Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any: but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers.

neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor have any; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; that ye may live many days in the land wherein ye sojourn.

Neither shall ye build houses, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyards, nor have any: but you shall dwell in tents all your days, that you may live many days upon the face of the earth, in which you are strangers.

neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard, nor shall ye have any; but all your days ye shall dwell in tents, that ye may live many days in the land where ye sojourn.

and a house ye do not build, and seed ye do not sow, and a vineyard ye do not plant, nor have ye any; for in tents do ye dwell all your days, that ye may live many days on the face of the ground whither ye are sojourning.

And you are to make no houses, or put in seed, or get vine-gardens planted, or have any: but all your days you are to go on living in tents, so that you may have a long life in the land where you are living as in a strange country.

And you shall not build houses, and you shall not sow any seeds, and you shall not plant or have vineyards. Instead, you shall live in tents all your days, so that you may live many days upon the face of the earth, in which you are sojourners.'

Et domos non aedificabitia, et semen non seretis, et vitem non plantabitis, et non erit vobis quicquam, quia (hoc est, quin potius) habitabitis in tabernaculis, cunctis diebus vestris, ut vivatis dies multos in superficie terrae in qua vos peregrini estis.

Strangers - Because not of Jewish blood, though wandering in their territory.

Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard,
nor have any,.... That is, they were not to build houses, sow seed, or plant vineyards, for themselves, for their own profit and advantage; nor possess either of these through purchase or gift: all this was enjoined them, partly because they were strangers in the land of Israel, as is suggested in the latter part of the verse, and so were to have no inheritance in it; and partly because the pastoral life was what their ancestors had lived; and therefore Jonadab was desirous it should be continued in his posterity; as well as because by this means they would live not envied by the Israelites, among whom they were; since they did not covet to get any part of their possessions into their hands; as also these being their circumstances, upon any public calamity, as sword, famine, or pestilence, they could more easily remove to other places; and likewise, by observing these rules, would not be liable to some sins, as drunkenness, worldly mindedness, &c. which are often the cause of great calamities. The Essenes, a sect among the Jews afterwards, seem in some things to have copied after these Rechabites:
but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; which they could move from place to place, for the convenience of pasture for the cattle, the business they were brought up in, and were always to exercise:
that ye may live many days in the land where ye be strangers; for they were not Israelites, as before observed, but Kenites, the descendants of Jethro; they were proselytes of the gate only; and now, partly on account of their obedience to parents, which had annexed to it the promise of long life in the land in which they lived; and partly because they would, by such a course of life, give no umbrage to, nor raise any jealousy in, the minds of the inhabitants of it, they might expect a continuance in it.

tents-- (Judges 4:17).
live many days--according to the promise connected with the fifth commandment (Exodus 20:12; Ephesians 6:2-3).
strangers--They were not of the stock of Jacob, but sojourners in Israel. Types of the children of God, pilgrims on earth, looking for heaven as their home: having little to lose, so that losing times cost them little alarm; sitting loose to what they have (Hebrews 10:34; Hebrews 11:9-10, Hebrews 11:13-16).

That ye may live - Jonadab cautions his sons by a thrifty, sober, laborious life, to which they had been bred, in keeping flocks, to avoid any thing which might expose them to the envy or hatred of the people amongst whom they were come to sojourn.