Tobias

Authorship, Date, and Context

The Book of Tobias (or Tobit) is an anonymous Jewish narrative composed originally in Aramaic or Hebrew. Historical critics, including Walter Drum in the Catholic Encyclopedia and Crawford Howell Toy in the Jewish Encyclopedia, place its drafting in the Hellenistic period between 225 and 175 BCE, prior to the Maccabean upheaval, even though the story is historically set during the eighth century BCE exile of the tribe of Naphtali in Nineveh under the Assyrian Empire.

The work addressed Jewish communities scattered throughout the eastern Diaspora, encouraging them to maintain dietary fidelity, practice endogamous marriage, give alms generously, and perform the sacred obligation of burying dead kinfolk despite royal persecutions.

Structure

The book consists of fourteen chapters organized into two harmonious narrative movements overseen by divine providence.

The opening section (chapters 1 through 3) introduces the elder Tobias in Nineveh, detailing his charity, his blinding by bird droppings, and his despair, paralleled with the grief of Sarah in Ecbatana whose seven bridegrooms were slain by the demon Asmodeus; the second section (chapters 4 through 14) follows the expedition of young Tobias and his angelic companion Azarias to Media to recover ten talents of silver from Gabael, the capture of the miraculous fish in the Tigris, the marriage with Sarah and exorcism of Asmodeus, the healing of the father's eyes, Raphael's self-disclosure, and the concluding eschatological hymn.

Themes and Key Passages

Major themes highlight God's providential care for the afflicted upright, the religious efficacy of almsgiving and righteous burial, the preservation of domestic holiness through pure marriage, and the protective ministry of angels against malevolent spirits. The book features the classic negative golden rule in chapter four: 'What thou hatest, do not unto another.'

Revealing his transcendent identity to the awe-struck father and son in chapter twelve, the heavenly messenger announces: "I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord".

Summary by Parts

Trials of the Faithful in Nineveh and Ecbatana (chapters 1-3): The elder Tobias risks his life burying slain captives and is blinded by warm dung falling into his open eyes; in Media, Sarah is mocked by maidservants after seven bridegrooms die before consummating marriage; both sufferers pray simultaneously to God.

The Journey and Exorcism of Asmodeus (chapters 4-9): Young Tobias departs with Azarias to retrieve deposited silver; attacked by a fish in the Tigris, he extracts its heart, liver, and gall upon the guide's counsel; arriving in Ecbatana, he weds Sarah and expels the demon Asmodeus by burning the fish heart and liver in the bridal chamber.

Restoration of Sight, Angelic Revelation, and Song of Praise (chapters 10-14): Returning safely to Nineveh, Tobias rubs the fish gall on his father's eyes, miraculously restoring his sight; Azarias declines wealth and reveals himself as Raphael; the elder Tobias chants a prophetic hymn honoring Jerusalem and dies peacefully at an advanced age.

Reception

The Book of Tobias was included in the Greek Septuagint and received as canonical Scripture by the Catholic Church (infallibly affirmed at the Councils of Hippo, Carthage, Florence, and Trent) and the Eastern Orthodox churches, whereas Protestant traditions classify it among the Apocrypha and rabbinic Judaism excluded it from the Hebrew Bible.

The antiquity of the Semitic original was confirmed by the recovery of four Aramaic fragments and one Hebrew fragment at Qumran (4Q196-4Q200). Textual witnesses encompass three primary Greek recensions (notably Codex Sinaiticus), the Old Latin, and Saint Jerome's Latin Vulgate translation.

Sources

• Walter Drum, Tobias (The Catholic Encyclopedia) (1912).
• Crawford Howell Toy, Tobit, Book of (Jewish Encyclopedia) (1906).