2 Kings 10:15

Jehonadab the son of Rechab We are told (1 Chronicles 2:55) that the house of Rechab belonged to the Kenites. The marriage of Moses to a Kenite wife (Judges 1:16) led to the Kenites going up with the children of Judah into the wilderness, and so they came to dwell among the people of Israel. We read of them several times in the history of Israel. Jael, who slew Sisera, was the wife of Heber the Kenite (Judges 4:17), and Saul shewed kindness to the Kenites when he was sent to destroy Amalek (1 Samuel 15:6). Of Jehonadab (the name is also written Jonadab) we learn (Jeremiah 35:6-7) that he forbade his descendants to drink wine, or to live in cities, and follow settled occupations. They were always to lead a nomad life; we find too that this ordinance of Jonadab had been observed down to the days of Jeremiah. It is clear therefore that he, who was able to lay it down, and cause it to be kept, must have been a man of much influence, and one whose friendship and countenance might serve Jehu's cause at the outset of his reign. We see also that Jonadab was thoroughly at one with Jehu in the destruction of Baal-worship. We may therefore count his kinsmen as among the more faithful portion of the people of Israel. With the double form, Jonadab and Jehonadab, compare Johanan and Jehohanan, Joiada and Jehoiada, Joram and Jehoram.

Josephus (Ant.IX. 6. 6) describes Jonadab as -a good man and a just, who had been long a friend of Jehu, and who greeted him and began to applaud all that he had done according to God's will for the destruction of the house of Ahab".

Is thine heart right Here the LXX. adds -with my heart", and later in the verse after Jonadab's answer -It is" there is inserted in the LXX. -And Jehu said". These insertions make the dialogue more distinct, but there is no need to suppose that anything has fallen out from the Hebrew text in either place.

If it be The Hebrew is literally -and it is". But this form is often employed as equivalent to -if it is". Cf. Judges 6:13, where -if the Lord be with us" is literally -and the Lord is with us". See also Driver, Heb. Tenses, 149.

into the chariot For a great personage to cause another to ride with him in his chariot was a mark of distinction. Cf. 1 Kings 20:33. It is noteworthy that Jehu appears to have attached much importance to Jonadab's support and sympathy. He must therefore have considered that the people of Samaria would be influenced thereby, and if they were likely to be so influenced we may judge that many in Israel regarded a servant of Jehovah with a respect which even the Baal-worship and calf-worship had not been able to destroy.