Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
2. Go unto the house ] The family (so in 3, 5, 18; Gen 7:1, etc.) are meant, not the dwelling-houses. See Jer 35:7. It was some years after the burning of the Roll (in Jehoiakim’s fourth year), and it appears that the prophet could again appear in public without risk (see Jer 36:19; Jer 36:26).
of the Rechabites ] They were a wandering tribe of Kenite descent (1Ch 2:55) and thus connected with Moses’ brother-in-law (Jdg 1:16). Some of that family had settled in the south of Judah ( ib.), others near Kedesh in Naphtali (Jdg 4:11). This branch however were nomad.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
The house – The family.
The Rechabites – The Rechabites were a nomadic tribe not of Jewish but of Kenite race, and connected with the Amalekites Num 24:21; 1Sa 15:6, from whom however they had separated themselves, and made a close alliance with the tribe of Judah Jdg 1:16, on whose southern borders they took up their dwelling 1Sa 27:10. While, however, the main body of the Kenites gradually adopted settled habits, and dwelt in cities 1Sa 30:29, the Rechabites persisted in leading the free desert life, and in this determination they were finally confirmed by the influence and authority of Jonadab, who lived in Jehus reign. He was a zealous adherent of Yahweh 2Ki 10:15-17, and possibly a religious reformer; and as the names of the men mentioned in the present narrative are all compounded with Yah, it is plain that the tribe continued their allegiance to Him.
The object of Jonadab in endeavoring to preserve the nomad habits of his race was probably twofold. He wished first to maintain among them the purer morality and higher feeling of the desert contrasted with the laxity and effeminacy of the city life; and secondly he was anxious for the preservation of their freedom. Their punctilious obedience Jer 35:14 to Jonadabs precepts is employed by Jeremiah to point a useful lesson for his own people.
The date of the prophecy is the interval between the battle of Carchemish and the appearance of Nebuchadnezzar at Jerusalem, Jer 35:11 at the end of the same year. It is consequently 17 years earlier than the narrative in Jer 34:8 ff
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 2. The house of the Rechabites] The Rechabites were not descendants of Jacob; they were Kenites, 1Ch 2:55, a people originally settled in that part of Arabia Petraea, called the land of Midian; and most probably the descendants of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Compare Nu 10:29-32, with Jdg 1:16; Jdg 4:11.
Those mentioned here seem to have been a tribe of Nomades or Scenite Arabs, who fed their flocks in the deserts of Judea; they preserved the simple manners of their ancestors, considering the life of the inhabitants of cities and large towns as the death of liberty; believing that they would dishonour themselves by using that sort of food that would oblige them to live a sedentary life. Jonadab, one of their ancestors, had required his children and descendants to abide faithful to the customs of their forefathers; to continue to live in tents, and to nourish themselves on the produce of their flocks; to abstain from the cultivation of the ground, and from that particularly of the vine and its produce. His descendants religiously observed this rule, till the time when the armies of the Chaldeans had entered Judea; when, to preserve their lives, they retired within the walls of Jerusalem. But even there we find, from the account in this chapter, they did not quit their frugal manner of life: but most scrupulously observed the law of Jonadab their ancestor, and probably of this family.
When the children of Hobab, or Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, were invited by him to accompany them in their journeying to the Promised Land, it is very likely that they continued their ancient usages, and lived a patriarchal life. Their property, consisting in nothing but their cattle and tents, was easily removable from place to place; and their manner of living was not likely to excite the envy or jealousy of those who had learnt to relish the luxuries of life; and therefore we may naturally conclude that as they were enemies to none, so they had no enemies themselves. Nature has few wants. Most of those which we feel are factitious; and howsoever what we call civilization may furnish us with the conveniences and comforts of life, let us not deceive ourselves by supposing that these very things do not create the very wants which they are called in to supply; and most certainly do not contribute to the comfort of life, when the term of life is considerably abridged by their use. But it is time to return to the case of the Rechabites before us.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
These
Rechabites had their name from Rechab their father, who, as appears from 1Ch 2:55, descended from Hemath, who was a Kenite, who is also called Hobab, Jdg 4:11 (unless it may be Hameth who was the son of Hobab). This Hobab was Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, as appears from Jdg 4:11. We read, Jdg 1:16, that his children went up out of the city of palm trees with the children of Judah, which lieth in the south of Arad, and they went and dwelt among the people. The Rechabites here mentioned descended from this stock. Jehonadab, mentioned 2Ki 10:15, was of this family, a man of some note, as appeareth by Jehus taking him there into his chariot. God commandeth the prophet to bring some of this family into the temple, into some of the chambers; for in and about the temple were several chambers for the priests, and where they disposed of the holy garments and several oblations, 1Ki 6:5,6,10; 1Ch 28:11,12. God commands Jeremiah to bring these Rechabites into some of these chambers, and to set wine before them. This was either for the more publicness of the thing, or, it may be, for the reproof of the priests who drank too much wine.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
2. Rechabitesa nomadic tribebelonging to the Kenites of Hemath (1Ch2:55), of the family of Jethro, or Hobab, Moses’ father-in-law(Exo 18:9; Num 10:29-32;Jdg 1:16). They came into Canaanwith the Israelites, but, in order to preserve their independence,chose a life in tents without a fixed habitation (1Sa15:6). Besides the branch of them associated with Judah andextending to Amalek, there was another section at Kadesh, in Naphtali(Jdg 4:11; Jdg 4:17).They seem to have been proselytes of the gate, Jonadab, son ofRechab, whose charge not to drink wine they so strictly obeyed, waszealous for God (2Ki10:15-23). The Nabatheans of Arabia observed the same rules[DIODORUS SICULUS,19.94].
bring . . . into . . . houseof . . . Lordbecause there were suitable witnesses at handthere from among the priests and chief men, as also because he hadthe power immediately to address the people assembled there (Jer35:13). It may have been also as a reproof of the priests, whodrank wine freely, though commanded to refrain from it when in thedischarge of their duties [CALVIN].
chamberswhich wereround about the temple, applied to various uses, for example, tocontain the vestments, sacred vessels, &c.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Go unto the house of the Rechabites,…. Or “family” c; these are the same with the Kenites, who descended from Hobab or Jethro, Moses’s father in law, Jud 1:16; these, as their ancestors, became proselytes to Israel, and always continued with them, though a distinct people from them; these here had their name from Rechab, a famous man in his time among those people:
and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord; into the temple; for they were worshippers of the true God, though foreigners and uncircumcised persons; and so might be admitted into places belonging to the temple:
into one of the chambers; of the temple, where there were many; some for the sanhedrim to sit in; others for the priests to lay up their garments and the vessels of the sanctuary in; and others for the prophets and their disciples to converse in together about religious matters:
and give them wine to drink; set it before them, and invite them to drink of it, and thereby try their steady obedience to their father’s commands. Now this family was brought to the temple either in vision, as it seemed to the prophet; or really, which latter is most probable; and that for this reason, that this affair might be transacted publicly, and many might he witnesses of it, and take the rebuke given by it; and, as some think, to reproach the priests for their intemperance.
c “ad familiam”, Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
Go, said he, to the house of Rechab, (we have said that they dwelt then at Jerusalem, and this will appear hereafter) and bring them unto the house of Jehovah But we must inquire why the Prophet was ordered to lay wine before them in the Temple rather than in a private house. The reason, indeed, is evident; for God’s purpose was to shew how wicked and perverse the Jews were, for not even the priests abstained from wine except when they were performing their duties. The Law commanded them to abstain then from wine; but the Levites, who took care of the Temple, and also the priests, when not engaged in the discharge of their office, were fully allowed to drink wine. As, then, the priests were permitted to drink wine even in the Temple, that is, in the chambers adjoining the priests’ court, what excuse could have been made when the Rechabites, who were yet of the common people, and even aliens among the Jews, refused wine according to the command of their father Jenadab? Had God forbidden the whole people the use of wine, the Law might have appeared too rigid; but God not only permitted the people to drink wine, but also the priests; nay, no religious reverence prevented them from drinking wine close to the Temple when they were not engaged in their duties. We now, then, perceive why the place has been mentioned, that is, that the Prophet relates that he brought the Rechabites into the Temple.
Go, then, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the chambers, and offer them wine to drink We have said that the chambers were nigh the priests’ court; for many of the Levites were always keeping watch, guarding the Temple, and also some of the priests. The priests, while serving their turn, alone abstained from wine; but a permission was given by the Law to the Levites to drink wine, and in those very chambers, which were on both sides a sort of appendages to the Temple.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(2) Go unto the house of the Rechabites . . .The word house is used throughout the chapter in the sense of family. Among those who had thus taken refuge were the tribe, or sect, or even fraternity known by this name. Their founder was the Jonadab, or Jehonadab, who appears as the ally of Jehu in the overthrow of the house of Ahab (2Ki. 10:15). It is clear from that history that he exercised an influence over the people which Jehu was glad to secure, and that he welcomed the zeal for the Lord which led Jehu to the massacre of the worshippers of Baal. He is described as the son of Rechab, but seeing that that name, which means chariot, was applied to the great Tishbite prophet, as in the chariot of Israel, and the horsemen thereof (2Ki. 2:12), it has been thought, with some probability, that the name son of Rechab means Son of the chariot (so in later Jewish history we have Bar-cochba = son of the star), i.e., disciple of the great prophet. Anyhow, the life which Jonadab enforced on his followers presented all the characteristic features of that of Elijah. It was a protest against the Baal-worship that had flowed into Israel from Phoenicia, against the corruption of the life of cities, against the intemperance which was tainting the life of Israel (Amo. 6:4-6). It reminds us in this respect of the more ascetic sects, such as the Wahabees of Arabia in the eighteenth century (see Burckhardts Bedouins and Wahabys, p. 283; Palgraves Arabia), that have at times arisen among the followers of Mahomet. It has some points of resemblance to the Mendicant Orders of mediaeval Christendom. From 1Ch. 2:55 it appears that the house of Rechab belonged to the Kenites who had joined the Israelites on their exodus from Egypt, and had settled in their lands, retaining their old habits (Jdg. 1:16; Jdg. 4:11; Num. 10:29-32; 1Sa. 15:6; 1Sa. 27:10). Such a people naturally retained many of the habits of patriarchal life, and it is not improbable that Elijah himself issued from their tents.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
2. House of the Rechabites Their family. By the example of their obedience Jeremiah condemned the disobedience of the Jews. Bring them into the house of the Lord, etc. First that the test might be a public one, and so the result known: and second, possibly because there may have been in this an implied censure of the loose ways of the priests, who made the chambers of the temple scenes of conviviality.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 35:2. Go unto the house of the Rechabites Several learned men are of opinion, that the Jonadab mentioned in this chapter was not the same with him who is mentioned 2Ki 10:15 for they think it is not likely that a man addicted to so quiet and retired a life as he instituted, would have come to meet Jehu. But why might not Jonadab, how well soever he loved retirement, come upon this occasion to congratulate Jehu’s zeal against idolatry, and to advise and encourage him to proceed in fulfilling the word of God revealed to him? The reason is obvious, why Jehu might be glad of the countenance and company of such a man, whose known piety would gain him more respect than the attendance of any great captain could procure him. But though Jonadab the son of Rechab is allowed to have been a good man, yet it does not therefore follow that he received the ancient rules of the Rechabites, as some think, purely upon a religious account, but as a matter of policy. The history is this: the Rechabites were of the race of Hobab or Jethro the Kenite, priest of Midian, and father-in-law to Moses: 1Ch 2:55. So that the Rechabites were Midianites, and the Midianites were dwellers in tents from the beginning; for in this manner Abraham lived while he sojourned in the land of Canaan; and, in imitation of him, the Midianites, who were of his posterity, might do the same. Now, when the children of Hobab, who were all Kenites, were invited by Moses to go with the people of God into Canaan, they might retain this pastoral manner of life; not only as a badge of the nation from which they were descended, but as a means likewise to make their habitation more quiet and secure, in a land where they were strangers, both from the envy of the Jews at home, and from the danger of enemies abroad; for, having neither houses nor lands, but tents and cattle only, which they move upon occasion from place to place, they could not be so subject to hostile invasion: but as in a course of time these Kenites were tempted by the more pleasant living of the Israelites, to think of changing this custom of their ancestors, this Jonadab the son of Rechab, a famous Kenite, and of much esteem and authority among them, took occasion to renew it again, and to bind his posterity to observe it. For which end he forbad the drinking of wine, lest the desire of so delicious a liquor might tempt them to plant vineyards and build houses as the Jews did. What authority he had to enforce these arbitrary injunctions, we cannot learn. It is plain, that he laid his posterity under no curse in case of disobedience. On the contrary, we find that our prophet was here directed by God to bring them to an apartment in the temple, to set wine before them, and invite them to drink, which would have been an unworthy action, if they had been under an indispensable obligation to abstain from it; and on the other hand the Rechabites refused it, not because their father laid them under any curse if they disobeyed him; but because he promised that they should live many days in the land wherein they were strangers, if they obeyed his voice, Jer 35:7 which promise being also made to those who honoured their parents, might the more incline them to that strict obedience for which they are so highly commended by God. Upon the whole, therefore, it appears, that Jonadab only renewed what his ancestors had observed long before he was born; and that his authority prevailed among his brethren to continue this form of abstinence for two hundred years after he was dead, rather as a civil custom than as a matter of religion. See Bishop Patrick and Bedford’s Scripture Chronology, book 6: chap. 2. Instead of house, Houbigant reads, family of the Rechabites; and so Jer 35:3.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Jer 35:2 Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
Ver. 2. Go unto the house of the Rechabites. ] So called of one Rechab, the father of, Jonadab, who was famous for his piety in Jehu’s days, 2Ki 10:15 three hundred years at least before this prophecy of Jeremiah. They were of the posterity of Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law, and lived up and down in the land upon their employments, weaned from the world, and exercising themselves in the law of God. See 1Ch 2:55 , where they are called the “families of the scribes that dwelt at Jabez,” as being men learned in the laws of God. Of them came the Essenes, a studious and abstemious sect among the Jews; and they might better than those Donatists have taken to themselves the title of Apotactici, so called from their renouncing the world.
And give them wine to drink.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
house. Put by Figure of speech Metonymy (of Adjunct), for the descendants of Rechab, through Jonadab his son. who became their chieftain and lawgiver. Compare Jer 35:6.
Rechabites They were descended from Hobab, the brother-inlaw of Moses. A Kenite tribe, who migrated with Israel to Canaan. Compare Num 10:29 with Jdg 1:16; Jdg 4:11-17; Jdg 5:24. 1Sa 15:6. They were proselytes, not idolaters; inhabiting the wilderness south of Judah.
one of the chambers. There were many, for various purposes of the Temple worship. Compare Jer 36:10 with 1Ki 6:5. 1Ch 9:27. Neh 13:4-12.
wine. Hebrew. yayin. [fermented wine] App-27.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
the house: Jer 35:8, 2Ki 10:15, 2Ki 10:16, 1Ch 2:55
into one: Jer 35:4, 1Ki 6:5, 1Ki 6:6, 1Ki 6:10, 1Ch 9:26, 1Ch 23:28, 2Ch 3:9, 2Ch 31:11, Ezr 8:29, Neh 13:5, Neh 13:8, Neh 13:9, Eze 40:7-13, Eze 40:16, Eze 41:5-11, Eze 42:4-13
Reciprocal: Exo 1:21 – made them Jdg 1:16 – the Kenite 2Ki 11:2 – in the bedchamber 1Ch 28:11 – upper chambers Jer 35:5 – Drink Eze 40:29 – the little Act 10:13 – Rise
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
THE RECHABITES
The, house of the Rechabites.
Jer 35:2
Among the tribes that sought safety in Jerusalem one attracted universal notice. It was the family of the Rechabites, who had come to Jerusalem for shelter. They had never lodged within city walls before, for they were gipsies, and their dwellings were in tents, and we may be sure that only stern necessity could have driven them within the city gates. They were not Jews, though they dwelt among the Jews, for they came of a stock that was native to the land. They were not idolaters, either in name or practice, for they worshipped God and clung fast to His laws. Yet they stood apart, like men who had a tradition of their own, and who scorned to accommodate themselves, even in Jerusalem, to the common life and habits of the people. The founder of that strange tribe was Jonadab. Yet it was not from Jonadab they took their name, but from Jonadabs father Rechab; it was he who gave the tribe its name of Rechabites, a title that is perpetuated to this day. It is notable that the word Rechab means a rider, a fitting title for a friend of Jehus. He may have won his name from the daring of his horsemanship, and may have commended himself to Jehu thus. But everything is so shadowy about Rechab, that some have even questioned his existence, and thought of Jonadab as the disciple of Elijah, who was the chariot of Israel and the horseman thereof.
I. Now, what was the distinguishing feature of this family?It was their severe simplicity of life. They were the Protestants and Puritans of Palestine, in a time of moral corruption and decay. We hear a deal of the simple life to-day, and that was the life which was practised by the Rechabites. They were apostles of the simple life, but their simplicity was born of patriotism. A good deal of the present craze for the simple life is based on the desire for better health. But the severe simplicity of this old family was Puritanism of the noblest kind; the high reaction of reasonable men against that moral corruption which is death. They saw the havoc that luxury was making of a people who were in covenant with God. They saw how the showy life of the great city was sapping all that was deepest in the nation. And they saw what ruin was being wrought by drink, and how it was degrading men and women, and how from the highest circles to the lowest it was claiming its victims by the thousand. Against all this the Rechabites stood firm, protesting not in word, but by their lives. They lived in tents, in a life of simple hardihood; they built no houses and they sowed no seed. But, above all, they refused to touch strong drink, not just because of its peril to themselves, but because they recognised the blight it cast on all that was the fairest in the nations life. It was this that attracted Jeremiahs notice, and led him to use this tribe to shame his people. How brave and true they were, these uncouth menhow staunch to their pledge, how incorruptible! If the prophet could but inspire his people with that spirit, and keep them true to covenant and pledge, he knew that the thunder-clouds that were now gathering would pass away before the breath of God.
II. The great lesson of the Rechabites for us is the patriotic bearings of our conduct.Patriotism, like charity, begins at home, in the kind of life that we are leading there. It is not every one who can fight his countrys battles, or serve his land in the heroic way. It is not every one who is called upon by God to take an open part in public matters. But every one is summoned to be good, and to lead a life of purity and temperance, and he who faithfully does that is a better patriot than he imagines. It was Dr. Samuel Johnson who once said that patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel. He meant that a man whose character is worthless may talk in swelling words about his country. A patriotism like that is but a sham: there is nothing moral at the back of it; it never brings into the nations treasury that quiet strength which is the truest wealth. That lesson the prophet sought to teach, when he made these Rechabites his acted parable. In the long run, it is not strength of arm that saves a nation from being cast away. It is the lives that are obedient to the highest; that are lived in a growing scorn of what is bestial; that in an age of luxury and licence have the courage to be temperate and pure.
Illustration
Dr. Wolff met a tribe in Arabia who claimed to be Rechabites; and may we not infer that where there is a close adherence to great principles, there is also an element of persistence and permanence? Let us be as eager to please God and to do His will, as the Rechabites were in consulting the will and pleasure of their dead chieftain. The abstinent life is the strong, happy, and permanent one; and let us remember to dwell in tents because we look for the city (Heb 11:9-13).
Fuente: Church Pulpit Commentary
Jer 35:2. The value of a good example will be the subject of a number of verses. There was a family called the Rechabites dwelling in Jerusalem at the time of this story. Jeremiah was told to bring them into the house of the Lord and offer them wine.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Jer 35:2-4. Go to the house of the Rechabites The Rechabites, as may be collected from Jer 35:7, were not of the children of Israel, but strangers of another race that dwelt among them. From 1Ch 2:55, they appear to have been Kenites, a people originally settled in that part of Arabia Petra which was called the land of Midian. At what time Rechab lived, who gave his name to the family, is not certain, nor whether he was the immediate father, or remote ancestor of Jonadab; for the word son often denotes nothing more than a lineal descendant. But it is most likely that the Jonadab here spoken of, as having dictated a rule of living to the Rechabites, was the same person of whom mention is made 2Ki 10:15. For that this latter was a man of considerable eminence is manifest from the respect shown him by Jehu; and his being taken along with that prince to witness his zeal for the honour of the true God, shows him to have been a man of right and religious principles. The institutions he left with his posterity bespeak a principal concern for the purity of their morals, which he might rightly suppose would be less liable to be corrupted whilst they adhered to the simplicity of their ancient usages, than if they adopted the refinements of modern luxury. He, therefore, enjoined them not only to abstain from the use of wine, but to live as the patriarchs did of old, and as many of their countrymen, the Scenite Arabs, continue to do at this day, without any fixed habitations or possessions, far from the society of cities, in the open country, feeding their flocks, and maintaining themselves by the produce of them. Blaney. And bring them into the house of the Lord Into one of the chambers adjoining to the temple. By this it appears that the Rechabites were not idolaters, for it was not lawful for such persons to come within the precincts of the temple. I brought them into the chamber of the sons of Hanan The chambers adjoining to the temple, of which there were several, were for the use of the priests and Levites, during the time of their ministrations. They were also used as repositories for laying up the holy vestments, and vessels, and whatever stores were necessary for the daily sacrifices, and the other parts of the temple service. The son of Igdaliah, a man of God That is, as this name usually imports, a prophet, or one who had been employed upon a divine commission. Which was by the chamber of the princes The chamber where the princes, or the members of the sanhedrim, or great council, used to assemble. Above the chamber of Maaseiah, the keeper of the door That is, one of the keepers; for there were several Levites appointed to that office, both to open and shut the gates of the temple in due time, and likewise to attend at them all day, for preventing any thing that might happen to the prejudice of the purity, or safety of that holy place. Some of these officers had likewise the custody of the holy vessels.
Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
35:2 Go to the house of the {b} Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.
(b) They came from Hobab, Moses father-in-law, who was no Israelite, but later joined with them in the service of God.
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes
Jeremiah was to visit the Rechabite family and to bring them to the temple. In one of the rooms that surrounded the temple proper, Jeremiah was to give them wine to drink.
The Rechabites were a branch of the Kenite clan that descended from Jethro, Moses’ father-in-law (cf. Jdg 1:16; 1Ch 2:55). [Note: Gerald L. Keown, Jeremiah 26-52, pp. 195-96, wrote an extended excursus on the identity of the Rechabites. Keown wrote the commentary on chapters 35-45 and 52 for this volume.] They had previously settled in northern Israel (Jdg 4:17; Jdg 5:24) and in southern Judah (1Sa 15:6). Evidently Jonadab’s branch of the family had moved from the north into the Southern Kingdom following the Assyrian invasion of 722 B.C. (cf. Jer 35:6).