The BibleGospel Companion

Rechab

רֵכָב · re.khav · H7394Hרֵכָבִי · re.kha.vi · H7397A“square; chariot with team of four horses” Hitchcock's 186912 mentions in 3 books, most in Jeremiah (9)

Who he was

Rechab was the father of Jehonadab (2 Kings 10:15) and the ancestor of the Rechabites, a nomadic tribe known for their strict adherence to God's commands (Jeremiah 35). The Rechabites were descendants of the Kenites, who were associated with the Israelites since the time of Moses (Judges 1:16). Jehonadab, son of Rechab, supported Jehu in his purge of Baal worship in Israel (2 Kings 10:15–23). The Rechabites were known for their obedience to the commands of their ancestor Jonadab, which included abstaining from wine, not building houses, not sowing seed, and not planting vineyards (Jeremiah 35:6–7). When the prophet Jeremiah tested their obedience by offering them wine, they refused, demonstrating their commitment to their ancestral vows (Jeremiah 35:1–11). God commended the Rechabites for their faithfulness and promised that they would always have a descendant to serve Him (Jeremiah 35:18–19). The example of the Rechabites stands as a model of obedience and devotion to God in the midst of a society that had largely abandoned His ways.

Article: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0

Family

FatherHammathChildrenJonadab
Family relations: STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0

Every mention

12 references, counted from STEPBible, Tyndale House Cambridge · CC BY 4.0 · verse text: World English Bible (public domain)
2 KingsChapter 10: 2 mentions2 mentions
2 Kings 10:15When he had departed from there, he met Jehonadab the son of Rechab coming to meet him. He greeted him, and said to him, “Is your heart right, as my heart is with your heart?” Jehonadab…2 Kings 10:23Jehu went with Jehonadab the son of Rechab into the house of Baal. Then he said to the worshipers of Baal, “Search, and see that none of the servants of Yahweh are here with you, but only…
1 ChroniclesChapter 2: 1 mention1 mention
1 Chronicles 2:55The families of scribes who lived at Jabez: the Tirathites, the Shimeathites, and the Sucathites. These are the Kenites who came from Hammath, the father of the house of Rechab.
JeremiahChapter 35: 9 mentions9 mentions
Jeremiah 35:2“Go to the house of the Rechabites, and speak to them, and bring them into Yahweh’s house, into one of the rooms, and give them wine to drink.”Jeremiah 35:3Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazziniah, with his brothers, all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites;Jeremiah 35:5I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites bowls full of wine, and cups; and I said to them, “Drink wine!”Jeremiah 35:6But they said, “We will drink no wine; for Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, commanded us, saying, ‘You shall drink no wine, neither you nor your children, forever.Jeremiah 35:8We have obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab, our father, in all that he commanded us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, or our daughters;Jeremiah 35:14“The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed; and to this day they drink none, for they obey their father’s commandment; but I have…Jeremiah 35:16The sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me.”’Jeremiah 35:18Jeremiah said to the house of the Rechabites, “Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Because you have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and…Jeremiah 35:19therefore Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, says: ‘Jonadab the son of Rechab will not lack a man to stand before me forever.’”

What the dictionary says

Horseman, or chariot.

Easton's Bible Dictionary (1897)
Read the article →

Sources