15 I have sent H7971 also unto you all my servants H5650 the prophets, H5030 rising up early H7925 and sending H7971 them, saying, H559 Return H7725 ye now every man H376 from his evil H7451 way, H1870 and amend H3190 your doings, H4611 and go H3212 not after H310 other H312 gods H430 to serve H5647 them, and ye shall dwell in H3427 the land H127 which I have given H5414 to you and to your fathers: H1 but ye have not inclined H5186 your ear, H241 nor hearkened H8085 unto me.
They said, H559 Turn ye again H7725 now every one H376 from his evil H7451 way, H1870 and from the evil H7455 of your doings, H4611 and dwell H3427 in the land H127 that the LORD H3068 hath given H5414 unto you and to your fathers H1 for H5704 ever H5769 and ever: H5769 And go H3212 not after H310 other H312 gods H430 to serve H5647 them, and to worship H7812 them, and provoke me not to anger H3707 with the works H4639 of your hands; H3027 and I will do you no hurt. H7489
Therefore I will judge H8199 you, O house H1004 of Israel, H3478 every one H376 according to his ways, H1870 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD. H3069 Repent, H7725 and turn H7725 yourselves from all your transgressions; H6588 so iniquity H5771 shall not be your ruin. H4383 Cast away H7993 from you all your transgressions, H6588 whereby ye have transgressed; H6586 and make H6213 you a new H2319 heart H3820 and a new H2319 spirit: H7307 for why will ye die, H4191 O house H1004 of Israel? H3478 For I have no pleasure H2654 in the death H4194 of him that dieth, H4191 saith H5002 the Lord H136 GOD: H3069 wherefore turn H7725 yourselves, and live H2421 ye.
And say H559 unto them, Hear H8085 ye the word H1697 of the LORD, H3068 ye kings H4428 of Judah, H3063 and all Judah, H3063 and all the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem, H3389 that enter in H935 by these gates: H8179 Thus saith H559 the LORD; H3068 Take heed H8104 to yourselves, H5315 and bear H5375 no burden H4853 on the sabbath H7676 day, H3117 nor bring H935 it in by the gates H8179 of Jerusalem; H3389 Neither carry forth H3318 a burden H4853 out of your houses H1004 on the sabbath H7676 day, H3117 neither do H6213 ye any work, H4399 but hallow H6942 ye the sabbath H7676 day, H3117 as I commanded H6680 your fathers. H1 But they obeyed H8085 not, neither inclined H5186 their ear, H241 but made their neck H6203 stiff, H7185 that they might not hear, H8085 nor receive H3947 instruction. H4148 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently H8085 hearken H8085 unto me, saith H5002 the LORD, H3068 to bring H935 in no burden H4853 through the gates H8179 of this city H5892 on the sabbath H7676 day, H3117 but hallow H6942 the sabbath H7676 day, H3117 to do H6213 no H1115 work H4399 therein; Then shall there enter H935 into the gates H8179 of this city H5892 kings H4428 and princes H8269 sitting H3427 upon the throne H3678 of David, H1732 riding H7392 in chariots H7393 and on horses, H5483 they, and their princes, H8269 the men H376 of Judah, H3063 and the inhabitants H3427 of Jerusalem: H3389 and this city H5892 shall remain H3427 for ever. H5769
Howbeit I sent H7971 unto you all my servants H5650 the prophets, H5030 rising early H7925 and sending H7971 them, saying, H559 Oh, do H6213 not this abominable H8441 thing H1697 that I hate. H8130 But they hearkened H8085 not, nor inclined H5186 their ear H241 to turn H7725 from their wickedness, H7451 to burn no incense H6999 unto other H312 gods. H430
O Jerusalem, G2419 Jerusalem, G2419 which G3588 killest G615 the prophets, G4396 and G2532 stonest G3036 them that are sent G649 unto G4314 thee; G846 how often G4212 would G2309 I have gathered G1996 thy G4675 children G5043 together, G1996 as G3739 G5158 a hen G3733 doth gather her G1438 brood G3555 under G5259 her wings, G4420 and G2532 ye would G2309 not! G3756 Behold, G2400 your G5216 house G3624 is left G863 unto you G5213 desolate: G2048 and G1161 verily G281 I say G3004 unto you, G5213 G3754 Ye shall G1492 not G3364 see G1492 me, G3165 until G2193 G302 the time come G2240 when G3753 ye shall say, G2036 Blessed G2127 is he that cometh G2064 in G1722 the name G3686 of the Lord. G2962
Therefore say H559 thou unto them, Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 Turn H7725 ye unto me, saith H5002 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 and I will turn H7725 unto you, saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts. H6635 Be ye not as your fathers, H1 unto whom the former H7223 prophets H5030 have cried, H7121 saying, H559 Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts; H6635 Turn H7725 ye now from your evil H7451 ways, H1870 and from your evil H7451 doings: H4611 but they did not hear, H8085 nor hearken H7181 unto me, saith H5002 the LORD. H3068
O Israel, H3478 return H7725 unto the LORD H3068 thy God; H430 for thou hast fallen H3782 by thine iniquity. H5771 Take H3947 with you words, H1697 and turn H7725 to the LORD: H3068 say H559 unto him, Take away H5375 all iniquity, H5771 and receive H3947 us graciously: H2896 so will we render H7999 the calves H6499 of our lips. H8193 Asshur H804 shall not save H3467 us; we will not ride H7392 upon horses: H5483 neither will we say H559 any more to the work H4639 of our hands, H3027 Ye are our gods: H430 for in thee the fatherless H3490 findeth mercy. H7355 I will heal H7495 their backsliding, H4878 I will love H157 them freely: H5071 for mine anger H639 is turned away H7725 from him.
Since the day H3117 that your fathers H1 came forth out H3318 of the land H776 of Egypt H4714 unto this day H3117 I have even sent H7971 unto you all my servants H5650 the prophets, H5030 daily H3117 rising up early H7925 and sending H7971 them: Yet they hearkened H8085 not unto me, nor inclined H5186 their ear, H241 but hardened H7185 their neck: H6203 they did worse H7489 than their fathers. H1
Thus saith H559 the LORD H3068 of hosts, H6635 the God H430 of Israel, H3478 Amend H3190 your ways H1870 and your doings, H4611 and I will cause you to dwell H7931 in this place. H4725 Trust H982 ye not in lying H8267 words, H1697 saying, H559 The temple H1964 of the LORD, H3068 The temple H1964 of the LORD, H3068 The temple H1964 of the LORD, H3068 are these. For if ye throughly H3190 amend H3190 your ways H1870 and your doings; H4611 if ye throughly H6213 execute H6213 judgment H4941 between a man H376 and his neighbour; H7453 If ye oppress H6231 not the stranger, H1616 the fatherless, H3490 and the widow, H490 and shed H8210 not innocent H5355 blood H1818 in this place, H4725 neither walk H3212 after H310 other H312 gods H430 to your hurt: H7451 Then will I cause you to dwell H7931 in this place, H4725 in the land H776 that I gave H5414 to your fathers, H1 for H5704 ever H5769 and ever. H5769
Wash H7364 you, make you clean; H2135 put away H5493 the evil H7455 of your doings H4611 from before H5048 mine eyes; H5869 cease H2308 to do evil; H7489 Learn H3925 to do well; H3190 seek H1875 judgment, H4941 relieve H833 the oppressed, H2541 judge H8199 the fatherless, H3490 plead H7378 for the widow. H490 Come now, H3212 and let us reason together, H3198 saith H559 the LORD: H3068 though your sins H2399 be as scarlet, H8144 they shall be as white H3835 as snow; H7950 though they be red H119 like crimson, H8438 they shall be as wool. H6785 If ye be willing H14 and obedient, H8085 ye shall eat H398 the good H2898 of the land: H776
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Keil & Delitzsch Commentary » Commentary on Jeremiah 35
Commentary on Jeremiah 35 Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
The Example of the Rechabites
By the command of God, Jeremiah brings the family of the Rechabites (who had fled for refuge to Jerusalem before the approach of the Chaldeans) into one of the chambers of the temple, and sets before them some wine to drink (Jeremiah 35:1-5). They decline to drink, because the head of their family had forbidden them the use of wine, as well as the possession of houses and the cultivation of the soil, and had commanded them to live in tents (Jeremiah 35:6-11). Jeremiah is to put this before the people of Judah. The Rechabites faithfully observe the command of their ancestor, while the people of Judah transgress the commands of their God, which are continually presented to them (Jeremiah 35:12-16). Therefore the threatened calamity shall fall upon Judah; but the house of Rechab, as a reward for their faithfulness to the injunctions of their ancestor, shall continue for ever (Jeremiah 35:17-19).
According to Jeremiah 35:1, this word of the Lord came to Jeremiah in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim, and, according to Jeremiah 35:11, previous to the arrival of Nebuchadnezzar and his host before Jerusalem; therefore perhaps in the summer of the year 606 b.c., for Jerusalem was taken for the first time by Nebuchadnezzar in the ninth month (December) of that year.
Jeremiah's dealings with the Rechabites - Jeremiah 35:2. Jeremiah is to go to the house, i.e., the family, of the Rechabites, speak with them, and bring them into tone of the chambers of the temple, and set before them wine to drink. בּית , Jeremiah 35:2, Jeremiah 35:3, Jeremiah 35:18, is exchanged for בּני בית־הרכבים , Jeremiah 35:5, from which it is apparent that "the house of the Rechabites" does not mean their dwelling-place, but the family, called in 1 Chronicles 2:55 בּית־רכב . According to this passage, the Rechabites were a branch of the Kenites, i.e., descendants of the Kenite , the father-in-law of Moses (Judges 1:16), who had gone to Canaan with the Israelites, and welt among them, partly in the wilderness on the southern frontier of the tribe of Judah (1 Samuel 15:6; 1 Samuel 27:10; 1 Samuel 30:29), partly at Kadesh in Naphtali (Judges 4:11, Judges 4:17; Judges 5:24). Their ancestor, or father of the tribe, was Rechab, the father of Jonadab, with whom Jehu made a friendly alliance (2 Kings 10:15, 2 Kings 10:23). Jonadab had laid on them the obligation to live in the special manner mentioned below, in order to keep them in the simplicity of nomad life observed by their fathers, and to preserve them from the corrupting influences connected with a settled life. לשׁכות , "cells of the temple," were additional buildings in the temple fore-courts, used partly for keeping the stores of the temple (1 Chronicles 28:12), partly as dwellings for those who served in it, and as places of meeting for those who came to visit it; see Ezekiel 40:17.
Jeremiah 35:3-4
In executing the command of the Lord, Jeremiah took (went for) Jaazaniah, son of Jeremiah, son of Habaziniah, and all his brethren, and sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites, and brought them into the temple-chamber of the sons of Hanan. Jaazaniah was probably the then chief of the Rechabites. The chamber of the sons of Hanan was situated next the princes' chamber, which stood over that of Maaseiah the door-keeper. Nothing further is known about Hanan the son of Jigdaliah; here he is called "the man of God," an honourable title of the prophets - see e.g., 1 Kings 12:22 - for, according to the usual mode of construction, אישׁ האלהים does not belong to Jigdaliah , but to Hanan , cf. Jeremiah 28:1; Zechariah 1:1. "The chamber of the princes" is the chamber where the princes, the chiefs of the people, used to assemble in the temple. Its position is more exactly described by ממּעל לל , "over the chamber of Maaseiah," but not very clearly for us, since the buildings of the temple fore-courts are nowhere else more exactly described; however, see on Jeremiah 36:10. Maaseiah was שׁמר הסּף , "keeper of the threshold," i.e., overseer of the watchmen of the temple gates, of which, according to Jeremiah 52:24 and 2 Kings 25:18, there were three, who are there mentioned along with the high priest and his substitute Maaseiah is probably the same whose son Zephaniah was כּהן המּשׁנה , cf. Jeremiah 52:24 with Jeremiah 37:3; Jeremiah 29:25, and Jeremiah 21:1.
Jeremiah 35:5-7
There, Jeremiah caused bowls filled with wine to be set before the Rechabites, and commanded them to drink. ( גּביעים are large goblets, bowls, out of which drinking-cups [ כּסות ] were filled.) But they explained that they did not drink wine, because their father, i.e., their ancestor, Jonadab had forbidden them and their posterity to drink wine for ever, as also to build houses, to sow seed, and to plant vineyards, i.e., to settle themselves down in permanent dwellings and to pursue agriculture. ולא יהיה לכם , "And there shall not be to you," sc. what has just been named, i.e., ye must not possess houses, growing-crops, or vineyards (cf. Jeremiah 35:9),
(Note: These injunctions, given by Jonadab to his posterity, that he might make them always lead a nomad life, are quoted by Diodorus Siculus, xix. 94, as a law among the Nabateans: Νόμος ἐστὶν αὐτοῖς μήτε σίτον σπείρειν, μήτε φυτεύειν μηδὲν φυτὸν καρποφόρον, μήτε οἴνῳ χρῆσθαι, μήτε οἰκίαν κατασεκυάζειν ; while the object of the law is stated to have been the maintenance of their freedom against the more powerful who sought to bring them into subjection. And even at the present day the Bedouins imagine that they are prevented, by the nobility of their descent from Ishmael, from engaging in agriculture, handicraft, or the arts; cf. Arvieux, Sitten der Beduinen-Araber , 5f.)
but ye are to dwell in tents all your life, that ye may live long, etc. This promise is an imitation of that found in Exodus 20:12.
Jeremiah 35:8-11
This command of their forefather they observe in all points, and therefore dwell in tents; and only because of Nebuchadnezzar's arrival in the country have they come to Jerusalem, in order to find refuge for a time from the army of the Chaldeans and that of Aram (the Arameans). The special mention of the army of Aram in connection with that of the Chaldeans is perhaps due to the frequent predatory incursions made, at an earlier period, on Israel and Judah by the Syrians. According to 2 Kings 24:2, after Jehoiakim had rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, hostile bands of Arameans invaded Judah for the purpose of laying waste the country.
The example of the Rechabites is one for Judah . - Jeremiah is to proclaim the word of the Lord to the people of Judah, as follows: Jeremiah 35:13. "Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel: Go and say to the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction by listening to my words? saith Jahveh. Jeremiah 35:14. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, who commanded this sons not to drink wine, are performed, and they have drunk no wine to this day, but have obeyed the command of their father. But I have spoken unto you, rising up early and speaking, yet ye have not listened unto me. Jeremiah 35:15. And I sent unto you all my servants the prophets, rising early and sending them, saying, Turn ye, now, every one from his evil way, and do good deeds, and do not go after other gods, to serve them; then shall ye dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers. But ye did not incline your ear, nor hearken unto me. Jeremiah 35:16. Yea, the children of Jonadab the son of Rechab have observed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, while this people have not hearkened unto me. Jeremiah 35:17. Therefore, thus saith Jahveh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring upon Judah and on the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil which I have uttered regarding them, because I spake unto them and they did not hear, and I called unto them, but they did not answer. Jeremiah 35:18. And to the house of the Rechabites Jeremiah said: Thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, Because ye have listened to the command of Jonadab your father, and have kept all his commandments, and have done according to all that he commanded you, Jeremiah 35:19. Therefore, thus saith Jahveh of hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever."