The Book of
Tobit or Tobias

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our healer, our deliverer from the devil.

This fragment of the Book of Tobit was recovered from Cave IV at Qumran in 1955, with documents in Aramaic and in Hebrew http://www.companysj.com/v141/written.html

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    Tobit means “God is my good”, and it is the Book on the providence of God, who constantly cares of his faithful, purifies them, and rewards them with greatness.

    Tobit was in Niniveh what Daniel was in Babylon: Daniel caring for the deported two tribes of the South, and Tobit for the deported 10 tribes of the North... and the life of Tobit is very much like the one of Job.   

   The Book of Tobit is a fascinating story that has enjoyed wide popularity in both Jewish and Christian circles, and  it is like a treasure box with many jewels:

    1- The providence of God: God is the Lord of history of every person and event... God is the one who blinded Tobit with the fresh droppings of the sparrows, and the one healed him with the bile of the fish... the one who guided Tobias using the angel Raphael, the one who tried Sarah with the death with her first seven husbands using a demon, and the one who rewarded her with the eight happy marriage... in everything God is the Lord of history.
   God's devotees will be beset by trials and difficulties to purify them, but, if they remain steadfast in their faith during the period of testing, they will one day enjoy his blessings.
    2- Contains most excellent documents of great piety, extraordinary patience, and of a perfect resignation to the will of God.
    3- Family life, with the family of Tobit and the one of Sarah... and the happy marriage of Tobias and Sarah.
    4- It is the book of the works of charity and alms in the OT... if you read chapter 4, you will end up giving alms to the poor.
    5- A book on Angeology, with the angel Raphael disguised as the constant companion Azarias.
    6- On Demonology, with the demon Asmodeus,“destroyer”, who afflicts Sarah, but is eventually exorcised.
    7- With three animals in the story: The sparrows that blinded Tobit, the fish whose bile healed him, and the dog that accompanied Tobias... The young Tobias and his dog with the angel and the fish have been a favorite subject of Christian iconography
    8- A book on suffering, only comparable to Job in the OT.
    9- A book of travelers...
    10- A book of great prayers: God answers the prayers of Tobit and Sarah and Tobias... the song of praise of chapter 13.
    11- A book of advises to the youth, in the recommendations of Tobit to Tobias of chapter 4.
    12- Tobit foretells the destruction of Ninive and the rebuilding of Jerusalem... he dies happily

    The Book is in the Bible of the Catholics and Orthodox, the Word of God as much as Exodus. The Protestant Bibles usually don't have it. It was written early in the second century B.C.

The Story of the Book:

    There are two major plots running concurrently in the charming story of Tobit and his son Tobias:

    The first plot concerns the devotion, misfortunes and blindness of Tobit, the subsequent journey of his son Tobias, and Tobit’s healing with his total social and economic recuperation... the book has a happy ending, like the book of Job.

    The second plot concerns the misfortunes of Sarah, due to the death of seven successive husbands on her wedding night, by demonic means; none of the marriages were ever physically consummated... but her eight marriage to Tobias was successful and full of joy, with the devil exorcised.

    The two stories are woven together by the angelically arranged meeting of Tobias and Sarah, and the use of fish innards to drive away the demon that was afflicting Sarah and to heal the blindness of Tobit.

Seven Parts of the Book:

    1. Tobit: His life and trials (1 to 3:6):

    - A just man... his faithful and generous life as a youngster in Thisbe, Galilee (1).
    - Marriage to Anna (1:9).
    - Carried away captive to Niniveh... the buyer of provisions of king Shalmaneser... in disgrace under the next king, and again recuperated under the next king... burying the death brought him problems (1:10-22).
    1:16 In the days of Shalmaneser I performed many acts of charity to my brethren. 1:17 I would give my bread to the hungry and my clothing to the naked; and if I saw any one of my people dead and thrown out behind the wall of Nineveh, I would bury him... as in Matthew 25:31-46.
    - Blinded by the hot droppings of the sparrows... and poor... Anna works but insults Tobit, Then she replied to me, "Where are your charities and your righteous deeds? You seem to know everything!  (2:10-14).
    - Prayer of Tobit... as Job, he prayed to die (6):
    3:1 Then in my grief I wept, and I prayed in anguish, saying, 3:2 "Righteous art thou, O Lord; all thy deeds and all they ways are mercy and truth, and thou dost render true and righteous judgment for ever. 3:3 Remember me and look favorably upon me; do not punish me for my sins and for my unwitting offences and those which my fathers committed before thee. 3:4 For they disobeyed thy commandments, and thou gavest us over to plunder, captivity, and death; thou madest us a byword of reproach in all the nations among which we have been dispersed. 3:5 And now thy many judgments are true in exacting penalty from me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we did not keep thy commandments. For we did not walk in truth before thee. 3:6 And now deal with me according to thy pleasure; command my spirit to be taken up, that I may depart and become dust. For it is better for me to die than to live, because I have heard false reproaches, and great is the sorrow within me. Command that I now be released from my distress to go to the eternal abode; do not turn thy face away from me."

    2. The trials of Sarah at Ecbatana in Media (3:7-17):

    3:7... Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, was reproached by her father's maids, 3:8 because she had been given to seven husbands, and the evil demon Asmodeus had slain each of them before he had been with her as his wife. So the maids said to her, "Do you not know that you strangle your husbands? 3:9 ... May we never see a son or daughter of yours!"

    3. The journey of Tobias and his marriage to Sarah (4:1-9:6):

    - Advise of Tobit to Tobias:
    4:1 On that day Tobit remembered the money which he had left in trust with Gabael at Rages in Media, and he said to himself; 4:2 "I have asked for death. Why do I not call my son Tobias so that I may explain to him about the money before I die?" 4:3 So he called him and said, "My son, when I die, bury me, and do not neglect your mother. Honor her all the days of your life; do what is pleasing to her, and do not grieve her. 4:4 Remember, my son, that she faced many dangers for you while you were yet unborn. When she dies bury her beside me in the same grave.

4:5 "Remember the Lord our God all your days, my son, and refuse to sin or to transgress his commandments. Live uprightly all the days of your life, and do not walk in the ways of wrongdoing. 4:6 For if you do what is true, your ways will prosper through your deeds. 4:7 Give alms from your possessions to all who live uprightly, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it. Do not turn your face away from any poor man, and the face of God will not be turned away from you. 4:8 If you have many possessions, make your gift from them in proportion; if few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have. 4:9 So you will be laying up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity. 4:10 For charity delivers from death and keeps you from entering the darkness; 4:11 and for all who practice it charity is an excellent offering in the presence of the Most High. Read Mathew 25:31-46.

4:12 "Beware, my son, of all immorality. First of all take a wife from among the descendants of your fathers and do not marry a foreign woman, who is not of your father's tribe; for we are the sons of the prophets. Remember, my son, that Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers of old, all took wives from among their brethren. They were blessed in their children, and their posterity will inherit the land. 4:13 So now, my son, love your brethren, and in your heart do not disdain your brethren and the sons and daughters of your people by refusing to take a wife for yourself from among them. For in pride there is ruin and great confusion; and in shiftlessness there is loss and great want, because shiftlessness is the mother of famine. 4:14 Do not hold over till the next day the wages of any man who works for you, but pay him at once; and if you serve God you will receive payment.

"Watch yourself, my son, in everything you do, and be disciplined in all your conduct. 4:15 And what you hate, do not do to any one. Do not drink wine to excess or let drunkenness go with you on your way. 4:16 Give of your bread to the hungry, and of your clothing to the naked. Give all your surplus to charity, and do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you made it. 4:17 Place your bread on the grave of the righteous, but give none to sinners. 4:18 Seek advice from every wise man, and do not despise any useful counsel. 4:19 Bless the Lord God on every occasion; ask him that your ways may be made straight and that all your paths and plans may prosper. For none of the nations has understanding; but the Lord himself gives all good things, and according to his will he humbles whomever he wishes.

"So, my son, remember my commands, and do not let them be blotted out of your mind. 4:20 And now let me explain to you about the ten talents of silver which I left in trust with Gabael the son of Gabrias at Rages in Media. 4:21 Do not be afraid, my son, because we have become poor. You have great wealth if you fear God and refrain from every sin and do what is pleasing in his sight."

    - Angel Raphael (Ananias) accompanies Tobias (5).
    - The fish: 6:1 Now as they proceeded on their way they came at evening to the Tigris river and camped there. 6:2 Then the young man went down to wash himself. A fish leaped up from the river and would have swallowed the young man; 6:3 and the angel said to him, "Catch the fish." So the young man seized the fish and threw it up on the land. 6:4 Then the angel said to him, "Cut open the fish and take the heart and liver and gall and put them away safely." 6:5 So the young man did as the angel told him; and they roasted and ate the fish.
    - Happy marriage of Tobias and Sarah (7 and 8).      
        - Tobias Routs the Demon (8:1-18)
        - Wedding Feast (8:19-21).
    - Tobias gets the money from Gabael at Rages in Media (9).

    4. The return journey of Tobias and the recovery of Tobit (10 and 11):

     - Anxiety of the Parents (10:1-7) 10:7-10:13
     - Tobit's Sight Restored (11:7-18).

    5- The self-revelation of Raphael (12):

    - Raphael's Wages (12:1-5)
    - Raphael's Exhortation 12:6-10  
    - Raphael Discloses His Identity (12:11-22)

    6- Tobit's Thanksgiving to God (13)

    13:1 Then Tobit wrote a prayer of rejoicing, and said:

    "Blessed is God who lives for ever, and blessed is his kingdom. 13:2 For he afflicts, and he shows mercy; he leads down to Hades, and brings up again, and there is no one who can escape his hand. 13:3 Acknowledge him before the nations, O sons of Israel; for he has scattered us among them. 13:4 Make his greatness known there, and exalt him in the presence of all the living; because he is our Lord and God, he is our Father for ever. 13:5 He will afflict us for our iniquities; and again he will show mercy, and will gather us from all the nations among whom you have been scattered. 13:6 If you turn to him with all your heart and with all your soul, to do what is true before him, then he will turn to you and will not hide his face from you. But see what he will do with you; give thanks to him with your full voice. Praise the Lord of righteousness, and exalt the King of the ages. I give him thanks in the land of my captivity, and I show his power and majesty to a nation of sinners. Turn back, you sinners, and do right before him; who knows if he will accept you and have mercy on you?
    13:7 I exalt my God; my soul exalts the King of heaven, and will rejoice in his majesty. 13:8 Let all men speak, and give him thanks in Jerusalem. 13:9 O Jerusalem, the holy city, he will afflict you for the deeds of your sons, but again he will show mercy to the sons of the righteous. 13:10 Give thanks worthily to the Lord, and praise the King of the ages, that his tent may be raised for you again with joy. May he cheer those within you who are captives, and love those within you who are distressed, to all generations for ever. 13:11 Many nations will come from afar to the name of the Lord God, bearing gifts in their hands, gifts for the King of heaven. Generations of generations will give you joyful praise. 13:12 Cursed are all who hate you; blessed for ever will be all who love you.
    13:13 Rejoice and be glad for the sons of the righteous; for they will be gathered together, and will praise the Lord of the righteous. 13:14 How blessed are those who love you! They will rejoice in your peace. Blessed are those who grieved over all your afflictions; for they will rejoice for you upon seeing all your glory, and they will be made glad for ever. 13:15 Let my soul praise God the great King. 13:16 For Jerusalem will be built with sapphires and emeralds, her walls with precious stones, and her towers and battlements with pure gold. 13:17 The streets of Jerusalem will be paved with beryl and ruby and stones of Ophir; 13:18 all her lanes will cry Hallelujah! and will give praise, saying, Blessed is God, who has exalted you for ever."

    7- Tobit's farewell advice (14):

    With some prophecies:

    14:1 Here Tobit ended his words of praise. 14:2 He was fifty-eight years old when he lost his sight, and after eight years he regained it. He gave alms, and he continued to fear the Lord God and to praise him. 14:3 When he had grown very old he called his son and grandsons, and said to him, "My son, take your sons; behold, I have grown old and am about to depart this life.
    14:4 Go to Media, my son, for I fully believe what Jonah the prophet said about Nineveh, that it will be overthrown. But in Media there will be peace for a time. Our brethren will be scattered over the earth from the good land, and Jerusalem will be desolate. The house of God in it will be burned down and will be in ruins for a time. 14:5 But God will again have mercy on them, and bring them back into their land; and they will rebuild the house of God, though it will not be like the former one until the times of the age are completed. After this they will return from the places of their captivity, and will rebuild Jerusalem in splendor. And the house of God will be rebuilt there with a glorious building for all generations for ever, just as the prophets said of it. 14:6 Then all the Gentiles will turn to fear the Lord God in truth, and will bury their idols. 14:7 All the Gentiles will praise the Lord, and his people will give thanks to God, and the Lord will exalt his people. And all who love the Lord God in truth and righteousness will rejoice, showing mercy to our brethren.

    - Death of Tobit and Anna  (14:12-15)... he died in his bed. He was a hundred and fifty-eight years old.

*******

http://www.nccbuscc.org/nab/bible/tobit/intro.htm New American Bible
http://www.catholicfirst.com/TheFaith/Bible/DRB/Tobias/Tobias.htm Douay-Rheims Bible
http://www.nhne.com/main/tobit.html Revised Standard Version
http://www.museumbredius.nl/schilders/tobit.htm King James Version
http://www.eskimo.com/~lhowell/bcp1662/apocrypha/tobit.html
http://ebible.org/bible/kjv/Tobit.htm
http://www.spiritweb.org/Bible/Apo/tobit.html
http://www.sacred-texts.com/chr/apo/tob.htm

newadvent.org... Tobit Commentary Catholic Encyclopedia
Tobit Commentary Columbia Encyclopedia
http://www.companysj.com/v141/written.html Dead See Scrolls
http://www.datanumeric.com/vlm/12-97/18.htm   Commentaries Tobit, Judith, Esdras

Quotations taken from the Revised Standard Version

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