2. A son or descendant of Kechab, the progenitor of a peculiar tribe, who held themselves bound by a vow to abstain from wine, and never to relinquish the no- madic life (Jer. xxxv, G-19). See Keciiab. It appears from 1 Chron. ii, 55 that his father or ancestor Kechab (" the rider") belonged to a branch of the Kenites, the Arabian tribe whicii entered I'alestine with the Israel- ites. One settlement of them was to be found in the extreme north, under tlic ( liiilciinsliip of Heber (Judg. iv, 11), retaining their ncili.uiii cnsionis under the oak which derived its name IVdin llirir nomadic habits. The main settlement was in the south. Of these, one branch had nestled in the cliffs of Engedi (Judg. i, 16; Numb, xxiv, 21). Another had returned to the frontier of their native wilderness on the south of Judah (.hidg. i, 16). A third was established, under a fourfold divi- sion, at or near the town of Jabez, in Judah (1 Chron. ii, 55). See Kenite. To which of these branches Re- chab and his son Jehonadab belonged is uncertain ; he was evidently, however, the chieftain of an important family, if not the generally acknowledged head of the entire clan. The Bedouin habits, which were kept up by the various branches of the Kenite tribe (see Judg. i, 16; iv, 11), were inculcated by Jehonadab with the utmost minuteness on his descendants or retainers ; the more so, perhaps, from their being brought into closer connection with the inhabitants of the settled districts. The vow or rule which he prescribed to them is pre- served to us : " Ye shall drinl; no wine, neither ye nor your sons forever. Neither shall ye build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers" (Jer. xxxv, 6, 7). This life, partly monastic, partly Bedouin, was observed with the tenacity with which, from gen- eration to generation, such customs are continued in Arab tribes; and when, many years after the death of Jehonadab, the Rechabites (as they were called from his father) were forced to take refuge from the Chaidsean invasion within the walls of Jerusalem, nothing would induce them to transgress the rule of their ancestor, and, in consequence, a blessing was i)ronounced upon him and them by the prophet Jeremiah (xxxv. 19) : '-Jon- adab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before me forever." See Rechabite.
Bearing in mind this general character of Jehonadab , as an Arab chief, and the founder of a half-religious sect, perhaps in connection with the austere Elijah, and the Nazarites mentioned in Amos ii, 11 (see Ewald, Al- terthiimer, p. 92, 93), we are the better able to under- stand the single occasion on which he appears before us in the historical narrative (2 Kings x, 15 sq.). B.C. 883. Jehu was advancing, after the slaughter of Beth- eked, on the city of Samaria, when he suddenly met the austere Bedouin coming towards him (2 Kings x, 15). It seems that they were already known to each other (Josephus, .1 nt. ix", 6, 6). The king was in his chariot ; the Arab was on foot. It is not altogether certain which was the first to speak. The Hebrew text — followed by the A. v.— implies that the king blessed (A. Vers, "sa- luted") Jehonadab. The Sept. and Josephus {Ant. ix, 6, 6) imply that Jehonadab blessed the king. Each would have its peculiar appropriateness. The king then proposed their close union. " Is thy heart right, as my heart is with thy heart ?" The answer of Jehon- adab is slightly varied. In the Hebrew text he vehe- mently replies, " It is, it is : give me thine hand." In the Sept. and in the A. V., he replies simply, " It is ;" and Jehu then rejoins, " If it is. give me thine hand." The hand, whether of Jehonadab or Jehu, was offered
JEHONATHAN-
804
JEHORAM
and grasped. The king lifted him up to the edge of 1 the chariot, apparently that he might whisper his se- | cret into his ear, and said, " Come with me, and see my zeal for Jehovah." It was the first indication of Jehu's design upon the worship of Baal, for which he perceived that the stern zealot would be a fit coadjutor. Having intrusted him with the secret, he (Sept.) or his attend- ants (Heb. and A.Y.) caused Jehonadab to proceed with him to Samaria in the royal chariot. Jehonadab was evidently held in great respect among the Israelites generally ; and Jehu was alive to the importance of ob- taining the countenance and sanction of such a man to liis proceeilings ; and as it is expressly said that Jehon- adab went out to meet Jehu, it seems probable that the people of Samaria, alarmed at the menacing letter which they had received from Jehu, had induced Jehonadab to go to meet and appease him on the road. His vener- ated character, his rank as the head of a tribe, and his neutral position, well qualified him for this mission ; and it was quite as much the interest of Jehonadab to concil- iate the new dynasty, in whose founder he beheld the minister of the divine decrees, as it was that of Jehu to obtain his concurrence and support in proceedings which he could not but know were likely to render him odious to the people. So completely had the worship of Baal become the national religion, that even Jehonadab was able to conceal his purpose under the mask of conformi- ty. No doubt he acted in concert with Jehu throughout; but the only occasion on which he is expressly men- tioned is when (probably from his previous knowledge of the secret worshippers of Jehovah) he went with Jehu through the temple of Baal to turn out any that there might happen to be in the mass of pagan wor- sliippers ('2 Kings x, 23).— Smith; Kitto. See Jehu.