The names of Keturah’s sons appear to be personal names. She bore him may also be rendered, for example, “her sons’ names were,” “the names of the sons she had with Abraham were,” “she gave birth to six of Abraham’s sons, whose names were.”

The names of Keturah’s sons are: Zimran, Jokshan, Medan, Midian, Ishbak, and Shuah. Each of these six names occurs only here and is unknown, with the possible exceptions of Midian and Shuah. Midian is the name of the place where the “Midianites” lived. See Exo 2.15; Num 25.15. These people lived in the desert east of the Gulf of Aqaba. Shuah, found also in Job 2.11, appears to be the home of Bildad the Shuhite.

In languages that distinguish the form of place names from the form of personal names, these should be handled as personal names, and they will need to be transliterated in a form that is easy to read and pronounce. See “Names in Genesis” in “Translating Genesis,” page 8.

Quoted with permission from Reyburn, William D. and Fry, Euan McG. A Handbook on Genesis. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .