instruction to
journey eastward as far as possible.[311] There he built a city for
them, surrounded by an iron wall, so high that the sun could not shine
into the city. But Abraham provided them with huge gems and pearls,
their lustre more brilliant than the light of the sun, which will be
used in the Messianic time when "the moon shall be confounded and the
sun ashamed."[312] Also Abraham taught them the black art, wherewith
they held sway over demons and spirits. It is from this city in the
east that Laban, Balaam, and Balaam's father Beor derived their
sorceries.[313]
Epher, one of the grandsons of Abraham and Keturah, invaded Lybia with
an armed force, and took possession of the country. From this Epher the
whole land of Africa has its name.[314] Aram is also a country made
habitable by a kinsman of Abraham. In his old age Terah contracted a
new marriage with Pelilah, and from this union sprang a son Zoba, who
was the father in turn of three sons. The oldest of these, Aram, was
exceedingly rich and powerful, and the old home in Haran sufficed not
for him and his kinsmen, the sons of Nahor, the brother of Abraham.
Aram and his brethren and all that belonged to him therefore departed
from Haran, and they settled in a vale, and they built themselves a
city there which they called Aram-Zoba, to perpetuate the name of the
father and his first-born son. Another Aram, Aram-naharaim, on the
Euphrates, was built by Aram son of Kemuel, a nephew of Abraham. Its
real name was Petor, after the son of Aram, but it is better known as
Aram-naharaim. The descendants of Kesed, another nephew of Abraham, a
son of his brother Nahor, established themselves opposite to Shinar,
where they founded the city of Kesed, the city whence the Chaldees are
called Kasdim.[315]
Though Abraham knew full well that Isaac deserved his paternal blessing
beyond all his sons, yet he withheld it from him, that no hostile
feelings be aroused among his descendants. He spake, and said: "I am
but flesh and blood, here to-day, to-morrow in the grave. What I was
able to do for my children I have done. Henceforth let come what God
desires to do in His world," and it happened that immediately after the
death of Abraham God Himself appeared unto Isaac, and gave him His
blessing.[316]