Recah

In Bible versions:

Recah: NET AVS NIV NRSV NASB TEV
Beth-Rechab: NET
Recab: NET NIV
Rekab: NET
Rechab: NET AVS NRSV NASB TEV
Rechabite: NET
Rechabites: AVS NRSV NASB TEV
Recabite: NIV

a town of Judah
a clan of Judah
son of Rimmon of Benjamin; a captain in Saul's army
father of Jehonadab, a friend of Jehu, King of Israel
father of Malchijah, ruler of the district of Beth-Haccherem
members of the clan of Rechab

---

square; chariot with team of four horses

Google Maps: Recah (31° 42´, 35° 12´)

Hebrew

Strongs #07397: hkr Rekah

Rechah = "uttermost part"

1) a place in Judah
1a) perhaps the village of 'Rashiah' 3 miles (5 km) south of
Jerusalem

7397 Rekah ray-kaw'

probably feminine from 7401; softness; Rekah, a place in
Palestine:-Rechah.
see HEBREW for 07401

Strongs #07394: bkr Rekab

Rechab = "rider"

n pr m
1) father of Jehonadab in the time of king Jehu of the northern kingdom
of Israel
2) father of Malchijah, a leader of the district of Beth Haccerem and
repairer of the wall of Jerusalem in the time of Nehemiah
3) one of the 2 captains whom Ishbosheth took into his service and
who conspired to murder him

Rechabites = see Rechab "rider"

adj pr
4) descendants of Rechab

7394 Rekab ray-kawb'

from 7392; rider; Rekab, the name of two Arabs and of two
Israelites:-Rechab.
see HEBREW for 07392

Rechab [EBD]

horseman, or chariot. (1.) One of Ishbosheth's "captains of bands" or leaders of predatory troops (2 Sam. 4:2).

(2.) The father of Jehonadab, who was the father of the Rechabites (2 Kings 10:15, 23; Jer. 35:6-19).

Rechabites [EBD]

the descendants of Rechab through Jonadab or Jehonadab. They belonged to the Kenites, who accompanied the children of Israel into Palestine, and dwelt among them. Moses married a Kenite wife (Judg. 1:16), and Jael was the wife of "Heber the Kenite" (4:17). Saul also showed kindness to the Kenites (1 Sam. 15:6). The main body of the Kenites dwelt in cities, and adopted settled habits of life (30:29); but Jehonadab forbade his descendants to drink wine or to live in cities. They were commanded to lead always a nomad life. They adhered to the law laid down by Jonadab, and were noted for their fidelity to the old-established custom of their family in the days of Jeremiah (35); and this feature of their character is referred to by the prophet for the purpose of giving point to his own exhortation. They are referred to in Neh. 3:14 and 1 Chr. 2:55. Dr. Wolff (1839) found in Arabia, near Mecca, a tribe claiming to be descendants of Jehonadab; and recently a Bedouin tribe has been found near the Dead Sea who also profess to be descendants of the same Kenite chief.

Recab [NAVE]

RECAB
See: Rechab.

Recah [NAVE]

RECAH
See: Rechah.

Rechab [NAVE]

RECHAB
1. Son of Rimmon. Murders Ish-bosheth, son of Saul; put to death by David, 2 Sam. 4:5-12.
2. Father of Jehonadab, 2 Kin. 10:15, 23; 1 Chr. 2:55; Jer. 35:6, 8, 16, 19.
Ancestor of the Rechabites, Jer. 35.
3. Father of Malchiah, Neh. 3:14.

Rechabites [NAVE]

RECHABITES
A family of Kenites descended from Rechab, through Jonadab, 1 Chr. 2:55; Jer. 35:6.
Enjoined by Jonadab to drink no wine, Jer. 35:6.
Adhere to the injunction of abstinence; perpetuation of the family promised as a reward, Jer. 35.
See: Abstinence, Total; Nazirites; Rechab 2.

RECHAB [SMITH]

(rider).

1. One of the two "captains of bands" whom Ish-bosheth took into his service, and who conspired to murder him. (2 Samuel 4:2) (B.C. 1046.)
2. The father of Malchiah, ruler of part of Beth-haccerem. (Nehemiah 3:14) (B.C. before 446.)
3. The father or ancestor of Jehonadab. (2 Kings 10:15,33; 1 Chronicles 2:65; Jeremiah 35:6-19) (B.C.before 882.) It was from this Rechab that the tribe of the Rechabites derived their name. In (1 Chronicles 2:55) the house of Rechab is identified with a section of the Kenites, a Midianitish tribe who came into Canaan with the Israelites, and retained their nomadic habits. The real founder of the tribe was Jehonadab. [JEHONADAB] He and his people had all along been worshippers of Jehovah, circumcised, though not looked upon as belonging to Israel and probably therefore not considering themselves bound by the Mosaic law and ritual. The worship of Baal was offensive to them. Jonadab inaugurated a reformation and compelled a more rigid adherence than ever to the old Arab life. They were neither to drink wine, nor build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant nor have any vineyard. All their days they were to dwell in tents. (Jeremiah 35:6,7) This was to be the condition of their retaining a distinct tribal existence. For two centuries and a half they adhered faithfully to this rule. The invasion of Judah by Nebuchadnezzar, in B.C. 607, drove the Rechabites from their tents to Jerusalem, where they stood proof against temptation, and were specially blessed. (Jeremiah 35:2-19) There is much of interest in relation to the present condition of these people. Dr. Wolf reports that the Jews of Jerusalem and Yemen told him that he would find the Rechabites of Jere 35 living near Mecca, in the mountainous country northeast of Medina. When he came near Senaa he came in contact with a tribe, the Beni-Khabir , who identified themselves with the sons of Jehonadab. They claimed to number 60,000, to adhere to the old rules, and to be a fulfillment of the promise made to Jehonadab.

RECHABITES [SMITH]

[RECHAB]

RECAH [ISBE]

RECAH - re'-ka (rekhah; Codex Vaticanus Rhechab; Codex Alexandrinus Rhepha; the King James Version Rechah): In 1 Ch 4:12 certain persons are described as "the men of Recah," but there is absolutely no information either about the place or its position.

RECHAB; RECHABITES [ISBE]

RECHAB; RECHABITES - re'-kab, rek'-a-bits (rekhabh, rekhabhim): Rechab is the name of two men of some prominence in the Old Testament records:

(1) A Benjamite of the town of Beeroth, son of Rimmon (2 Sam 4:2); he and his brother Baanah were "captains" of the military host of Ish-bosheth. On the death of Abner (2 Sam 3:30) the two brothers treacherously entered Ish-bosheth's house, when at noon he was resting and helpless, beheaded him, and escaped with the head to David at Hebron (2 Sam 4:6-8). They expected to receive reward and honor from David for the foul deed, which left him without a rival for the throne of all Israel. But the just and noble-minded king ordered their immediate execution (2 Sam 4:9-12), as in the case of the Amalekite, who asserted that he had killed Saul (2 Sam 1). For some reason the Beerothites left their own town and fled to Gittaim, another town in Benjamin, where they were still living when the Books of Samuel were written (2 Sam 4:3).

(2) The more prominent of the men bearing this name was a Kenite (see KENITES), a descendant of Hammath (1 Ch 2:55). A part of the Kenite tribe joined the Israelites during the wilderness wanderings (Nu 10:29-32; Jdg 1:16; 4:17), becoming identified with the tribe of Judah, although Heber and Jael his wife were settled in Northern Palestine (Jdg 4:17). Rechab was the ancestor or founder of a family, or order, in Israel known as the Rechabites, who at various times were conspicuous in the religious life of the nation. The most notable member of this family was Jehonadab (2 Ki 10:15 ff,23), or Jonadab, as he is called in Jer 35. Jehonadab was a zealous Yahweh-worshipper and took part with Jehu in the extirpation of Baal-worship and the house of Ahab. He set for his descendants a vow of asceticism: that they should drink no wine, nor plant fields or vineyards, nor build nor live in houses throughout their generations (Jer 35:6,7). That must have been a singular feature in Palestinian life: the simple, nomadic life of this family from generation to generation in the midst of settled agricultural and industrial conditions! They followed this simple life in order to guard against the enervating tendencies of sensualism, and as a covenant of fidelity to Yahweh, to whom they wholly devoted themselves when they joined themselves to Israel. Jeremiah used the Rechabites, who had been driven into Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar's investment of the land, as an object-lesson to covenant-breaking Judah. The Rechabites, hungry and thirsty, refused wine when it was set before them, because of the command of their ancestor Jonadab (Jer 35:8-10); but Judah refused to heed Yahweh's commands or to keep His covenant (Jer 35:14,15).

If the Rechab of Neh 3:14 is the same as this Kenite, then his descendant Malchijah, who assisted Nehemiah in rebuilding the wall of Jerusalem, may have abandoned the vow of his ancestors, for he was "ruler of the district of Beth-haccherem" (i.e. "house of the vineyard").

Edward Mack