What Does Jeremiah 35:6 Mean?
But they said, We will drink no wine, for Jonadab son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, You shall drink no wine, neither you nor your sons, for the ages.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
But they said, We will drink no wine: for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever:THE KEY
The Hebrew “for ever” is עוֹלָם (olam), an age beyond sight, so this vow is voiced on a family horizon larger than any one lifetime.
THE MEANING
A received word can keep shaping a family’s choices after the one who spoke it is gone. The sons’ refusal reaches toward עוֹלָם (olam), an age beyond sight, so its horizon extends past one lifetime.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a word loses its force once the person who gave it is gone.
THE ROOT
עוֹלָם
olam
GROWS FROM
עלם
ʿ-l-m (עלם): to conceal or be hidden; עוֹלָם names an age beyond the visible horizon.
“for the ages” in this verse is olam. עוֹלָם places the vow at the edge of what can be seen or measured. Its consonantal family also gives words for what is hidden, letting “for ever” carry the sense of an age whose far boundary lies out of view.
ALSO GROWS
neʿelam: hidden, concealed
נֶעֱלָם
This form shares the consonants ע־ל־ם and makes the hidden horizon within עוֹלָם audible.
heʿelim: concealed, hid
הֶעֱלִים
This verb carries the same consonantal root, linking the age’s far edge with what remains out of sight.
צִוָּה
tsivvah
GROWS FROM
צוה
ts-w-h (צוה): to charge, command, or appoint.
“commanded” in this verse is tsivvah. The verb marks Jonadab’s words as a charge the family continues to carry. Its related forms name both a commandment and the act of giving a command, connecting the spoken instruction to an enduring practice.
ALSO GROWS
mitzvah: commandment
מִצְוָה
This noun shares the root consonants צ־ו־ה and names an instruction carried as a continuing obligation.
tetsavveh: you shall command
תְּצַוֶּה
This verb shares the same root consonants and makes the act of charging someone explicit.
נִשְׁתֶּה
nishteh
GROWS FROM
שתה
sh-t-h (שתה): to drink.
“drink” in this verse is nishteh. The same root names drinking and a drinking feast. The refusal therefore marks a boundary around a whole practice, not merely a single cup.
ALSO GROWS
mishteh: drinking feast, banquet
מִשְׁתֶּה
This word shares all three root consonants and shows the act of drinking widening into a gathering.
shetiyah: drinking
שְׁתִיָּה
This noun preserves the same root consonants and names the act the family refuses.
THE PATTERN
A received instruction can pass through generations as a living practice.
And you shall sharpen them to your children, and speak of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk along the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise up.So that the generation that follows might know them, the children yet to be born, who will rise and recount them to their children.And these things you heard from me among many witnesses, place beside steady people who will be able to teach others also.THE THREAD
Guard, and hear and respond to all these words which I command you, so that it may go well with you and with your children after you for the ages, when you do what is good and straight in the sight of the LORD your God.Deuteronomy also places עוֹלָם (olam, age) beside children who come after, pairing a long horizon with a practice carried forward. The shared word makes the Rechabite vow’s reach across generations visible.
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