Jehonadab

Biblical Record

Jehonadab first appears in 2 Kings 10. After Jehu had destroyed the house of Ahab and was on his way to Samaria, Jehonadab the son of Rechab came out to meet him. Jehu asked, "Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?" and Jehonadab answered that it was. Jehu took him up into his chariot and said, "Come with me, and see my zeal for the LORD" (2 Kings 10:15–16). Jehonadab later entered the house of Baal with Jehu. The two had the worshipers search to make sure that no servants of the LORD were among them, after which the worshipers of Baal were put to death (2 Kings 10:23).

In Jeremiah 35 the same figure is called "Jonadab the son of Rechab." During the reign of King Jehoiakim, Jeremiah brought the Rechabites into one of the chambers of the temple and offered them wine. They refused, citing the command left by their forefather Jonadab: they were to drink no wine, build no houses, sow no seed, own no vineyards, and dwell in tents all their days (Jeremiah 35:6–7). They explained that they had come into Jerusalem to escape the army of Nebuchadnezzar (35:11).

Significance Within Scripture

Jeremiah 35 contrasts the Rechabites, who kept their forefather's command, with the people of Judah, who did not listen to the word of God. The chapter closes with the promise, "Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever" (35:19). First Chronicles 2:55 associates the house of Rechab with the Kenites, and on this basis some commentators regard the Rechabites as a group of foreign origin that was incorporated into Israel. The New Testament makes no direct mention of Jehonadab or the Rechabites.

Interpretations and Issues

• Cooperation with Jehu: Some interpreters read Jehonadab's participation in Jehu's purge as an expression of zeal for the LORD. Others are more reserved about the methods used, pointing to Hosea 1:4, where God declares that He will judge the house of Jehu for the blood shed at Jezreel.
• The meaning of tent dwelling: Some scholars view the Rechabites' way of life as a rejection of Canaanite agrarian culture and Baal religion, although the text itself does not state the reason directly.
• A basis for abstinence?: Some read this passage as a model of temperance and abstinence from alcohol. Others hold that the focus of the text is not wine itself but faithful obedience to an ancestral command, and that it does not require abstinence of all believers. This question connects to the discussion of alcohol and tobacco.
• Later tradition: The account of Hegesippus, quoted by the church historian Eusebius, relates that when James the brother of the Lord was martyred, one of the descendants of Rechab tried to stop it. This tradition lies outside the biblical text.
• Distinction from another Jonadab: The Jonadab of 2 Samuel 13, who devised a scheme for Amnon, was the son of Shimeah, David's brother, and is a different person from Jehonadab.

In the Korean Church

Jehonadab is chiefly treated in sermons on Jeremiah 35, together with the theme of "the obedience of the Rechabites." He is frequently presented as an example of a parent who passes on a legacy of faith to his children. Within the Korean church's longstanding tradition of emphasizing abstinence from alcohol, he is also cited as an example of temperance. In the narrative of Jehu, he is usually mentioned only briefly as a minor figure.