Midianites and Ishmaelites. 129 



for Joram's Court and the officers of his army. And 

 who more likely than such an one to be the friend and 

 welcomed companion of the fierce and impetuous Jehu, 

 who rode after Ahab, and was well known for his 

 furious driving ? The father of Rechab may have per- 

 formed like services for King Solomon. The Recha- 

 bites were Midianites, descended from Abraham and 

 Keturah, and some imagine from that family of Midia- 

 nites whose forefather was Hohab, brother-in-law to 

 Moses, and dwelt among the Israelites ; but in the time 

 of Jeremiah, as the house of the Rechabites went up to 

 Jerusalem only from fear of the army of the Chaldeans, 

 and as they were forbidden to live in houses, to plant, 

 or sow, they evidently were to some extent nomads. 

 Be that as it may, they were Midianites, and these were 

 very early associated and fused with the Ishmaelites, 

 also descended from Abraham, who were intermingled 

 with the ancient Arabians of Ketanic race. That the 

 Midianites were mingled with the Ishmaelites is gathered 

 from the facts mentioned in Genesis. The merchants 

 trading with Egypt in the days of Jacob, and to whom 

 his brethren sold Joseph for twenty pieces of silver, are 

 sometimes described as Midianites, and at others Ish- 

 maelites ; although in those days associated, and to 

 some extent one people, it is possible the Ishmaelites 

 were more addicted to wandering and predatory habits, 

 and the Midianites to trading. The former being the 

 first to be associated with the Arabs might have oppor- 

 tunities of acquiring Arab horses ; and their kinsmen, 

 the Midianites, being traders, passed them off into 



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