Tobit
The people of God have often enjoyed stories of the faithful overcoming difficulties and obtaining honor and reward in their righteousness. A little bit of godly romance also never hurts.
The book of Tobit can be found within the Old Testament Apocrypha, or Deuterocanon. The Old Testament Apocrypha/Deuterocanon should be defined as texts, or expansions of texts, which were considered part of the Greek Septuagint but not reckoned as canonically part of the Torah, Prophets, or Writings of the Hebrew Bible (Tanakh). “Apocrypha” is a Greek term for “hidden away”, and “Deuterocanon” is Greek for “second canon”; these terms tend to be used interchangeably for this collection of Second Temple Jewish literature which was highly esteemed but not reckoned as inspired like the canonical books of the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament. Arguments for inspiration of the Apocrypha were not advanced until the medieval era, and even then only within Roman Catholicism.
The book of Tobit can be found within the Apocrypha/Deuterocanon of all the Christian traditions which maintain such a collection. The book purports to describe events which took place in the heyday of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in the 8th and 7th centuries BCE; the overall romantic nature of the tale and a couple of Hellenisms (the month of Dystrus, payment of a drachma; Tobit 2:12, 5:15) betray authorship during the Hellenistic period, probably in the late third or early second century BCE. Tobit has been handed down to us in Greek, but patristic authors attest to its existence in Aramaic and fragments of Tobit in Aramaic and Hebrew were found among the Dead Sea Scrolls.
The book of Tobit presented the story of Tobit and his son Tobias (Aramaic and Greek forms of Hebrew Tobiyahu, “YHWH is good”), Naphtalites among the exiles to Assyria in Nineveh (cf. Tobit 1:1-2, 9-10). The book fantastically claimed Tobit was a young man when Naphtali deserted the House of David and Jerusalem (Tobit 1:4); such would have been around 923 BCE, and since the narrative would go on to suggest Tobit died at 112 years old (cf. Tobit 14:2), even the text did not maintain this claim consistently. The premise Tobit was born in Israel and personally experienced the exile of the Israelites was a bit more feasible, but he would have been quite young, and so the claim he continued to go down to Jerusalem to serve YHWH faithfully proved likewise fantastic (cf. Tobit 1:5-8).
Tobit presented himself as an Israelite who sought to faithfully honor the customs of Moses to the best of his ability while in exile: he avoided defiling foods, gave alms and support to his people, and would bury murdered Israelites, the last of which led to the confiscation of his property and his descent into poverty (Tobit 1:10-2:9). After one such burial, Tobit slept in the courtyard of his property, and the droppings of sparrows into his eyes blinded him (Tobit 2:10). His wife Anna was compelled to work; one day she received an additional benefit, and in his despair Tobit disbelieved her and accused her of theft (Tobit 2:11-14). When he recognized what he had done, Tobit prayed to God and asked Him to take away his life (Tobit 3:1-6).
In Tobit 3:7-9 Sarah the daughter of Raguel, a kinsman of Tobit, was introduced as being rebuked by a slave maid, for Sarah had been married seven times to kinsmen, all of whom were killed by the demon Asmodeus on the wedding night; on the same night Tobit prayed for his life to be taken, Sarah contemplated suicide but did not want reproach to come upon her father, and so she also prayed for her life to be taken (Tobit 3:10-15).
The narrator assured the reader of how God heard both of their prayers; the angel Raphael was dispatched to provide relief for everyone involved (Tobit 3:16-17).
The next day Tobit remembered the money he left in trust in Media, where had had previously served as a purchaser for Shalmaneser king of Assyria, and commissioned his son Tobias to go reclaim it, presenting him with many moral and ethical exhortations (Tobit 4:1-21). But Tobias was apprehensive, unsure about how he would be received or how he would get there; he went out to find a companion who could take him there, and the angel Raphael met him in the guise of his kinsman Azariah (Tobit 5:1-22).
They made it as far as the Tigris River the first day; Tobias attempted to wash his feet in the river, but a large fish tried to swallow his foot; Raphael told him to catch the fish and bring it ashore, which he did, and then counseled him to keep its gall, heart, and liver (Tobit 6:1-6). Raphael would later counsel Tobias about using them for expelling demons and healing (Tobit 6:7-9).
When they approached Ecbatana in Media, Raphael gave commands to Tobias: they would be staying with Tobias’ kinsman Raguel there, and Tobias should marry Raguel’s daughter Sarah (Tobit 6:10-13). Tobias was already aware of the fate of Sarah’s previous husbands, and Raphael made specific application of his previous counsel, advising him to burn some of the fish liver and heart with incense to ward off the demon (Tobit 6:14-18). And so it took place: Tobias and Raphael stayed with Raguel, his wife Edna, and daughter Sarah, and Tobias and Sarah were married; Tobias followed Raphael’s counsel, and he and Sarah prayed for God’s protection and provision; Asmodeus was repulsed by the incense and fish liver and heart and fled to Egypt, where Raphael met and bound him (Tobit 7:1-8:8). Raguel, not as confident, had prepared a burial place for Tobias, yet was overjoyed to hear Tobias had survived, blessing God (Tobit 8:9-18). Raguel prepared a two week feast and gave Tobias half of all his possessions (Tobit 8:19-21). Tobias asked Raphael-as-Azariah to travel on to obtain the money Tobit had commissioned them to receive from their relative Gabael, and to invite Gabael to the wedding feast; all was accomplished, and Gabael blessed God when seeing Tobias (Tobit 9:1-6).
All of these events were taking longer than would have been expected; Tobit began to wonder if all was well, but his wife Anna was convinced Tobias was dead, and always watched the road to see if he was returning (Tobit 10:1-7a). After the fourteen day feast Tobias begged Raguel to allow him to return home to his parents, and Raguel eventually relented, and provided appropriate counsel to Sarah his daughter; Tobias prayed to God that he might honor Raguel and Edna for the rest of their lives (Tobit 10:7b-13).
When approaching Nineveh, Raphael recommended to Tobias they should go ahead of Sarah to prepare the house, and they did so: after Anna saw them and went to inform Tobit, Raphael made the final specific application of his earlier counsel, exhorting Tobias to smear the fish gall on Tobit’s eyes so he might be healed, and Tobias did so (Tobit 11:1-13). Tobit was overjoyed to be able to see his son and blessed God; Tobias informed him of all which took place and his marriage to Sarah, and Tobit blessed God all the more (Tobit 11:14-18).
Tobit and family celebrated Tobias’ wedding; afterward, Tobit and Tobias intended to settle accounts with Raphael-as-Azariah, but Raphael first called to both of them and revealed to them who he was so they might bless God and give Him the glory and honor, which they did (Tobit 12:1-22).
Tobit then turned to bless and honor God, giving exhortations about faithfully serving God, blessing those who bless God, cursing those who turn way from Him, and anticipating the restoration of Jerusalem (Tobit 13:1-14:1).
Tobit was either 58 or 62 when he lost his eyesight and lived until he was 112 (textual variations; Tobit 14:2). The text presented Tobit’s final words of warning and prophecy: Tobias and his seven children should soon leave Nineveh because the word of God through Nahum against Nineveh would soon be fulfilled; he should return to live with his in-laws Raguel and Edna in Media (Tobit 14:3-4). Tobit prophesied the exile of Israel and Judah, the destruction of the Temple, the restoration of the people to the land, and the conversion of the nations (Tobit 14:4-8). He exhorted them all to faithfully serve God, and warned them to not stay overnight in Nineveh one the day they would bury him and his wife Anna; he then related what transpired with his relative Ahikar and his son Nadab, how Nadab plotted against Ahikar but ended up dying according to the mechanism he had planted for his father as a testimony to the iniquity in Nineveh and the wages of injustice (Tobit 14:9-11). Tobit would then die, as later would Anna, and Tobias buried them; he then went to live with Raguel and Edna, burying them as well, and inheriting the estates of both Tobit and Raguel (Tobit 14:12-13). Tobias himself would live to 117, having seen the destruction of Nineveh and some of its people exiled to Media by Cyaxares king of Media, rejoicing over it and blessing God (Tobit 14:14-15).
Tobit thus represented a Hellenistic romance composed for an audience of Second Temple Jewish people. Tobit looked like the kind of northern Israelite which a Judahite would want to imagine: one who lamented the division between Israel and Judah, still returning to serve God in Jerusalem, looking forward to the restoration of Jerusalem. In so doing, however, the composer well demonstrated to the fictional nature of the story: Tobit could not have been a young man in 933 BCE but die at 112 as an Israelite exile in Nineveh; for that matter, the math would remain difficult for Tobit to be able to visit Jerusalem as a young man yet only be 58 or 62 in the days of Esarhaddon king of Assyria (cf. Tobit 2:1, 14:2). Geography was also not among the composer’s strengths: the Tigris River is the opposite direction if traveling between Nineveh and Media, and his understanding of distances and topography within Media is also lacking (cf. Tobit 5:6, 10, 6:2). And then there is the matter of Ahikar and Nadab, who represent famous characters from the Story of Ahikar (or Words of Ahikar), in which Ahikar was presented as a chancellor of Sennacherib and Esarhaddon and who adopted his nephew Nadab to be his son to succeed him. Nadab would then conspire to have Ahikar executed, but the executioner had been previously delivered by Ahikar, and thus a proxy was killed and presented to Esarhaddon as if it were Ahikar. Our texts of the narrative end there, but we believe Nadab would eventually be killed and Ahikar restored; many wisdom sayings would become associated with Ahikar. This morality story seemed to have circulated widely in the ancient Near Eastern world during the Persian and Hellenistic periods, and it would seem the composer of Tobit appropriated it and incorporated its characters and moral warning.
We consider the story a Hellenistic romance since it featured two virtuous lovers presented at a different historical time who endure various trials but ultimately end up together and their honor and dignity are upheld, and so it went for Tobias and Sarah. But it is not a run of the mill Hellenistic romance, since the text also featured God’s testing of Tobit and Tobit’s vindication; wisdom sayings from Tobit; angelic intervention from Raphael and demonic visitation from Asmodeus; and Tobit’s will and testament, featuring prophecy regarding Nineveh, Jerusalem, and the ultimate restoration of God’s people.
Let none be deceived: while Israel was cast into Assyrian exile, and the kings identified did indeed rule, we have no basis upon which to believe Tobit, Anna, Tobias, Sarah, Raguel, Edna, Gabael, etc. represent actual historical personages. Raphael the angel is mentioned in 1 Enoch as well and was thus recognized as one of the seven angels who perpetually stand before God in both Jewish and Christian traditions; Asmodeus the demon might well derive, at least in part, from the Zoroastrian “aeshma-daeva,” demon of wrath, and also recognized in later Jewish traditions. Yet neither Raphael nor Asmodeus can be found explicitly in the pages of the Old or New Testaments. Therefore, we have every reason to conclude that the book of Tobit was not written as inspired Scripture and was never expected to be seen as such.
Nevertheless, we can find some encouragement from the book of Tobit according to what was its original purpose: to encourage the people of God to remain faithful to God despite personal and collective distress, and to enjoy a story of people seeking to prove faithful to God and ultimately obtaining His favor and honor. In its pages we can see how Second Temple Jewish people grappled with what it looked like to trust in God and prove faithful to Him in the midst of oppressive pagan nations. We can see how they understood the harmful effects of demons but also the advocacy and assistance they might receive from angels. We can even see how they might appropriate characters from the wisdom traditions prevalent in the ancient Near Eastern world into their own stories and thus learn from them. Above all, we can see the desire for Second Temple Jewish people to remain faithful to God and to have reason to bless and honor Him despite all they were enduring as embodied in the characters of Tobit and Anna, Raguel and Edna, and Tobias and Sarah. May we find ways to enjoy the stories of old, take encouragement from them, and faithfully serve God in Christ so we might obtain the resurrection of life in Him!
Ethan R. Longhenry
The post Tobit appeared first on de Verbo vitae.
