14 Performed have been the words of Jonadab son of Rechab, when he commanded his sons not to drink wine, and they have not drunk unto this day, for they have obeyed the command of their father; and I -- I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened unto Me.
That a rebellious people `is' this, sons -- liars, Sons not willing to hear the law of Jehovah.
And now, because of your doing all these works, An affirmation of Jehovah, And I speak unto you, rising early and speaking, And ye have not hearkened, And I call you, and ye have not answered,
Wherefore have I come, and there is no one? I called, and there is none answering, Hath My hand been at all short of redemption? And is there not in me power to deliver? Lo, by My rebuke I dry up a sea, I make rivers a wilderness, Their fish stinketh, for there is no water, And dieth with thirst.
For I certainly testified against your fathers, In the day of My bringing them up out of the land of Egypt -- till this day, Rising early and testifying, saying, Hearken to My voice,
`From the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah, and unto this day -- this three and twentieth year -- hath the word of Jehovah been unto me, and I speak unto you, rising early and speaking, and ye have not hearkened; And Jehovah hath sent unto you all His servants, the prophets, rising early and sending, and ye have not hearkened, nor inclined your ear to hear, saying:
And Jehovah, God of their fathers, sendeth unto them by the hand of His messengers -- rising early and sending -- for He hath had pity on His people, and on His habitation, and they are mocking at the messengers of God, and despising His words, and acting deceitfully with His prophets, till the going up of the fury of Jehovah against His people -- till there is no healing.
`And they are disobedient, and rebel against Thee, and cast Thy law behind their back, and Thy prophets they have slain, who testified against them, to bring them back unto Thee, and they do great despisings,
`And Thou drawest over them many years, and testifiest against them by Thy Spirit, by the hand of Thy prophets, and they have not given ear, and Thou dost give them into the hand of peoples of the lands,
Wisdom in an out-place crieth aloud, In broad places she giveth forth her voice, At the head of the multitudes she calleth, In the openings of the gates, In the city her sayings she saith: `Till when, ye simple, do ye love simplicity? And have scorners their scorning desired? And do fools hate knowledge? Turn back at my reproof, lo, I pour forth to you my spirit, I make known my words with you. Because I have called, and ye refuse, I stretched out my hand, and none is attending, And ye slight all my counsel, And my reproof ye have not desired. I also in your calamity do laugh, I deride when your fear cometh, When your fear cometh as destruction, And your calamity as a hurricane doth come, When on you come adversity and distress. Then they call me, and I do not answer, They seek me earnestly, and find me not. Because that they have hated knowledge, And the fear of Jehovah have not chosen. They have not consented to my counsel, They have despised all my reproof, And they eat of the fruit of their way, And from their own counsels they are filled. For the turning of the simple slayeth them, And the security of the foolish destroyeth them. And whoso is hearkening to me dwelleth confidently, And `is' quiet from fear of evil!'
And they have not hearkened, nor inclined their ear, And they walk in the counsels, In the stubbornness, of their evil heart, And are for backward, and not for forward. Even from the day when your fathers Went out of the land of Egypt till this day, I send to you all my servants the prophets, Daily rising early and sending, And they have not hearkened unto Me, Nor inclined their ear, and harden their neck, They have done evil above their fathers.
To hearken to the words of My servants the prophets, whom I am sending unto you, yea, rising early and sending, and ye have not hearkened,
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 35
Commentary on Jeremiah 35 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Example of the Rechabites
By the command of God, Jeremiah brings the family of the Rechabites (who had fled for refuge to Jerusalem before the approach of the Chaldeans) into one of the chambers of the temple, and sets before them some wine to drink (Jeremiah 35:1-5). They decline to drink, because the head of their family had forbidden them the use of wine, as well as the possession of houses and the cultivation of the soil, and had commanded them to live in tents (Jeremiah 35:6-11). Jeremiah is to put this before the people of Judah. The Rechabites faithfully observe the command of their ancestor, while the people of Judah transgress the commands of their God, which are continually presented to them (Jeremiah 35:12-16). Therefore the threatened calamity shall fall upon Judah; but the house of Rechab, as a reward for their faithfulness to the injunctions of their ancestor, shall continue for ever (Jeremiah 35:17-19).
According to Jeremiah 35:1, this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, and, according to Jeremiah 35:11, previous to the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar and his host before Jerusalem; therefore perhaps in the summer of the year 606 b.c., for Jerusalem was taken for the first time by Nebuchadnezzar in the ninth month (December) of that year.
Jeremiah's dealings with the Rechabites - Jeremiah 35:2. Jeremiah is to go to the house, i.e., the family, of the Rechabites, speak with them, and bring them into tone of the chambers of the temple, and set before them wine to drink. בּית , Jeremiah 35:2, Jeremiah 35:3, Jeremiah 35:18, is exchanged for בּני בית־הרכבים , Jeremiah 35:5, from which it is apparent that "the house of the Rechabites" does not mean their dwelling-place, but the family, called in 1 Chronicles 2:55 בּית־רכב . According to this passage, the Rechabites were a branch of the Kenites, i.e., descendants of the Kenite , the father-in-law of Moses (Judges 1:16), who had gone to Canaan with the Israelites, and welt among them, partly in the wilderness on the southern frontier of the tribe of Judah (1 Samuel 15:6; 1 Samuel 27:10; 1 Samuel 30:29), partly at Kadesh in Naphtali (Judges 4:11, Judges 4:17; Judges 5:24). Their ancestor, or father of the tribe, was Rechab, the father of Jonadab, with whom Jehu made a friendly alliance (2 Kings 10:15, 2 Kings 10:23). Jonadab had laid on them the obligation to live in the special manner mentioned below, in order to keep them in the simplicity of nomad life observed by their fathers, and to preserve them from the corrupting influences connected with a settled life. לשׁכות , "cells of the temple," were additional buildings in the temple fore-courts, used partly for keeping the stores of the temple (1 Chronicles 28:12), partly as dwellings for those who served in it, and as places of meeting for those who came to visit it; see Ezekiel 40:17.
Jeremiah 35:3-4
In executing the command of the Lord, Jeremiah took (went for) Jaazaniah, son of Jeremiah, son of Habaziniah, and all his brethren, and sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, and brought them into the temple-chamber of the sons of Hanan. Jaazaniah was probably the then chief of the Rechabites. The chamber of the sons of Hanan was situated next the princes' chamber, which stood over that of Maaseiah the door-keeper. Nothing further is known about Hanan the son of Jigdaliah; here he is called "the man of God," an honourable title of the prophets - see e.g., 1 Kings 12:22 - for, according to the usual mode of construction, אישׁ האלהים does not belong to Jigdaliah , but to Hanan , cf. Jeremiah 28:1; Zechariah 1:1. "The chamber of the princes" is the chamber where the princes, the chiefs of the people, used to assemble in the temple. Its position is more exactly described by ממּעל לל , "over the chamber of Maaseiah," but not very clearly for us, since the buildings of the temple fore-courts are nowhere else more exactly described; however, see on Jeremiah 36:10. Maaseiah was שׁמר הסּף , "keeper of the threshold," i.e., overseer of the watchmen of the temple gates, of which, according to Jeremiah 52:24 and 2 Kings 25:18, there were three, who are there mentioned along with the high priest and his substitute Maaseiah is probably the same whose son Zephaniah was כּהן המּשׁנה , cf. Jeremiah 52:24 with Jeremiah 37:3; Jeremiah 29:25, and Jeremiah 21:1.
Jeremiah 35:5-7
There, Jeremiah caused bowls filled with wine to be set before the Rechabites, and commanded them to drink. ( גּביעים are large goblets, bowls, out of which drinking-cups [ כּסות ] were filled.) But they explained that they did not drink wine, because their father, i.e., their ancestor, Jonadab had forbidden them and their posterity to drink wine for ever, as also to build houses, to sow seed, and to plant vineyards, i.e., to settle themselves down in permanent dwellings and to pursue agriculture. ולא יהיה לכם , "And there shall not be to you," sc. what has just been named, i.e., ye must not possess houses, growing-crops, or vineyards (cf. Jeremiah 35:9),
(Note: These injunctions, given by Jonadab to his posterity, that he might make them always lead a nomad life, are quoted by Diodorus Siculus, xix. 94, as a law among the Nabateans: Νόμος ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς μήτε σίτον σπείρειν, μήτε φυτεύειν μηδὲν φυτὸν καρποφόρον, μήτε οἴνῳ χρῆσθαι, μήτε οἰκίαν κατασεκυάζειν ; while the object of the law is stated to have been the maintenance of their freedom against the more powerful who sought to bring them into subjection. And even at the present day the Bedouins imagine that they are prevented, by the nobility of their descent from Ishmael, from engaging in agriculture, handicraft, or the arts; cf. Arvieux, Sitten der Beduinen-Araber , 5f.)
but ye are to dwell in tents all your life, that ye may live long, etc. This promise is an imitation of that found in Exodus 20:12.
Jeremiah 35:8-11
This command of their forefather they observe in all points, and therefore dwell in tents; and only because of Nebuchadnezzar's arrival in the country have they come to Jerusalem, in order to find refuge for a time from the army of the Chaldeans and that of Aram (the Arameans). The special mention of the army of Aram in connection with that of the Chaldeans is perhaps due to the frequent predatory incursions made, at an earlier period, on Israel and Judah by the Syrians. According to 2 Kings 24:2, after Jehoiakim had rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, hostile bands of Arameans invaded Judah for the purpose of laying waste the country.
The example of the Rechabites is one for Judah . - Jeremiah is to proclaim the word of the Lord to the people of Judah, as follows: Jeremiah 35:13. "Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction by listening to my words? saith Jahveh. Jeremiah 35:14. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, who commanded this sons not to drink wine, are performed, and they have drunk no wine to this day, but have obeyed the command of their father. But I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking, yet ye have not listened unto me. Jeremiah 35:15. And I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Turn ye, now, every one from his evil way, and do good deeds, and do not go after other gods, to serve them; then shall ye dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers. But ye did not incline your ear, nor hearken unto me. Jeremiah 35:16. Yea, the children of Jonadab the son of Rechab have observed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, while this people have not hearkened unto me. Jeremiah 35:17. Therefore, thus saith Jahveh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon Judah and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil which I have uttered regarding them, because I spake unto them and they did not hear, and I called unto them, but they did not answer. Jeremiah 35:18. And to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have listened to the command of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his commandments, and have done according to all that he commanded you, Jeremiah 35:19. Therefore, thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever."