Jeremiah 35:9

9 Building no houses for ourselves, having no vine-gardens or fields or seed:

Jeremiah 35:9 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 35:9

Nor build houses for us to dwell in
This explains that part of the charge more fully, which respects building of houses; which did not restrain them from building houses for others, if any of them were masters of that art; which is not very likely, since they were wholly brought up in the field as shepherds; but it forbad them building any for themselves, and making use of them by dwelling in them: neither have we vineyard, nor field, or seed;
any piece of ground planted with vines, or field sown with corn, or any seed to sow with; so exactly conformable were they to the prescriptions of their ancestor. Diodorus Siculus ^F7 reports of the Nabatheans, a people of Arabia, descended from Nebaioth, see ( Isaiah 60:7 ) ; that they have several laws which are much the same with those enjoined the Rechabites; for he says,

``it is a law with them not to sow corn, nor to plant any plant that bears fruit, nor to make use of wine, nor to build houses; and whosoever is found doing any of these things is, reckoned worthy of death; and the reason of their having such a law is, because they think that those who possess such things are easily compelled by men in power to do whatever is commanded them, for the sake of the enjoyment of them.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F7 Bibliothec. l. 19. p. 730. Ed. Rhod.

Jeremiah 35:9 In-Context

7 And you are to make no houses, or put in seed, or get vine-gardens planted, or have any: but all your days you are to go on living in tents, so that you may have a long life in the land where you are living as in a strange country.

8 And we have kept the rules of Jonadab, the son of Rechab our father, in everything which he gave us orders to do, drinking no wine all our days, we and our wives and our sons and our daughters;

9 Building no houses for ourselves, having no vine-gardens or fields or seed:

10 But we have been living in tents, and have done everything which Jonadab our father gave us orders to do.

11 But when Nebuchadrezzar, king of Babylon, came up into the land, we said, Come, let us go to Jerusalem, away from the army of the Chaldaeans and from the army of the Aramaeans: and so we are living in Jerusalem.