Jeremiah 35

This is the message that came to Jeremiah from the LORD while Jehoiakim son of Josiah was king of Judah:

1The word which came unto Jeremiah from the LORD in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying,

NoteJehoiakim ruled Judah from about 609 to 598 BC; he was put on the throne by Egypt and later became a subject of Babylon, and this episode belongs to the years when Babylonian forces were operating in the region. "LORD" printed in capitals stands for the personal name of Israel's God, four Hebrew consonants that Jewish tradition does not pronounce aloud.

2"Go to the family of the Rechabites and speak to them. Bring them to the temple, into one of its side rooms, and offer them wine to drink."

2Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the LORD, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.

NoteThe Rechabites were a small clan, linked in the Bible with the Kenites, who lived as herdsmen in tents instead of settling as farmers. "House of the Rechabites" means the family or clan, not a building. The temple's "chambers" were rooms built around its courts, used for storage, for meetings, and as offices and lodgings for priests and officials; a gathering held in one of them was in public view of temple staff.

3So I went and got Jaazaniah son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, along with his brothers and all his sons, and the whole Rechabite family.

3Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;

NoteThis Jeremiah, Jaazaniah's grandfather, is a different man from the prophet Jeremiah who is telling the story. The name was common.

4I brought them into the temple, into the room used by the sons of Hanan son of Igdaliah, a man of God. That room was next to the room of the officials, which was above the room of Maaseiah son of Shallum, who guarded the door.

4And I brought them into the house of the LORD, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door:

Note"A man of God" was a standard term for a prophet. The "keeper of the door" was not a porter but a senior priestly officer who controlled access to the temple and its treasuries; there were only a few, ranking just below the chief priest. The "princes" of the King James are royal officials, not sons of the king.

5I set pitchers full of wine and some cups in front of the men of the Rechabite family, and I said to them, "Have some wine."

5And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.

6But they said, "We do not drink wine. Our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab gave us this command: 'You must never drink wine, and neither must your children, ever.

6But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:

NoteJonadab son of Rechab lived roughly two and a half centuries before this scene; 2 Kings 10 shows him riding with Jehu during his purge of Baal worship in the northern kingdom. "Our father" here means ancestor, not the speakers' own father.

7You must not build a house, or plant seed, or plant a vineyard, or own any of these things. Instead, live in tents all your lives, so that you may live a long time in the land where you are outsiders.'

7Neither shall ye build house, 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.

NoteBuilding a house, sowing seed and planting a vineyard are the three marks of settled farming life; a vineyard in particular takes several years to bear and ties a family to one plot of ground. Refusing all three meant remaining migrant herdsmen who moved with their flocks, and wine was the ordinary everyday drink of a settled household, so the ban on it belongs with the rest. To be "strangers" in the land (the rendering's "outsiders") means living as resident foreigners in a country where you hold no land of your own.

8We have obeyed everything our ancestor Jonadab son of Rechab ordered us to do. Neither we nor our wives nor our sons and daughters have ever drunk wine.

8Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters;

9We have not built houses to live in, and we own no vineyards, no fields, and no crops.

9Nor to build houses for us to dwell in: neither have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed:

10We have lived in tents. We have obeyed and done exactly what our ancestor Jonadab commanded us.

10But we have dwelt in tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us.

11But when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon marched into this land, we said, 'Come, let us go into Jerusalem to get away from the Babylonian army and the Aramean army.' That is why we are living in Jerusalem."

11But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land, that we said, Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians: so we dwell at Jerusalem.

NoteSpelled Nebuchadrezzar in the King James, closer to the Babylonian form of the name; he ruled Babylon from 605 to 562 BC. The "Chaldeans" were the people who held power in Babylon, so the word is used for Babylonians generally, and the "Syrians" of the King James are the Arameans, from the region north-east of Israel. 2 Kings 24:2 describes raiding parties from both harassing Judah in Jehoiakim's last years. For people with no walled town of their own, fortified Jerusalem was the only refuge.

12Then this message from the LORD came to Jeremiah:

12Then came the word of the LORD unto Jeremiah, saying,

13"This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Go and say to the men of Judah and the people living in Jerusalem, 'Will you not learn the lesson and listen to what I say?' says the LORD.

13Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Go and tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the LORD.

Note"LORD of hosts" translates a Hebrew title, tseva'ot, meaning massed armies or hosts, earthly, heavenly, or both; English has no single word for it, so translations vary between "of hosts" and "of Armies." "Receive instruction" translates a word meaning correction or discipline: the training a parent or a teacher gives, not information.

14Jonadab son of Rechab told his descendants not to drink wine, and his words have been carried out. To this day they drink none, because they obey what their ancestor commanded. But I have spoken to you over and over, and you have not listened to me.

14The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are performed; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father’s commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye hearkened not unto me.

Note"Rising early and speaking" is a Hebrew idiom for doing something urgently and again and again, the way a person gets up at dawn to keep at a task. It is not a statement about the time of day.

15I also sent you all my servants the prophets, sending them again and again, saying, 'Each of you, turn back from your evil way and change what you are doing. Do not follow other gods and serve them. Then you will live in the land I gave to you and your ancestors.' But you have not paid attention or listened to me.

15I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened unto me.

16The descendants of Jonadab son of Rechab have carried out the command their ancestor gave them, but these people have not listened to me.

16Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:

17So this is what the LORD God of Armies, the God of Israel, says: I am going to bring on Judah and on everyone living in Jerusalem every disaster I said I would bring against them. I spoke to them and they did not listen; I called to them and they did not answer."

17Therefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them: because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered.

Note"Evil" in the King James usually means disaster or calamity, harm that falls on people, rather than moral wickedness. Here it means the destruction already announced against Judah.

18Then Jeremiah said to the Rechabite family, "This is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: You have obeyed the command of your ancestor Jonadab. You have kept all his rules and done everything he ordered you to do.

18And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, Thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:

19So this is what the LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, says: Jonadab son of Rechab will never lack a descendant to stand before me and serve me."

19Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.

Note"Shall not want" means shall not lack. "To stand before me" is an idiom for serving as someone's attendant, the way a servant stands in the presence of a master or an official waiting on orders; used of God it describes those who serve in his presence. The promise is of an unbroken line of descendants who do so.