Albert Barnes Commentary Jeremiah 35:2

"Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of Jehovah, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink." — Jeremiah 35:2 (ASV)

The house - The family.

The Rechabites - The Rechabites were a nomadic tribe, not of Jewish but of Kenite race, and connected with the Amalekites (Numbers 24:21; 1 Samuel 15:6). From whom, however, they had separated themselves and made a close alliance with the tribe of Judah (Judges 1:16), on whose southern borders they took up their dwelling (1 Samuel 27:10).

However, while the main body of the Kenites gradually adopted settled habits and lived in cities (1 Samuel 30:29), the Rechabites persisted in leading the free desert life. In this determination, they were finally confirmed by the influence and authority of Jonadab, who lived in Jehu’s reign. He was a zealous adherent of Yahweh (2 Kings 10:15–17) and possibly a religious reformer; and as the names of the men mentioned in the present narrative are all compounded with Yah, it is plain that the tribe continued their allegiance to Him.

The object of Jonadab in endeavoring to preserve the nomad habits of his race was probably twofold. He wished first to maintain among them the purer morality and higher feeling of the desert, contrasted with the laxity and effeminacy of the city life; and secondly, he was anxious for the preservation of their freedom. Their punctilious obedience (Jeremiah 35:14) to Jonadab’s precepts is employed by Jeremiah to teach a useful lesson for his own people.

The date of the prophecy is the interval between the battle of Carchemish and the appearance of Nebuchadnezzar at Jerusalem (Jeremiah 35:11), at the end of the same year. It is consequently 17 years earlier than the narrative in (Jeremiah 34:8 and following).