35:1 This oracle came to Jeremiah during King Jehoiakim's reign (609-598 B.C.) after the Babylonians had begun to invade Judah (v. 11). Second Kings 24:1-2 reads, "In his [Jehoiakim's] days Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came up and Jehoiakim became his servant for three years; then he turned and rebelled against him [in 602 B.C]. And the LORD sent against him bands of Chaldeans, bands of Syrians, bands of Moabites, and bands of Ammonites. So He sent them against Judah to destroy it . . ."This seems to be the setting for what follows. The year was probably 602 or 601 B.C. (cf. 12:7-13).
35:2 Jeremiah was to visit the Rechabite family and to bring them to the temple. In one of the rooms that surrounded the temple proper, Jeremiah was to give them wine to drink.
The Rechabites were a branch of the Kenite clan that descended from Jethro, Moses' father-in-law (cf. Judg. 1:16; 1 Chron. 2:55).458They had previously settled in northern Israel (Judg. 4:17; 5:24) and in southern Judah (1 Sam. 15:6). Evidently Jonadab's branch of the family had moved from the north into the Southern Kingdom following the Assyrian invasion of 722 B.C. (cf. v. 6).
35:3-4 The prophet did as the Lord had commanded him. He brought the whole extended family of the Rechabites into one of the large rooms on the second floor of the temple (cf. 1 Kings 6:5; 1 Chron. 28:12; 2 Chron. 31:11). The specific description of the location of the room in which this event took place contributes to the authenticity of the story.
Jaazaniah was evidently the leader of the clan at this time. The reference to Hanan ben Igdaliah as "the man of God"probably identifies him as a prophet, though it could simply mean that he was a godly man. His "sons"may have been his disciples. He appears to have been an ally of Jeremiah's. Maaseiah was probably the father of Zephaniah the priest (cf. 21:1; 29:25; 37:3). His position of doorkeeper of the temple, of which there were three, was an important one; those who held it received special punishment when the Babylonians took Jerusalem (cf. 52:24-27; 2 Kings 25:18-21).
35:5 Jeremiah also set before the Rechabites pitchers of wine and cups to drink it, and he told them to drink the wine. He did not just ask them if they would like some wine to drink, but He made it very easy for them to drink it. His position as a true prophet of Yahweh would have encouraged them further to drink.
35:6 The Rechabites refused Jeremiah's offer explaining that one of their ancestors, Jonadab ben Rechab, had commanded his descendants never to drink wine. Abstinence was not a requirement of the Mosaic Law; it was simply a requirement that Jonadab imposed on his family.459
Jonadab lived in the Northern Kingdom during the reign of King Jehu (841-814 B.C.). He helped Jehu purge Israel of Baal worship about 840 B.C. (cf. 2 Kings 10:15-23).
35:7 Jonadab had also commanded his family not to build a house or plant crops or grapevines or to own a vineyard. They were to live in tents as semi-nomads rejecting all aspects of settled living. We do not know why Jonadab had imposed these restrictions, but he may have felt that settled living in a Canaanite culture involved some temptations that a nomadic existence guarded against.460
35:8-10 The Rechabites explained that they had obeyed their ancestor's commands faithfully since the time he gave them. For over 200 years they had been faithful and obedient (cf. 2 Kings 10:15-23).
35:11 The only time they lived in a city was when Nebuchadnezzar's vassals invaded the Judean countryside. Then they moved into the city for protection out of necessity, not because they had abandoned their principles. Jerusalem was not under siege at this time, but the surrounding countryside was being invaded.
