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Jeremiah 35
These were the Rechabites, of whom we seem to learn from 1Ch_2:55, that they were identical with or a branch of the Kenites, who were of the family of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, and came with the Israelites into Palestine and there continued to lead their former mode of life, as in the instance of Heber the Kenite, Jdg_4:11. When, therefore, we are told that Jonadab, the son (descendant) of Rechab, and who is generally conceived to be the person of the same name and designation who lived in the time of Jehu, and whose apparent sanction to his proceedings, that commissioned exterminator deemed important—when we are told that this person imposed upon this family the obligation never to build houses, but always to dwell in tents; and never to sow corn, or cultivate vineyards, or to drink wine, he did not impose upon them any new law of life, but bound them to the conservation of their then existing and ancient usages. All these, in fact, except the last, are such as belong to this form of life; and the last also now belongs to it among all the tribes of like habit in Western Asia, wine being forbidden to them as to other Moslems. Why Jonadab should have added this to the proper peculiarities of their condition, may be supposed to be that they might not be tempted to plant vineyards in order to obtain wine, and thereby become fixed to particular localities, and insensibly sink into (or rise into) cultivators of the soil. By prohibiting the two principal branches of culture, this was rendered impossible so long as his injunction should be observed. It is possible that the Kenites had, in his time, evinced some disposition to exchange their mode of life for the settled, and, as it may have seemed to them, the more comfortable, one of the Hebrews among whom they sojourned, and that Jonadab was averse to this alteration, and tool, measures to prevent it in the Rechabite branch of the family. There is no reason to suppose that in this he had any religious or ascetic motives, but merely the prudential one which he assigns—“That ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.” This has been variously understood. We take it to mean, that seeing the land was divided among the tribes and families of Israel, any attempt on their part to become proprietors and cultivators of land, would speedily bring them into collision with the Israelites, and end in their expulsion from the country. In the unquestioned use of the commons and open pastures, they derived great advantage in their existing condition of life.
To this people Jeremiah was instructed to offer wine. It is observable that he said only, “Drink ye wine:” not the customary formula, which would have given it the shape of “Thus saith the Lord, Drink ye wine”—for it is probable, indeed it is all but certain, that they would then have obeyed; the obligation of obedience to a command thus enforced, being far greater than that of obedience to the injunction of their ancestor. As it was, they felt themselves at liberty respectfully to decline this invitation. They said, “We do not drink wine;” and proceeded to give the interesting recital of their forefather’s injunction, which they affirmed had always been strictly obeyed during the three hundred years which had elapsed since it was delivered.
Upon this Jeremiah proceeded, with great force, to contrast this regard of the Rechabites to the simple injunction of their long since deceased ancestor, with the Israelites’ habitual neglect of the Lord’s warnings and commands, though pressed upon them with constant urgency by his servants the prophets.
Then, he commended the Rechabites for their faithfulness, saying, “Thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, Because you have obeyed the command of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he hath commanded you: Therefore thus saith the Lord of Hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before Me forever.”
This promise has attracted great attention, reasonably suggesting that the Rechabites are still in existence, and may yet be found. We abstain from repeating the attempts that have been made to trace them historically in the later history of the Jews. It may suffice to state, that some suppose that they went into captivity with the Jews and returned with them. This we doubt. Pastoral tribes do not go into captivity, as it is always open to them to flee into the deserts, where they cannot be followed, and where they only can subsist. Besides, the Chaldeans only took captives of the sort of people they wanted—and they were not likely to want nomad tribes, which were but too abundant in their territories and upon their borders already. We therefore agree with those who think it more probable that they withdrew into Arabia; and if they did that, it is not very likely that they would return into Palestine after the captivity.
The question is, therefore, if any trace of them can be found among the Arabian tribes. It must confessedly be difficult to distinguish them now, because the only distinctive feature of their external condition, that of abstinence from wine, is now common to all the Arab tribes. It might, however, be possible that we should find a tribe of Bedouin habits of life, observing certain Jewish usages, and acquainted with the Hebrew Scriptures. But we should have no ground on which to conclude that these were Rechabites—they might be a tribe of Bedouin Jews. Such we know there were in and before the time of Mohammed, and such there may be now. Assuming that the ancient Rechabites were proselytes to the Jewish religion, as seems to be evinced by the fact, that Jeremiah took them into the temple, we could only identify them by finding that they added to Bedouin habits and Jewish knowledge, a claim to this origin, and that although Jews in religion, they abstained from wine. Only on these two narrow grounds would it be possible to distinguish them from Bedouin Jews on the one hand, and from Bedouin Arabs on the other. The information which requires to be tested by these rules must engage our attention tomorrow.