in his travels he found a place where Jews .dwelt, who
were callied Rechabites. The phrase, to stand before
me, is by the Targum paraphrased, "ministerlag be-
'' fore me ;" serving and worshipping God, for they
were religious people; that is, in their own families,
carrying on religious worship among themselves, and
not in the temple, where they had no office, and did
no service; though some think they had, because
called scribes, 1 Chron. if. 55. Kimchi says that some
of their Rubbins asserted that the daughters of these
people married priests, and so some of their children's
children offered sacrifice on the altar. And if what
Eusebius reports from Hegesippus is true, there were
priests or' this family after the times of Christ; for he
says{l}, that when the Jews were stoning James the
just, a priest of the sons of Rechab cried out, saying,
stop, what are ye doing? but these testimonie.s are
not to be depended on; however, we may be sure of
this, that the promise of God shall not fail, but be cer-
tainly accomplished. Very apposite are the words of
the learned Alting {m} upon this subject: "not only the
"Lord promises length of life to the obedient, which
"proselytes, equally with Israelites, have the promise
"of; but, particularly, that the po._terity of Jonadab
"should not perish, should have a place in the church
"of God, and an admission to the gracious enjoyment
"of God; not as priests and Levites, but as other
"Israelites and strangers, Isa. lvi. 4, 7. so that the pos-
"terity of Jonadab must still continue, and hope of
"restoration of them with the Israelites remains; as
"in Jer. xxxi. 36, 37. but in the same way and man-
" her; so that being equally sharers in exile, they are
"to be restored after a long interruption. Indeed, the
"family is not at this day known; but from the igno-
"rance of men, to the denial of a thing, there is no
"available argument. Families cannot be confounded,
"since they descencl by the fathers; mothers don't
"belong to them; and as is the father as to tribe, so
"also is the son and grandson, and so on. A ge-
"nealogical series may perish from the knowledge
"of men, but not from the nature of things, and
"the knowledge of God. Though the seeds of
"wheat, barley, and other things, may be mixed to-
'' gerber, that men cannot distinguish them, yet their
"distinction does not perish; and God not only knows
"it, but also discovers it, when he makes every seed
"to rise in its own body, I Cot. xv. 37, 38. so must
"we judge concerning families." Perhaps, since these
Rechabit, es were proselytes, and not Israelites, the
conversion of the Gentiles may be respected; who are
priests in a spiritual sense, and minister before the
Lord, offering up, through Christ, the spiritual sacri-
fices of prayer and praise; and such a generation to
serve the Lord will never be wanting.

CHAP.

THIS chapter gives an account of an impious action
of KingJehoiakim's burning the roll of Jeremiah's pro-
pheeies read unto him, and the consequence of it. The
order to write this roll, the time when, the contents
and use of it, are in vet. 1, 2, 3. the writing of it by
Baruch, the order of the l?rophet to read it to the peo-
ple on such a day, with the view he had in so doing,
yet. 4, 5, 6, 7. the reading of it by Baruch to the people
first, ver. 8, 9, 10. then to the princes, being sent for
by them, upon a report made to them, yet. 11, 19, 13,
14, 15. the king being acquainted with it, Jehudi was
sent to fetch the roll, who read it to the king, vet. 16,
17, 18, 19, 2O, 21. who having heard part of it, burnt
it, notwithstanding the intercession of some of his
princes to the contrary, vet. 22, 23, e4, 25. and who
also ordered the apprehension of Jeremiah and Baruch,
who could not be found, ver. 26. upon this a new roll
is ordered to be written, vet. 27, 28. which was done
with sotne additions to it, respecting the destruction
of the land, and the people in it, by the Chaldeans;
and particnlarly the death of the king, and his want of
burial, ver. 29--32.
Vet. 1. And it came to pass in the .fourth year of Je-
hoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, &c.] Eighteen
years before the destruction of Jerusalem: that this
word came unto Jeremiah from the Lord; the follow-
ing order to write in a roll all his prophecies he had
hitherto delivered: saying; as follows:
Ver. _o. Take thee a roll of a book, &c.] A roll of
parchment, which being wrote on, and rolled up, was
called a book; but books, in those times, did not con-
sist of leaves cut and stitched together, and bound up,
as our books are, but sheets of parchre.eats being
wrote upon, were glued together, and then rolled up;
hence such writings were called volumes; which name
we still retain, and give to books, though the same
practice is not used: and write therein all the words
that I have spoken unto thee against Israel, and against
Judah; for though Israel was carried captive before
the times of Jeremiah, and his prophecies were chiefly
directed against Judah; yet as there were some of the
ten tribes mixed with them, they were included in
these prophecies, and therefore mentioned: and against
all the nations; such as Egypt, Edom, Aremen, and
Moab, ch. ix. 26: from the day that I spake unto thee,
from the days of Josiah, even unto this day; that is,
,)proshesy,
from the time the Lord called him to ....  in his
name, which was in, the thirteenth year of Josiah, who
reigned one-and-thirty years.; and this being the fourth
year of Jehoiakim,. it must be the three-and-twentieth
year of his prophesying, and the a course of full two-
and-twenty years; see ch. i. 2. and xxv. 3. now all the
sermons, discourses, and prophecies, he had delivered
ont against one and another, during this time, must all
be written in one roll or book, that that they might be
read. Kimchi says their Rabbins" would have it

{l} Eccles. Hist. I.2.c.23
{m} Apud Witsii Exercitat. 9 de Rechabitis in Miscell. Sacr. tom. 2.
p. 235,236.
{n} T. Bab. Moed Katon fol. 26. 1.