Rechabites are the descendants of Rechab

Rechab

Rechab is the name of three men in the Bible:*One of the two "captains of bands" whom Saul's son Ish-bosheth took into his service, and who conspired to kill him....

 through Jonadab

Jonadab

Jonadab is the name of two men in the Hebrew Bible:*In 2 Samuel 13:3 Jonadab son of Shimeah is described as a 'very shrewd man' . He suggests to Amnon the plan he uses to seduce Tamar....

 or Jehonadab

Jehonadab

Jehonadab was the son of Rechab. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible at 2 Kings 10:15-31. Though not a Jew himself, he was a supporter of Jehu, son of Nimshi, in the elimination of the house of Ahab and in suppressing worship of Baal throughout Samaria...

. They belonged to the Kenites who accompanied the children of Israel into the holy land

Holy Land

The Holy Land is a term which in Judaism refers to the Kingdom of Israel as defined in the Tanakh. For Jews, the Land's identifiction of being Holy is defined in Judaism by its differentiation from other lands by virtue of the practice of Judaism often possible only in the Land of Israel...

, and dwelt among them. Moses

Moses

Moses was, according to the Hebrew Bible and Qur'an, a religious leader, lawgiver and prophet, to whom the authorship of the Torah is traditionally attributed...

 married a Kenite wife, and Jael

Jaël

Jaël, , is a singer-songwriter from the band Lunik. She also co-wrote and sang with Delerium on the song After All on their album Chimera, and the song Lost and Found on their album Nuages du Monde. She is both internationally famous in the Trance music community as well as domestically famous from...

 was the wife of "Heber the Kenite". Saul

Saul the King

According to the Bible, Saul was the first king of the united Kingdom of Israel. He was anointed by the prophet Samuel and reigned from Gibeah. He commited suicide to avoid arrest in the battle against the Philistines at Mount Gilboa, during which three of his sons were also killed...

 also showed kindness to the Kenites. The main body of the Kenites dwelt in cities, and adopted settled habits of life; but Jehonadab forbade his descendants to drink wine or to live in cities. They were commanded to lead always a nomad life. They adhered to the law laid down by Jonadab, and were noted for their fidelity to the old-established custom of their family in the days of Jeremiah (35); and this feature of their character is referred to by God for the purpose of giving point to his message to Judah.

In 1839 the Reverend Joseph Wolff

Joseph Wolff

Joseph Wolff , Jewish Christian missionary, was born at Weilersbach, near Bamberg, Germany. He travelled widely, and was known as the Eccentric Missionary, according to Fitzroy Maclean's Eastern Approaches...

, who later went to Bokhara to attempt to save Lieutenant Colonel Charles Stoddart

Charles Stoddart

Colonel Charles Stoddart was a British officer and diplomat. He was a famous British agent in Central Asia during the period of the Great Game....

 and Captain Arthur Conolly

Arthur Conolly

Arthur Conolly was a British intelligence officer, explorer and writer. He was a captain of the 1st Bengal Light Cavalry in the service of the British East India Company...

, found in Yemen

Yemen

The Republic of Yemen , commonly known as Yemen , is a country located in the Middle East, occupying the southwestern to southern end of the Arabian Peninsula. It is bordered by Saudi Arabia to the north, the Red Sea to the west, and Oman to the east....

, near Sana'a

Sana'a

-Districts:*Al Wahdah District*As Sabain District*Assafi'yah District*At Tahrir District*Ath'thaorah District*Az'zal District*Bani Al Harith District*Ma'ain District*Old City District*Shu'aub District-Old City:...

, a tribe claiming to be descendants of Jehonadab; and in the late nineteenth century a Bedouin

Bedouin

The Bedouin are a part of a predominantly desert-dwelling Arab ethnic group traditionally divided into tribes or clans, known in Arabic as ..-Etymology:...

 tribe was found near the Dead Sea

Dead Sea

The Dead Sea , also called the Salt Sea, is a salt lake bordering Jordan to the east and Israel and the West Bank to the west. Its surface and shores are below sea level, the lowest elevation on the Earth's surface. The Dead Sea is deep, the deepest hypersaline lake in the world...

 who also professed to be descendants of Jehonadab.

The term Rechabites also refers to a religious order, similar in some ways to the Nazarites, and are mentioned by Eusebius of Emesa

Eusebius of Emesa

Eusebius of Emesa was a learned ecclesiastic of the Greek church, and a pupil of Eusebius of Caesarea....

.

In more recent times, the name has been used by Christian

Christian

A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...

 groups keen to promote total abstinence from alcohol, such as the Independent Order of Rechabites

Independent Order of Rechabites

The Independent Order of Rechabites was a Friendly Society founded in England in 1835 as part of the temperance movement to promote total abstinence from alcoholic beverages. Always well connected in upper society and involved in financial matters, it gradually transformed into a financial...

. Many Muslims still claim descent from Rechab.