Besides which God commanded the prophet to take the roll of a book, and write therein all the prophecies that he had uttered from the days of Josiah, mercifully adding, It may be

sonably thought themselves justified in yielding; but they said, "we will drink no wine," &c.

The ingenious Mr. Harmer supposes, that the descendants of Abraham had originally lived as the Bedouin Arabs do now; but that some disturbance having taken place between them and some of their kindred tribes, Jonadab had enjoined upon them the abstinence and practices mentioned in the prophecy ;—but has the prophecy been fulfilled? the sneering infidel has often enquired-in what quarter of the world it is that Jonadab, the son of Rechab, has a man standing before Jehovah?

Mr. Wolff, the Jewish missionary, thus answers the interesting question."The Beni-Khaibr (the Jews mentioned by Niebuhr) never came to Jerusalem: they remained in the desert, when Joshua brought the rest of the people of God into the land of promise; and thus they dwell in the desert, near Mecca, without any knowledge of the law or the prophets; wandering about as robbers and enemies of mankind. They call themselves Beni Moshe, the children of Moses." (Journal i. 257) Rabbi Mose Secot, at Jerusalem, told him that these Beni-Khaibr came to Jerusalem, in the time of Jeremiah, and were the descendants of the Rechabites; that they still drink no wine, and have neither vineyard, nor field, nor seed, but dwell like Arabs. He considered them as descended from Jethro. Journal, i. 257. 260, 261. This account was further confirmed by Abraham Ben-Yahya, from Yerim, near Sanaa, in the land of Teman, viz: Yemen, with whom Mr. Wolff met at Ispahan, and who told him, The Jews Khaibr are the children of Rechab-these are mighty men and have not felt the yoke of the captivity, and then Abraham Ben-Yahya, joyfully lifted up his fingers, and moved them about, and said, They are the descendants of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, who said, ye shall drink no wine, neither ye nor your sons, for ever; neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, &c. And thus they do the children of Ishmael curse them, and we bless them-the sword of Muhammed has not brought them under his yoke. Soleiman Hadorame went among them, and they told him, that if the Jews shall begin to repent-if they shall pray with devo• Observations, vol. 1. 206.

that the house of Judah will hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them: that they may return every man from his evil way; that I may forgive their iniquity and their

tion, then the Messiah will come. Soleiman Hadorame has seen them! Journal, ii. 17. Again, when at Moussul (the ancient Nineveh or thereabouts) he says, All the Jews in this country believe that the Beni-Khaibr, near Mecca and Medinah, are the descendants of the ancient Rechabites. The Mufti from Merdeen, gave me a long description of the Beni-Khaibr, but as I have not yet seen them, I will not at present give you his description of them; they are, however, worthy of notice. Those Jews of Khaibr gave infinite trouble to Muhammed, and he never was able to compel them to embrace his religion. (See Sale's note to chapter xlviii. in the Koran, and Herbelot's Bibliotheque Orientale). Journal, iii. 276, 277. When at Bassora, a Jew, Mose-Yehuda, who was born at Sanaa, in Yemen, told him that the Jews of Sanaa are firmly convinced that the Beni-Khaibr are the descendants of the ancient Rechabites; their existence, therefore, is beyond all doubt. He told him that there were Jews at Hazarmaveth, (Genesis, x. 26.) which is called Hadramawth, in Arabic. The Jews at Sanaa speak Arabic, and biblical Hebrew. They do not read the Talmud much, but very frequently the Sohar of Rabbi Simeon Bar-Yohai. They have three courts of law, called Beth-Din; for the Jews in cases of dispute never appeal to the Turkish Governor, except an Arab is convened in it. He asked him whether it was true, that the Jews at Sanaa sometimes use the prayers contained in the Koran? God forbid, such a thing never was done in Israel! was his answer. He told him that the Jews at Sanaa might easily procure him access to the Rechabites, who were only eight days distant from them; he observed that the Jews would bring him thither with a subtlety like that with which Jacob deceived Isaac, his father. Journal, iii. 331. There are Jews at Atana, near the city of Mecca; all the Jews in Yemen are dressed like Arabs, but of black colour: and the following fact was told him by the Jew called Mose Yehuda. Rabbi Gad, of Jerusalem, set off 39 years ago with a caravan, from Mokka to Sanaa; the Arabs comprising the caravan were then at war with the Rechabites, (Beni-Khaibr.) The Rechabites attacked the caravan and destroyed them. Rabbi Gad in his anguish used the exclamation common among the Jews,

sin. Then Jeremiah called Baruch, the son of Neriah: and Baruch wrote from the mouth of Jeremiah, all the words of Jehovah, which he had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book.

viz; "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God is one Lord." The chief of the Rechabites hearing it, gave orders to stop the massacre. Rabbi Gad was brought to their tents, and questioned; they asked him how matters stood at Jerusalem, whether Israel still sinned, and whether the temple was not yet built? They dismissed Gad with presents, and brought him in safety to Sanaa. Journal. iii. 333. "Mose Yehudah, the Jew from Sanaa, called on me, and read the whole morning in the Gospel of St. John. He asked me the meaning of John iii. 7, S. and observed that the Jews at Sanaa, know very little of the circumstances of the death of Jesus Christ." Journal iii. 334. “As well the Jews, not only of Jerusalem, but likewise those of Yemen, told me that the Rechabites mentioned in Jer. xxxv. were still existing around Mecca; the Mussulmans who performed their pilgrimages to Mecca, confirmed that account; the latter knew them by the names of Khaibaree. On my arrival at Jalooha, in Mesopotamia, I saw Jews wandering about among the Yezidi. I asked them, has never any one of you turned Yezidi or Mussulman? They replied, Oppression cannot bow us, and tyranny not shake, Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God is one God!" I added " and Jesus of Nazareth is the son of God!" And believing them to be Rechabites, on account of their wandering about in the desert, I asked them the question, they replied no, but here is one who came from Hajaz, viz; the deserts of Mecca !" I saw one before me standing, dressed and wild like an Arab, the bridle of his horse holding in his hand, I shewed to him the Bible in Hebrew, and Arabic; he read both languages and was rejoiced to see the Bible, he was not acquainted with the New Testament. After having proclaimed to him the tidings of salvation, and made him a present of the Hebrew and Arabic Bibles and Testaments, I asked him, whose descendants are you?

66

Mousa. (This was his name, with a loud voice.) Come I shew to you, and then he began to read Jeremiah xxxv. from verse 5 to 11. W. Where do you reside.

Mousa. (Recurring to Gen. x. 27.) At Hadoram, now called Samar by the Arabs, at Usal, now called Sanaa by the Arabs, and (Genesis x. 30.) at Mesha, now called Mecca, in the deserts around

And Jeremiah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up; I cannot go into the house of Jehovah: therefore, go thou, and read in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the words of Jehovah, in the ears of the people in the house of Jehovah, upon the fasting day: and also, thou shalt read them in the ears of all Judah, that come out of their cities. It may be, they will present their supplication before Jehovah, and will return every one from his evil way for great is the anger and the fury that Jehovah hath pronounced against this people. And Baruch, the son of Neriah, did according to all that Jeremiah, the prophet, commanded him, reading in the book the words of Jehovah, in the house of Jehovah.*

The king of Egypt, however, came no more out of his land, for Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, having beaten his army at the Euphrates, and retaken Carchemish,† possessed himself from the river of Egypt to the river Euphrates, of all that pertained to that monarch.‡

those places. We drink no wine, and plant no vineyard, and sow no seed, and live in tents, as Jonadab our father commanded us. Hobab was our father too; come to us, you will still find 60,000 in number, and you see thus the prophecy has been fulfilled. "Therefore, thus saith Jehovah of Hosts, the God of Israel, Jonadab, the son of Rechab, shall not want a man to stand before me for ever." And saying this, Mousa, the Rechabite, mounted his horse and fled away, and left behind a host of evidence of sacred writ! Journal iii, 334. 336. The number of the Beni-Khaibr are said to amount to 60,000. KEITH, 356.

* Jer. xxxvi. 3-8.

+ See a sublime prophecy of this event in Jer. xlvi. Nothing can shew more how prone is the fallen nature of man, to trust in an arm of flesh, (2 Chron. xxxii. 8. Jer. xvii. 5.), than the conduct of the Jews with reference to the kings of Egypt; for it appears from hence, that they were not yet weaned from their false confidence in that power, notwithstanding the prophetical warnings they had received in the time of Hezekiah. 2 Kings, xviii. 2. Isaiah, xxxvi. 6.

2 Kings, xxiv. 7.

The Babylonian then proceeded to besiege Jerusalem, against Jehoiakim, as an ally of Pharoah Necho; and having taken him prisoner, bound him in fetters, to carry him to Babylon.*

It appears uncertain whether Nebuchadnezzar released Jehoiakim before he quitted Jerusalem, or whether he took him with him to Babylon, and afterwards restored him.†

However that may be, the Babylonish monarch seized part of the vessels of the house of God, and sent them into the land of Shinar, and placed them into the treasure house of his god, Bel, at Babylon. He also ordered Ashpenaz, his eunuch, to take some of the most considerable persons in the kingdom, and amongst the rest, Daniel and his companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego,§ to carry them captive into Babylon,

Jehoiakim governed Jerusalem, as a tributary to the king of Babylon, for three years; during which period, both king and people exhibiting no symptoms of reformation, Jehovah still continued to repeat his messages of wrath and mercy by the prophet Jeremiah.||

On the return of the fast, therefore, in the following year, Baruch read the roll a second time,¶ in the chamber of Ge

* 2 Chron. xxxvi. 6. 2 Kings, xxiv. 1. Dan. i. 1.

+ 2 Kings, xxiv. 1. Scott in

Prid. i. 91.

loco, and in Jer. xlvi. 2. A. Clarke.

Dr. Wall, i. 270,

Dan. i. 2.

2 Chron. xxxvi. 7.

2 Kings, xxiv. 1.

§ Dan. i. 3-7.

"In making the roll to be read twice in the temple by Baruch, I confess I differ from most that have commented upon this place of Scripture. But as the reading of the roll by Baruch is, in the 36th chapter of Jeremiah, twice related, so it is plain to me that it was twice done; for in the first relation it is said to be done in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and in the second it is said to be done in the fifth; which plainly denotes two different times. And in the first relation Jeremiah is said to be shut up in prison when the roll