Jeremiah 35

1 The word that was made of the Lord to Jeremy, in the days of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, king of Judah, and said, (The word of the Lord that was made to Jeremiah, in the days of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, the king of Judah, and said,)

2 Go thou to the house of Rechabites, and speak thou to them; and thou shalt bring them into the house of the Lord, into one chamber of [the] treasuries, and thou shalt give to them to drink wine. (Go thou to the house of the Rechabites, and speak thou to them; and thou shalt bring them into the House of the Lord, into one of the chambers, or one of the rooms, and thou shalt give them some wine to drink.)

3 And I took Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremy, son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all the sons of him, and all the house of Rechabites. (And I went to Jaazaniah, the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brothers, and all their sons, and all the house of the Rechabites.)

4 And I led them into the house of the Lord, to the treasury of the sons of Hanan, son of Igdaliah, the man of God; which treasury was beside the treasury of [the] princes, (and) above the treasury of Maaseiah, son of Shallum, that was keeper of the vestiary. (And I led them into the House of the Lord, to the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, the man of God; which chamber was beside the chamber of the leaders, and above the chamber of Maaseiah, the son of Shallum, who was the guard, or the door-keeper.)

5 And I setted before the sons of the house of Rechabites pecks, and great cups full of wine; and I said to them, Drink ye (some) wine.

6 And they answered, We shall not drink wine; for why Jonadab, our father, the son of Rechab, commanded to us, and said, Ye shall not drink wine, ye and your sons, till into without end;

7 and ye shall not build an house, and ye shall not sow seed, and ye shall not plant vines, neither (ye) shall have (any), but ye shall dwell in tabernacles in all your days (but ye shall live in tents all your lives), (so) that ye (may) live many days on the face of [the] earth, in which ye go in pilgrimage.

8 Therefore we obeyed to the voice of Jonadab, our father, the son of Rechab, in all things which he commanded to us; so that we drank not wine in all our days, we, and our women, our sons, and (our) daughters;

9 and we builded not houses to dwell (in), and we had not a vinery, and a field, and seed; (and we did not build any houses to live in, and we do not have any vineyards, or any fields, or any seed;)

10 but we dwelled in tabernacles (but we lived in tents), and were obeying, and did by all things, which Jonadab, our father, commanded to us.

11 But when Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, had ascended to this land, we said, Come ye, and enter we into Jerusalem, from the face of the host of Chaldees, and from the face of the host of Syria; and we dwelled in Jerusalem. (But when Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, came into this land, we said, Come ye, and go we to Jerusalem, away from the Chaldean army, and away from the Syrian army; and so we stayed in Jerusalem.)

12 And the word of the Lord was made to Jeremy, and said,

13 The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Go thou, and say to the men of Judah, and to the dwellers of Jerusalem, Whether ye shall not take teaching, that ye obey to my words, saith the Lord? (The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith these things, Go thou, and say to the people of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Shall ye not receive teaching, or instruction, so that ye obey my words? saith the Lord.)

14 The words of Jonadab, son of Rechab, had the mastery, which he commanded to his sons, that they should not drink wine; and they drink not, unto this day; for they obeyed to the commandment of their father; but I spake to you, and I rose (up) full early, and spake, and ye obeyed not to me.

15 And I sent to you all my servants (the) prophets, and I rose (up) full early, and I sent, and said, Be ye converted, each man from his worst way, and make ye good your studies, and do not ye follow alien gods, neither worship ye them, and ye shall dwell in the land, which I gave to you, and to your fathers; and ye bowed not [in] your ear, neither heard me. (And I sent my servants the prophets to all of you, yea, I rose up very early, and I sent them, and I said, Each person, turn ye away from his worst ways, and do ye good deeds, and do not ye follow strange, or foreign, gods, nor worship ye them, and then ye shall live in the land, which I gave to you, and to your forefathers; but ye bowed not in your ear, nor did ye listen to me.)

16 Therefore the sons of Jonadab, son of Rechab, made steadfast the commandment of their father, which he commanded to them; but this people obeyed not to me.

17 Therefore the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, Lo! I shall bring on Judah, and on all the dwellers of Jerusalem (and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem), all the torment which I spake against them; for I spake to them, and they heard not; I called them, and they answered not to me.

18 Forsooth Jeremy said to the house of Rechabites, The Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, For that that ye obeyed to the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his commandments, and did all things, which he commanded to you;

19 therefore the Lord of hosts, God of Israel, saith these things, A man of the generation of Jonadab, son of Rechab, shall not fail standing in my sight in all days. (and so the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith these things, One of the descendants of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall always stand before me.)

Jeremiah 35 Commentary

Chapter 35

The obedience of the Rechabites. (1-11) The Jews' disobedience to the Lord. (12-19)

Verses 1-11 Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly ( 2 Kings. 10:15 ) to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this world. To keep low, would be the way to continue long in the land where they were strangers. Humility and contentment are always the best policy, and men's surest protection. Also, that they might not run into unlawful pleasures, they were to deny themselves even lawful delights. The consideration that we are strangers and pilgrims should oblige us to abstain from all fleshly lusts. Let them have little to lose, and then losing times would be the less dreadful: let them sit loose to what they had, and then they might with less pain be stript of it. Those are in the best frame to meet sufferings who live a life of self-denial, and who despise the vanities of the world. Jonadab's posterity observed these rules strictly, only using proper means for their safety in a time of general suffering.

Verses 12-19 The trial of the Rechabites' constancy was for a sign; it made the disobedience of the Jews to God the more marked. The Rechabites were obedient to one who was but a man like themselves, and Jonadab never did for his seed what God has done for his people. Mercy is promised to the Rechabites. We are not told respecting the performance of this promise; but doubtless it was performed, and travellers say the Rechabites may be found a separate people to this day. Let us follow the counsels of our pious forefathers, and we shall find good in so doing.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 35

In this chapter the disobedience of the people of the Jews unto God is aggravated by the obedience of the Rechabites to their father; and the one are threatened with the judgments of God upon them, and the other have a promise of the divine blessing. The time of this prophecy is observed; Jer 35:1; an order to bring the Rechabites into one of the chambers of the temple, which was done accordingly, Jer 35:2-4; wine is set before them to drink; which they refuse; alleging the command of their father to the contrary, Jer 35:5-7; which they had carefully and constantly obeyed in every part of it, excepting that which respects their dwelling in tents; for which they give a reason, Jer 35:8-11; by this instance of filial obedience to parents, the disobedience of the Jews towards their Father, which is in heaven, is aggravated; who, though he gave them laws and commandments, and sent his prophets to put them in mind of them, and exhort them to obedience, yet hearkened not to them, Jer 35:12-15; wherefore the Lord threatens to bring all the evil on them he had pronounced, Jer 35:16,17; and promises the sons of Rechab that there should be always some of them that should minister unto him, Jer 35:18,19.