Jehonadab

Jehonadab (also Jonadab; meaning the LORD is liberal or free giver) was the son of Rechab and the founder of the Rechabite community. He commanded his descendants to drink no wine, build no houses, sow no seed, and live in tents — a covenant of nomadic simplicity and separation from the corruptions of Canaanite settled life. Jeremiah 35 records that the Rechabites, tested 250 years after Jonadab's time, remained faithful to his commands even while the rest of Judah ignored God's prophets — making them a powerful object lesson of covenant loyalty.

An earlier Jehonadab appears as a nephew of David: in 2 Samuel 13:3, Jonadab (a different person, but the same name) was the crafty counselor who advised the lovesick Amnon. The Rechabite founder is first mentioned joining Jehu's purge of the house of Ahab (2 Kings 10:15-17), where Jehu called him up into his chariot as a witness — suggesting Jehonadab was a recognized reformer and opponent of Baal worship. His descendants maintained their covenant fidelity to at least the time of Jeremiah (Jeremiah 35:6).