RECHABITES. - A nomadic clan, descended from the Kenites or Quenites (I Chron. 2:55), which in the 9th century B.C. received from Jonadab, son of Rechab, a special statute of a religious and moral character: against the Dionysiac excesses of the Baalism introduced by the Phoenician Jezebel they did not drink wine, and against the whole of idolatrous syncretism the nomadic life was imposed upon them, far from settled centers and from agriculture (Jer. 35:2-11).
They have been called "Nazirites" or compared to them. They were among the faithful Yahwists who did not bend their knee before Baal (cf. I Kings 19:18); their leader enjoyed great esteem and influence: Jehu (842 B.C.) wanted him at his side, on his own chariot, when, after the slaughter of the dynasty of the Omrides, he set out for Samaria to seat himself on the throne of Israel and carry out the massacre of all the worshippers of Baal (ibid. 10:45). Jeremiah meets the R. in Jerusalem, where they had sought asylum before the advance of Nebuchadnezzar's army (588 B.C.), and he holds up the example of their age-old fidelity to the precepts of their ancestor as a reproach to the foolish Jews, rebels against the voice of God (Jer. 35:12-19). On the return from exile, the R. took part in the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 3:14).
The sociological school (A. Causse) has recourse to Jer. 35 in order to turn the prophets into social agitators, nostalgic for nomadism and opposed to culture; but without any foundation, since Jeremiah celebrates the fidelity of the R., abstracting from any judgment on the nature of the statute given them by Jonadab, in order to reproach the Jews for their stubborn rebellion against the precepts given by God.
Bibliography3 works
Francesco Spadafora