Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; but this people hath not hearkened unto me:

Forasmuch as the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people hath not hearkened unto me;

So the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have constantly kept the commandment of their father, which he commanded them: but this people hath not obeyed me.

'Because the sons of Jonadab son of Rechab have performed the command of their father, that he commanded them, and this people have not hearkened unto Me,

Though the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have done the orders of their father which he gave them, this people has not given ear to me:

So the sons of Jonadab, the son of Rechab, have remained firm in the commandment of their father, which he instructed to them, while this people has not been obedient to me.

Quoniam stabilierunt filii Jonadab, filii Rechab, mandatum patris sui, qued mandaverat ipsis, populus antera hic non audierunt ad me, (hoc est, non obediverunt mihi)

The Prophet says nothing new here, but confirms what has been said before; and this he did, that the indignity of the people's conduct might more fully appear, inasmuch as, on one hand, a mortal man, and he now dead, retained authority over his posterity, having once laid on them a restraint in a matter hard and difficult; while God, on the other hand, effected nothing, though he had constantly addressed and exhorted his people, had sent prophets, and ceased not to invite them to himself, and had not only invited them, but also kindly allured them by setting before them his favors, and gave them hope as to the time to come. Since God, then, had tried all means, but without any success, the hopeless depravity of the people became hence evident. This is the import of the whole.

Because the son of Jonadab the son of Rechab,.... Here we have the contrast between the Rechabites and the Israelites; the obedience of the one, and the disobedience of the other; the design of which is to aggravate and expose the sin of the Jews, since the former
have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; that particular commandment of not drinking wine, which they had never once violated in such a course of time; nor could they now be prevailed upon, even by the prophet himself, to do it:
but this people hath not hearkened unto me; the Lord their God, their father that bought them, made them, and established them. Gross ingratitude! Deuteronomy 32:6.