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TOBIT, Book of
One of several deuterocanonical books of the Bible. It was received as canonical by the Council of Trent (1546) and is found in the Roman Catholic Bible, but it was never included in the Hebrew Old Testament and is placed with the Apocrypha by Protestants.
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• Purpose
• Content
• Message
Author, Date
The book, which may be described as a tale of pious fiction, was written by a devout Jew who was possibly a native of Palestine. A full-orbed monotheism is evident in the writer’s conception of the transcendent deity who is referred to as “the God of our fathers” (Tb 8:5), as “our Lord and God, he is our Father for ever” (13:4), and as “the King of heaven” (vv 7, 11, 15).
The work has come down to us in three recensions of the Greek text, in two Latin versions, two Syriac versions, four Hebrew versions, and in Ethiopic. Hebrew and Aramaic fragments have been discovered at Qumran; from this some have argued for a Semitic original. There is no notice in the work of Maccabean history, which makes a date after that time most unlikely. A number of historical as well as geographical errors militate against a date as early as the book purports to be from, and most scholars are inclined to date it around 200 BC or a little later.
Purpose
Since the historical character of the work cannot be sustained, it is appropriate to ask what the writer’s motivation and purpose might have been. He is apparently concerned to set forth the necessity of righteous conduct in view of the righteous character of God. Even when Tobit’s fortunes took a turn for the worse, he continued to perform acts of charity to his fellow Jews and was especially concerned to bury those who had been the victims of the king’s cruelty.
Content
Tobit was a pious Israelite of the tribe of Naphtali living in Nineveh. Despite his good works and uprightness, he became blind when birds defecated in his eyes. Greatly afflicted, he asked God to let him die (Tb 1:1–3:6). On the very same day Sarah, Tobit’s young relative who lived in Ecbatana, also prayed for death. She had been married seven times, and every one of her husbands was killed on their wedding night by Asmodeus, a jealous demon (3:7-15). And so the archangel Raphael was sent to help (vv 16-17). Tobit decided to send his son Tobias to the Median city of Rages (now Rai, near Teheran, Iran) to recover money left there with a friend. Raphael assumed a disguise and introduced himself as Tobit’s kinsman Azariah (5:13). In this guise the angel went along as Tobias’s guide. They were accompanied by Tobias’s dog, Toby. Important things happened en route: Tobias caught a large fish; on the advice of Raphael, he kept its heart, liver, and gall for use as healing remedies (6:1-8); at Ecbatana, the angel arranged the marriage of Tobias and Sarah; in the wedding chamber Tobias used the fish’s heart and liver to defeat Asmodeus (6:9–8:21). Raphael succeeded in recovering Tobit’s money. Tobias, Sarah, Raphael, and the dog returned to Nineveh. There Tobias used the fish’s gall to heal his father’s eyes. Then, his mission accomplished, Raphael revealed his identity and disappeared. But Tobit was inspired by the archangel’s final exhortation and so recited his own praises to God (ch 13). According to chapter 14, Tobit lived happily to the age of 112. Before his death, he predicted the destruction of Nineveh. Upon his father’s advice, Tobias and Sarah returned to Ecbatana before this occurred.
Message
Tobit gives us a good indication of the piety that characterized the Jews even prior to the period of the Maccabees. It is a beautiful portrayal of Jewish family life in postexilic times. The work was highly regarded by many of the church fathers. Luther spoke of it as “a truly beautiful, wholesome, and profitable fiction, the work of a gifted poet . . . a book useful and good for Christians to read.”
In Tobit, the mercy of God is emphasized. His mercy is exalted, for “all his ways are mercy and truth” (3:2). He is a Father to his people (13:4). Although he afflicts them for their iniquities, he will show mercy (v 5). And though he scatters them among the nations, he will not hide his face from them (13:6; 14:5). Even the Gentiles will one day come to acknowledge him, for “many nations will come from afar to the name of the Lord God, bearing gifts in their hands, gifts for the king of heaven” (13:11). In its ethical teaching Tobit sets a high moral tone: honor and respect of parents (4:3-4); regard for God’s commandments (v 5); the necessity of a disciplined life (v 14); and the exhortation “what you hate, do not do to anyone” (v 15). As a religious romance, it occupied a unique place in Jewish households, and its influence in the history of Christianity has also been evident.