Yer. 2. — ^The house of the Beohabltes (" house " equivalent to " family "). From a notice in 1 Chron. ii. 55 it appears that the Rechabites were a subdivision of the Kenites, the nomad tribe so closely con- nected with the Israelites (Judg. i. 16; It. IS — 22; comp. Numb. x. 29), especially with the tribe of Judah (1 Sam. xxvii. 10; XXX. 29). The names of Jonadab and of Jaazaniah and his progenitors (which in- clude the sacred Name), together with the zeal of Jonaiiab for the worship of Jehovah (2 Kings s. 15, 2.^), seem to indicate that the religion of the Rechabites approximated closely to that of the Israelites. There seem, in fact, to have been two branches of tlie Kenites — one having Edomitish, tlie other Israelitish, affinities. Recordu of the former •till exist in the Sinuitlo inscrijitlonB, and in the Arabian histories; indeed, there is ■till a tribe called JJetiu-1-Qain (often con- tracted into iielqeiii) in tiie BelqA (the ancient land of Ammon); and it would seem that there is an Arab tribe in Aiabia Petr«a, eastward of Keiak, which traces itself to Heber the Kenite, and goes by the name of Yehud Ohebr, though it now denies any connection with Jews. There wore also
Jews of Khaibar, near Mecca, who played an important part in the early history o( Islam (see farther ' Zeitschr. der deutschen morgoiiland. Gesellsohaft,' viii. 706; xiv. 438; xxviii. 568, 571). Into one of the chambers. There were many " chambers " of different sizes attached to the temple, and employed partly for stores, partly for councils and assemblies, partly for guard- chambers, and other official purposes (comp. 1 Chron. xxviii. 12 ; Ezek. xl. 17). In ch. xxxvi. 10 we even find a private person occupying one of the "chambers." That into which Jeremiah conducted the Beohab- ltes was, no doubt, one of the largest size ; it was appropriated to the use of a single priestly family — the " loni of Hanan " (ver.
4)-
Yer. 4. — A man of Ood. The title, ae- cording to Hebrew usage, belongs to Hanan, not to his father, and means " prophet" (see e.g. 1 Kings xli. 22) ; comp. Plumptre —
" There the chamber stands Where Hanan's followers gather np the
words Their master speaks."
The chamber of the princes ; i.e. the room " where the princes," t.«. the most distin- guished laymen, especially the "elders of the people," assembled before the temple services. Maaseiah the son of Shallum. Probably the father of Zephaniah, "the second [or, ' deputy '] priest " (ch. Hi. 24), himself a functionary of high rank, as he is called a keeper of the door (or rather, threshold). There were three of these " keepers," corresponding to the number of the gates of the temple, and they ranked immediately after the high priest and his deputy (oh. 111. 24); comp." I had rather be
€iH. XXXV. 1—19.] THE BOOK OP THE PROPHET JEBEMIAH.
9?
k doorkeeper," etc., in one of the Eorahite psalms (Ixxxiv. 10).
Ver. 5. — Pots tall of vine ; rather, bowls, large round vessels (crateres), out of which the drinking-cups were filled.
Yer. 6.— Jonadah the son of Rechab out father. Jonadah (the contemporary of King Jehu) is here called the " father " of the Rechabites (comp. vers. 14, 16), in the same sense in which the disciples of the prophets are called the " sons of the prophets ; " he was a teacher, if not (in some sense) a prophet. This illustrates the uncompromis- ing zeal of Jonadab in 2 Kings x. 23; the religion of Baal was probably at the oppo- site pole in the matter of luxury to that of Jehovah •* practised by Jonadab.
" Not for you the life Of sloth and ease within the city's gates, Where idol-feasts are held, and incense
smokes To Baalim and Ashtaroth ; where man Loses bis manhood, and the scoffers sit Perverting judgment, selfish, snft, impure." (I'lumptre.)
7e shall drink no wine, etc. The Bechab- ites were, in fact, typical Arabs. The Wuh- habee movement, in our own century, may be taken as partly parallel, thuugh, of course, a settled life is not one of the abominations of tlie neo-orthodox Islam. A still more complete parallel is given by Diodoius Siculus (xix. 91), who states it to be the law of the Nabatsoans, " neither to sow corn, nor to plant any fruit-bearing herb, nor to drink wine, nor to prepare houses," and gives as the motive of this the preservation of their independence.
Ver. 11. — And for fear of the army ol tlw Syrians. We are expressly told in S
Kings xxiv. 8 that, after the rebellion of Jehoiakim, " bands of Syrians " made inenr- sions into Judah.
Ver. 12. — Then came the word of the Lord, etc. The substance of the severe ad- dress which follows must have been delivered in one of the outer courts of the temple, when Jeremiah had left the Becliabites.
Ver. 16. — Because, etc. Tliis rendering is against Hebrew usame, and any reader will see that the obedience of the Rechabites stands in no inner connection with the sen- tence pronounced upon Judah. Ver. 16 is rather an emphatic recapitu'ation of what has preceded. It runs literally, (J gay') that the sons of Jonadab have peiformed, etc., but {that) this people hath not hearkened unto me ; or, in more Enu;lish phraseology, " Yea, the ions of Jonadub," etc.
Vers. 18, 19. — ^A promise to the Rechab- ites (perhaps removed from its original connection). The form of the promise ii remarkable ; it runs, Jonadab the son of Eechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever. The phrase is, as Dr. Plump- tre remarks, " all but essentially liturgical. It is used of the Levites (Dcut. x. 8; xviii. 5, 7), of the worship of tlie patriarchs (Gen. xix. 27), of the priests (1 Kings viii. 11; 2 Chron. xxii. 1 1 ; Neh. vii. 65), of prophets (1 Kings xviii. 15), of priests and Levites together (Ps. cxxxiv. 1 ; cxxxv. 2)." It is, however, rash, perhaps, to maintain, with the same acute scholar, that the Becliabites were adopted into the tribe of Levi. The phrase may be simply chosen to indicate the singular favour with which Jehovah re- garded the Bechabites — a favour only to be compared to that accorded to his most lionoured servants among the Israelites — the patriarchs, the priests, and the prophets.
HOMTLETICS.
Vers. 1 — 11. — The Rechnhites. A curious interest attaches to tliese sinaular people, whose relation to the settled life of the Jews may be compared to that of the gipsies in modern Europe. They were nomads in the midst of cities, preserving the habits of the desert among all the scenes of civilization. But they were in some respects strikingly superior to their more civilized neighbours — a people whose simplicity and abstemious- ness was a living rebuke to the debased luxury of the times. Three leading character- istics of the Hechabites are worthy of special note.