IONADAB (Hebr. Jēhōnādhābh and Jōnādhābh). — Name of two figures of the Old Testament.
1. Son of Semmaa, brother of David. Cunning and perceptive, he was the evil genius of his cousin Amnon, whom he advised how to satisfy his brutal passion for Thamar. When the false report of the slaughter of his sons reached David, I. rightly assured him that Absalom’s vengeance had fallen upon Amnon alone (II Sam. 13).
2. Son of Rechab, a faithful Yahwist, whom Ichu wished to have with him when he set out to destroy the family of Achab and idolatry (II Reg. 10:15 ff., 23). I. sought to preserve his descendants from the deleterious influence of Canaanite civilization and prescribed that they remain semi-nomadic (Ier. 35).
BIBL.: L. Desnoyers, Histoire du peuple hébreu, II, Paris 1930, pp. 279–82; A. Condamin, Le livre de Jérémie, 3rd ed., ibid. 1936, p. 256 ff. Francesco Spadafora