Rechab (II)

II. RECHAB, Father of Jonadab, the Founder of the Order of Rechabites. It is not known in what Age this Rechab liv’d, nor what was his Original. Some will have him to proceed from the Tribe of Judah¹. Others think he was a Priest, or at least a Levite²; because it is said in Jeremiah, Jer. xxxv. 19.that there shall be always found of the Descendants of Jonadab sted-fast to the Service of the Lord. Some Rabbins pretend, that the Rechabites having marry’d the Daughters of the Priests or Levites, the Children produced by these Marriages were employ’d in the Service of the Temple. Sanct. & Cornel. in Jer. xxxv.Others think, that indeed they waited in the Temple, but only as Servants, like the Gibeonites and Nethinims, who were nothing but the Servants of the Priests and Levites³. We read in the Chronicles, that the Rechabites were originally Kenites, and 1 Chron. ii. 55.that they were Singers in the House of God; Canentes atque resonantes, atque in tabernaculis commorantes; hi sunt Cinæi, qui venerunt de calore patris domus Rechab. The Hebrew has it; Porters and the Obedient, that dwell under Tents; these are those that are called Kenites, who are descended from Hemath, Chief of the House of Rechab.

The Kenites were not of the Race of Jacob, but descended from Midian Son of Cush. They were the Issue of Hobab, or Jethro the Father of Zipporah, and Father-in-Law of Moses. They enter’d into the Promis’d Land along with the Hebrews, and dwelt in the Portion of the Tribe of Judah, about the Dead-Sea. They were distinguish’d from the Israelites only by their retired Sort of Life, and by the Contempt they express’d of Cities and Houses. Some have thought,⁴ that Hobab or Jethro was himself the first Founder of the Rechabites; that Rechab was one of his Names; that Jonadab, known in the Time of Jehu, was one of his Descendants; that Heber the Kenite follow’d the Institution of the Rechabites. Serrarius distinguishes between the ancient Rechabites, descended from and instituted by Jethro, and the new Rechabites instituted by Jonadab Son of Rechab, who liv’d in the Time of Jehu King of Israel.

Jacob. Boulduc. de Ecclesiae ante leg. l. 3. c. 16.Father Boulduc has contrived a very extraordinary Scheme to explain this Matter of the Rechabites: He seeks their Original even before the Deluge, and fetches it as far as Enoch and his Descendants. After the Deluge they were known successively by the Names of Kenites, Kenizeans, Hebrews, Nazarites, Sons of the Prophets; lastly, Rechabites and Pharisees. All these People were a Sort of Religious, living in a Society, having their Superiors general and particular, just as we see it now among the several Religious Orders of the Latin Church. But from whence came the Name Rechab? Its Etymology is very remarkable: Elisha, seeing his Master ascend into Heaven, cry’d out 2 Kings ii. 12.to him; My Father, my Father, the Chariot of Israel, and the Horsemen thereof. The Hebrew Words are; My Father, my Father, the Rechab of Israel. And from hence the Name of Rechabites descended to the Disciples of Elijah and Elisha, Sons of the Rechabaim, or the two Chariots of Israel. But our Author does not think it sufficient to derive the Rechabites from the Chariot of Elijah: He makes the Pharisees also to proceed from its Horses; for, in Hebrew, the Word Pharasim signifies Horses.

But it is altogether impertinent to have recourse to these harsh, remote, doubtful, and even childish Etymologies. The Scripture Jer. xxxv. 6, 7.it self acquaints us, that Jonadab the Son of Rechab, who lived in the Time of Jehu King of Israel, laid an Injunction upon his Posterity, never to drink any Wine, not to build Houses, not to sow any Grain, to plant no Vineyards, to have no Lands, and to dwell in Tents all their Lives. Such was the Institution of the Rechabites, or of the Children of Rechab. It laid no Obligation upon the other Kenites, nor the other Descendants of Jethro. And this they continued to observe for above three hundred Years⁵. In the last Year of the Reign of Jehoiakim King of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar coming to besiege Jerusalem, the Rechabites were forced to leave the Country, and to take Refuge in the City, yet, however, without quitting their Custom of lodging in Tents. During this Siege, Jeremiah received Order from the Lord, to apply himself to the Disciples of Rechab, to cause them to enter into Jer. xxxv. 1, 2, 3, &c.the Temple, and to offer them Wine to drink. Jeremiah perform’d the Orders of the Lord: But the Rechabites answer’d him; 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. Neither shall ye build House, nor sow Seed, nor plant Vineyard, nor have any: but all your Days ye shall dwell in your Tents, that you may live many Days in the Land where ye be Strangers. But it came to pass, when Nebuchadnezzar 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. Then came the Word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Thus says 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 unto my Words? saith the Lord. The 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 hearkned not unto me. Lastly, directing his Discourse to the Rechabites, he tells them; Because ye have obeyed the Commandment of Jonadab your Father, and kept all his Precepts, and done according to all that he hath commanded you: Therefore 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.

The Rechabites were, probably, led away Captives, after the taking of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans⁶; since we read, in the Title of Psalm lxxi. 1. that it was sung by the Sons of Jonadab, and by the principal Captives⁷, which were Ezekiel and Mordecai, carry’d away by the Chaldeans beyond the Euphrates, after the Taking of Jerusalem under King Jehoiakim. They return’d from their Captivity, and settled in the City of Jabez beyond Jordan; as it appears by the Chronicles; The 1 Chron. ii. 55.Race of the Scribes that dwelt at Jabez, called Porters, obedient, and dwelling in Tents, are the Kenites, descended from Hemath Father of the House of Rechab⁸. There are some Difficulties in this Passage. There be those that think, that, in this Place, Jabez is not a City, but some Man, whom the Kenites acknowledge as their Master. However this be, no farther mention is made of the Kenites, in the Books written after the Captivity of Babylon.

Some have pretended, that the Assideans, of whom mention is made in the Books of the Maccabees⁹, were Successors and Followers of the Rechabites. Others¹⁰ have confounded the Rechabites with the Essenians. But if the Assideans were the same as the Essenians, their Principles and Opinions must be the same. But certain it is, that the Manner of Life of the Essenians, which is very well known, was very different from that of the Rechabites; as it appears from what Josephus¹¹ says of ‘em, who informs us, that the Essenians had Fields which they cultivated in common; that they dwelt in Houses; that they had neither Wives nor Children; and perform’d not their Religious Ceremonies with the other Jews in the Temple of Jerusalem. But all this was contrary to the Practice of the Rechabites. Hegesippus, as cited by Eusebius,¹² relates, that as St. James was led away to be put to Death, one of the Priests of the Race of the Rechabites cry’d out to the Jews, as they were going to stone him, What are you going to do? The just Man prays for you. It is certain, as we have before observed, that the Rechabites were not of the Race of the Priests: But, as they served in the Temple, this Author might have taken them for Priests; or he may have taken the Word Priest in a generical Sense, which will include all the Ministers of the Lord.

Benjaminus Judelensis says,¹³ that, in his Travels, he saw a large Country inhabited by the Sons of Rechab. These are his Words: “From Pundabita upon the Euphrates I went into the Country of Seba, call’d at present Aliman, which borders upon the Country of Sennaar or Shinar. After a Journey of one and twenty Days through Desarts, I arrived at the Place inhabited by the Jews call’d the Sons of Rechab, otherwise, the People of Theima: For Theima is the Beginning of their Territory, which is govern’d at this Day by the Prince Hanan. The City of Theima is large and well-peopled. The Length of the Country is twenty Days Journey, between the Northern Mountains. It abounds with fine and strong Cities, that acknowledge no foreign Jurisdiction. The People of this Country make Excursions upon their Neighbours, and even upon distant Nations. They cultivate their Fields, and breed Cattle, having a large and fruitful Country. They appropriate the Tythe of their whole Income to the maintaining of the Disciples of the Sages, who continually attend upon Preaching; and to the Support of the Pharisees, who bewail the Misfortunes of Sion, and the Destruction of Jerusalem; never making use of either Wine or Flesh, going always in Black, and having no other Habitations but the Caves; fasting every Day except the Sabbath, and being constantly at Prayer, to obtain from God the Liberty and Return of Israel from their Captivity.

“All the Jews of Theima and Thelimas put up the same Prayers to the Lord, and they are in Number about one hundred thousand Men. Their Prince is Solomon the Brother of Hanan, both of the Race of David, as they prove by the Genealogical Histories they preserve. They generally wear torn Mourning Cloaths, and fast forty Days for all the Jews that are in Captivity. The Province contains about forty Cities, two hundred Towns, and an hundred Castles. The Metropolis of the Country is Thenai; and the Number of Jews inhabiting this Province is about three hundred thousand. The Metropolis now mention’d is incompass’d by good Walls, which inclose a large Spot of Ground within them, where they sow good Quantities of Wheat: For ‘tis fifteen Miles long, and as many broad; (that is to say, five large Leagues square, and about fifteen Leagues round). There is to be seen the Palace of King Solomon, with very splendid Gardens.”

And such is the Country of the Rechabites, according to this Traveller, who lived in the twelfth Century. But this whole Relation hath so much the Air of a Fable, that no Credit ought to be given to it.

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