Herbert Migsch, «Wohnten die Rechabiter in Jerusalem in Häusern oder in Zelten? Die Verbformationen in Jer 35,8-11», Vol. 79 (1998) 242-257

The Rechabites who were obliged to follow the nomadic way of life fled to Jerusalem according to Jer 35 in the face of the Babylonian-Aramean army that was moving towards Judah (597 B.C.). Although their ancestor Jonadab had among other things commanded his descendants always to dwell in tents, the Rechabites in Jerusalem lived in houses. This interpretation of the literature is of course disputed. According to many exegetes the Rechabites preserved the nomadic way of life. Nevertheless, a syntactic-semantic analysis of the verbal forms of vv. 8-11 and an analysis of the connections between the sentences in vv. 8-11 show that the Rechabites during their stay in Jerusalem observed the prohibitions of their ancestor – to drink no wine, to build no houses and not to plant or to possess a vineyard –, but not his command to live in tents.

        Die Exegeten beantworten diese Frage von dem Ausdruck be("das Haus der Rechabiter") V. 2 her. So entscheiden sich z. B. R. P. Carroll und W. L. Holladay ⁴ für die wörtliche Bedeutung "das (Wohn-)Haus der Rechabiter", J. Bright, J. A. Thompson und W. McKane ⁵ aber für die übertragene Bedeutung "die Gemeinschaft der Rechabiter". Während jedoch nach Bright die Rechabiter in Häusern lebten, hatten sie nach Thompson ihre Zelte innerhalb der Mauern Jerusalems und nach McKane ("Jeremiah") auf freien Plätzen in der Stadt aufgeschlagen; McKane (Commentary) zufolge aber standen die Zelte auf freien Plätzen rund um die Stadt herum.