RECABITES. – A nomadic clan, descended from the Cineans or Kenites (I Par. 2:55), which in the ninth century B.C. received from Ionadab, son of Recab, a special statute of a religious and moral character: in opposition to the Dionysian excesses of the Baalism introduced by the Phoenician Iezabel, they did not drink wine; and, in opposition to the whole of idolatrous syncretism, they were required to lead a nomadic life, far from inhabited centres and agriculture (Ier. 35:2-11).
They have been called “Nazirites,” or regarded as akin to them. They were among the faithful Yahwists who did not bend their knee before Baal (cf. I Reg. 19:18); their leader enjoyed great esteem and influence: Iehu (842 B.C.) wanted him at his side, in his own chariot, when, after the massacre of the dynasty of the Omrides, he set out for Samaria to ascend the throne of Israel and carry out the slaughter of all the worshippers of Baal (ibid. 10:45). Jeremiah encountered the R. in Jerusalem, where they had sought refuge before the advance of the army of Nabuchodonosor (588 B.C.), and held up the example of their centuries-old fidelity to the precepts of their ancestor to the foolish Jews who rebelled against the voice of God (Ier. 35:12-19). On their return from the exile, the R. took part in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:14).
The sociological school (A. Causse) resorts to Ier. 35 in order to make prophets into social agitators, nostalgic for nomadism and opposed to culture; but this is entirely unfounded, since Jeremiah celebrates the fidelity of the R., abstracting from any judgment on the nature of the statute given them by Ionadab, in order to reproach the Jews for their obstinate rebellion against the precepts given by God.