Did the wise men come from Abraham's other sons?

Matthew never says where the Magi came from in family terms. He says only that they came «from the east» (Matthew 2:1). But the canon lays a vocabulary trail between Genesis 25 and Matthew 2 that is hard to walk past without noticing.

Start with the dispatch. After Sarah dies, Abraham marries Keturah and has six more sons. Then:

וְלִבְנֵי הַפִּילַגְשִׁים אֲשֶׁר לְאַבְרָהָם נָתַן אַבְרָהָם מַתָּנֹת וַיְשַׁלְּחֵם מֵעַל יִצְחָק בְּנוֹ ... קֵדְמָה אֶל־אֶרֶץ קֶדֶם

«But to the sons of the concubines whom Abraham had, Abraham gave gifts; and he sent them away from Isaac his son, while he yet lived, eastward, to the land of the east.» — Genesis 25:6

Three details to hold. The «gifts» (mattanot, H4979). The destination — «east» (qedem, H6924) used twice in a single verse, the densest such cluster in the Old Testament. And the mother's name. Keturah (קְטוּרָה, H6989) is built from the root qatar (H6999), «to burn incense.» Her name literally means something like «incense.»

Now Isaiah 60 — an oracle of nations streaming to Zion in the latter days:

שִׁפְעַת גְּמַלִּים תְּכַסֵּךְ בִּכְרֵי מִדְיָן וְעֵיפָה כֻּלָּם מִשְּׁבָא יָבֹאוּ זָהָב וּלְבוֹנָה יִשָּׂאוּ וּתְהִלֹּת יְהוָה יְבַשֵּׂרוּ

«A multitude of camels shall cover you, the young camels of Midian and Ephah; all from Sheba shall come; they shall bring gold and frankincense, and shall proclaim the praises of Yahweh.» — Isaiah 60:6

Compare the names. Genesis 25:2 lists Midian as Keturah's son; Genesis 25:4 lists Ephah as Midian's son (her grandson); Genesis 25:3 lists Sheba as her grandson through Jokshan. Three of Keturah's descendants, named together in Isaiah's vision, carrying tribute. Isaiah 60:7 then adds Kedar and Nebaioth — Ishmael's first two sons (Genesis 25:13). Five names from Abraham's non-elect line, gathered into a single eschatological caravan, bringing gold (zahav, H2091) and frankincense (levonah, H3828) back to the God of Abraham.

Then Matthew 2:

Now after Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea in the days of Herod the king, behold, Magi from the east arrived in Jerusalem... — Matthew 2:1

The phrase is magoi apo anatolōn (μάγοι ἀπὸ ἀνατολῶν) — wise men «from the east.» The word anatolē (G395) is the standard Septuagint translation of Hebrew qedem — the very word that doubled in Genesis 25:6's dispatch verse. And what do they bring?

καὶ πεσόντες προσεκύνησαν αὐτῷ καὶ ἀνοίξαντες τοὺς θησαυροὺς αὐτῶν προσήνεγκαν αὐτῷ δῶρα χρυσὸν καὶ λίβανον καὶ σμύρναν

«And falling down, they worshiped him; and opening their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold and frankincense and myrrh.» — Matthew 2:11

Gold (chrysos, G5557) and frankincense (libanos, G3030). These are the standard Septuagint Greek words for Isaiah 60:6's zahav and levonah. The cargo Isaiah sent from Midian and Ephah and Sheba arrives at the feet of the infant Christ in the hands of Magi from the east.

What does this mean? The canon does not say Matthew identifies the Magi as Keturah's literal descendants — that would be reading more than the text gives. What the text gives is the lexical chain:

• A son sent east with gifts (Genesis 25:6)
• A mother whose name means «incense» (Genesis 25:1)
• Her grandchildren named in a prophecy of east-to-west tribute (Isaiah 60:6)
• Magi from the east arriving with that cargo (Matthew 2:11)

The send-away is reversible. Whatever the Magi's exact pedigree, they walk the road Genesis 25:6 opened, carrying the freight Isaiah 60:6 promised. Jesus later says it directly:

Many will come from east and west and will recline at the table with Abraham and Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven. — Matthew 8:11

The full study traces all five eastern names, the Hebrew-to-Greek correspondences, and the Revelation 21:13 closing where the new Jerusalem's eastern gates open back toward where the dispatched sons were sent.