6 And they say, 'We do not drink wine: for Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, charged us, saying, Ye do not drink wine, ye and your sons—unto the age; 7 and a house ye do not build, and seed ye do not sow, and a vineyard ye do not plant, nor have ye any; for in tents do ye dwell all your days, that ye may live many days on the face of the ground whither ye are sojourning. 8 'And we hearken to the voice of Jonadab son of Rechab, our father, to all that he commanded us, not to drink wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, and our daughters; 9 nor to build houses for our dwelling; and vineyard, and field, and seed, we have none; 10 and we dwell in tents, and we hearken, and we do according to all that Jonadab our father commanded us; 11 and it cometh to pass, in the coming up of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon unto the land, that we say, Come, and we enter Jerusalem, because of the force of the Chaldeans, and because of the force of Aram—and we dwell in Jerusalem.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Jeremiah 35:6-11
Commentary on Jeremiah 35:1-11
(Read Jeremiah 35:1-11)
Jonadab was famous for wisdom and piety. He lived nearly 300 years before, 2 Kings 10:15. Jonadab charged his posterity not to drink wine. He also appointed them to dwell in tents, or movable dwelling: this would teach them not to think of settling any where in this world. To keep low, would be the way to continue long in the land where they were strangers. Humility and contentment are always the best policy, and men's surest protection. Also, that they might not run into unlawful pleasures, they were to deny themselves even lawful delights. The consideration that we are strangers and pilgrims should oblige us to abstain from all fleshly lusts. Let them have little to lose, and then losing times would be the less dreadful: let them sit loose to what they had, and then they might with less pain be stript of it. Those are in the best frame to meet sufferings who live a life of self-denial, and who despise the vanities of the world. Jonadab's posterity observed these rules strictly, only using proper means for their safety in a time of general suffering.