H7397a H7397a
the Rechabites (gentile, descendants of Rechab)
This gentile designation identifies the house of the Rechabites, a conservative group descended from Rechab who maintained strict nomadic lifestyle, abstaining from wine, agriculture, and permanent housing. Jeremiah 35 makes them exemplars of faithfulness to ancestral commands, contrasting their obedience with Judah's covenant-breaking. They represent a counter-cultural commitment within Israelite society.
Senses
1. sense 1 — Identifies the Rechabites (בֵּית הָרֵכָבִים or בְּנֵי בֵית-הָרֵכָבִים), a clan descended from Rechab son of Jonadab. All four occurrences appear in Jeremiah 35:2-3, 5, 18, where God commands Jeremiah to test them by offering wine—which they refuse, explaining their ancestral vow to abstain from wine, avoid building houses, and not plant vineyards, maintaining perpetual nomadic existence. Their faithfulness to Jonadab's command becomes an object lesson rebuking Judah's disobedience to God. The consistent use of the article marks them as a recognized group. Multilingual glosses transliterate: Spanish 'los-recabitas,' French 'Récabites,' German 'die-Rekabiter'—all treating it as a distinct social-religious movement within Israel. 4×
AR["الرَّكَابِيِّينَ"]·ben["রেকাবীয়দের"]·DE["die-Rekabiter"]·EN["the-Rekavim"]·FR["Récabites"]·heb["ה-רכבים"]·HI["रेकाबियों", "रेकाबियों-के"]·ID["orang-orang-Rekhab"]·IT["Recabiti"]·jav["tiyang-Rèkhab"]·KO["레가빌의"]·PT["os-Rekhavim"]·RU["Рехавитов"]·ES["los-recabitas"]·SW["Warekabi"]·TR["Rekablıların"]·urd["ریکابیوں"]
Related Senses
G3588 1. definite article (18298×)H0853 1. definite direct object marker (10915×)G2532 1. (8312×)H3068 1. YHWH (the divine name) (6522×)H0834a 1. relative pronoun (who/which/that) (4839×)H3588a 1. causal: because, for (3498×)G1161 1. and (2806×)H3478 1. Israel (proper name and nation) (2507×)G4771 1. you (plural address) (1853×)H1931 1. personal pronoun he/she/it (1431×)G3739 1. relative pronoun who/which/that (1149×)H1732 1. David (proper name) (1075×)H2088 1. this, this one (demonstrative) (1059×)G1063 1. (1047×)G3778 1. this thing, these things (1003×)H???? 2. (1002×)G2424 1. (924×)G3754 1. that (content clause) (881×)H2009 1. presentative particle: behold, look (881×)H0589 1. I (first person singular pronoun) (874×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† [רֵכָבִי] adj.gent. of רֵכָב 1, only pl. הָרֵכָבִים as subst., in בֵּית הָר׳ Je 35:2, 3, 18, בְּנֵי בֵית־הָר׳ v 5, Αρχαβειν, Ραχαβειν, etc.