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The Book of Tobit (or Book of Tobias in older Catholic Bibles) is a book of scripture that is part of the Catholic and Orthodox biblical canon, pronounced canonical by the Council of Carthage of 397 and confirmed for Roman Catholics by the Council of Trent (1546). Tobit is regarded by Protestants as apocryphal. It has never been considered an integral part of the Tanakh, the Hebrew Bible by most mainstream "orthodox" Jews, but Aramaic and Hebrew fragments of the book were discovered in Cave IV at Qumran in 1955. These fragments are generally in agreement with the Greek text, which exists in three different editions.
Narrative
The book tells the story of a righteous Jew of the Tribe of Naphtali named Tobit living in Nineveh after the deportation of the northern tribes of Israel to Assyria in 721 BC under Shalmaneser V. (The first two and a half chapters are written in the first person.) He was particularly noted for his diligence in attempting to provide proper burials for fallen Jews who had been slain by Sennacherib, for which the king seized all his property and exiled him. After Sennacherib's death, he was allowed to return to Nineveh, but again buried a dead man who had been murdered on the street. That night, he slept in the open and was blinded by bird droppings that fell in his eyes. This put a strain on his marriage, and ultimately, he prayed for death.
Meanwhile, in faraway Media, a young woman named Sarah prays for death in despair. She has lost seven husbands to the demon of lust -- Ashmodai (a demon frequently associated with homosexuality), who abducts and kills every man she marries on their wedding night before the marriage can be consummated. God sends the angel Raphael, disguised as a human, to heal Tobit and to free Sarah from the demon.
The main narrative is dedicated to Tobit's son, Tobiah or Tobiyah (Greek: Tobias), who is sent by his father to collect a sum of money that the latter had deposited some time previously in the far off land of Media. Raphael represents himself as Tobit's kinsman Azariah, and offers to aid and protect Tobias on his journey. Under the guidance of Raphael, Tobias makes the journey to Media. Along the way, he is attacked by a giant fish, whose heart, liver and gall bladder are removed to make medicines.
Upon arriving in Media, Raphael tells Tobias of the beautiful Sarah, whom Tobias has the right to marry, because she related to his tribe. He instructs the young man to burn the fish's liver and heart to drive away the demon when he attacks on the wedding night. The two are married, and the fumes of the burning organs drive the demon away to Upper Egypt, while Raphael follows him and binds him. Meanwhile, Sarah's father has been digging a grave to secretly bury Tobias (whom he assumes will be dead). Surprised to find his son-in-law alive and well, he orders a double-length wedding feast and has the grave secretly filled. Since he cannot leave because of the feast, Tobias sends Raphael to recover his father's money.
After the feast, Tobias and Sarah return to Nineveh. There, Raphael tells the youth to use the fish's gall to cure his father's blindness. Raphael then reveals his true identity and returns to heaven. Tobit sings a hymn of praise, and tells his son to leave Nineveh before God destroys it according to prophecy. After burying his father, Tobias returns to Media with his family.
Significance
Catholics list the book of Tobit among the "historical books" of the Bible, but most scholars regard it more as a religious novel with certain historical elements. Many of the historical details in the book contradict what is known about the history of the period from extra-Biblical sources but Catholic Bible scholars have provided a variety of ways for explaining these apparent discrepancies from these relatively modern texts (go to www.newadvent.org and search for 'Tobit'. There are some ancient texts that don't contain such geographical errors as the Hebrew Londinii that's mentioned in the Important Note above.
The book is also closely related to Jewish wisdom literature; nowhere is this clearer than in Tobit's instructions to Tobias before his departure for Media in chapter 4. The value of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving is particularly praised in this instruction; the Catholic Church often uses readings from this section in its liturgy. The book's praise for purity in marriage explains why it's read in Catholic nuptial (wedding) Masses.
Doctrinally, the book is cited for its teaching on the intercession of angels, filial piety, and reverence for the dead.
Date of composition
The book was originally written in Aramaic, but the original was lost, so that the surviving Greek translation is considered the standard text of the work. The text exists in Greek, Latin, Syriac, and Judæo-Aramaic manuscripts, two late Hebrew translations of the Middle Ages, and a Hebrew text that was found at Qumran. It appears that Jerome's version for the Vulgate was made from an Aramaic text available to him.
It is generally believed that the book was written in the second century BC, on the basis of the scrupulous attention to ritual details and the stress laid upon giving alms, but there is no Messianic tone therefore this can't exactly be proven. The location of composition remains uncertain; there are some scholars that maintain that this work really was written during the eighth century BC.
Geographical problems
Some ancient texts of Tobit that give Midian (the Transjordan region) instead of Media and Batanea instead of Ecbatana; therefore the Rages of these texts would be modern day Damascus. It's probable that these were the original readings because the book would contain geographical impossibilities otherwise. If such is the case then the reading of Ecbatana would have come about from the phrase "ex Batania".
One such text is the Heb. Londinii (or HL) version. See Marshall, op. cit., 786; a text found by Gaster in the British Museum, Add. 11,639. A description and translation of the MS, which belongs to the C13th AD, is given by Gaster in PSBA, vol.xviii., 208ff., 259ff., and vol.xx., 27ff.
External references
- Catholic Encyclopedia (1913) entry
- The Book of Tobit Full text from http://St-Takla.org (also available in Arabic)
- Jewish Encyclopedia: Tobit; gives an overview of the manuscript tradition
Old Testament books | Deuterocanonical books
Tóbijáš | Buch Tobit | Libro de Tobit | 토빗기 | ספר טוביה | Tobit | Tobits bok | トビト記 | Livro de Tobias
"Book of Tobit"