16The two of them were shaken; they fell face down, for they were afraid. 17But he said to them, “Do not be afraid; peace be with you. Bless God forevermore. 18As for me, when I was with you, I was not acting on my own will, but by the will of God. Bless him each and every day; sing his praises. 19Although you were watching me, I really did not eat or drink anything—but what you saw was a vision. 20So now get up from the ground,g and acknowledge God. See, I am ascending to him who sent me. Write down all these things that have happened to you.” And he ascended. 21Then they stood up, and could see him no more. 22They kept blessing God and singing his praises, and they acknowledged God for these marvelous deeds of his, when an angel of God had appeared to them.
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a Gk he
b Gk he
c Gk words; other ancient authorities read words of the deeds
d Codex Sinaiticus with sincerity
e Lat
f Lat: Gk lacks and read
g Other ancient authorities read now bless the Lord on earth
12.1–22 Stories about epiphanies traditionally end with the divine being revealing its identity and suddenly disappearing.
12.1–5 Because Raphael has exceeded expectations, Tobit and Tobias, still acting in accordance with their misperceptions, offer the angel a 50 percent commission (cf. 5.15–16), an act of generosity consonant with the book’s attitude about the use of money.
12.6–10 Raphael’s self-revelation and instruction occur privately to the men of the story. Throughout the narrative, there has been no contact or proximity between the angel and the women (cf. 1 Cor 11.10; 1 Enoch 6–11).
12.6 The admonition to praise God in the presence of all the living anticipates ch. 13 and its universalistic tone (13.3–4, 11; see also 14.6–7).
12.7a Raphael’s admonition that it is good…to acknowledge him presupposes Tobit’s former position in the royal court and seems to presume God’s status as king (see 13.6–7, 10–11, 15–16).
12.7b–10 Complementary proverbs in vv. 7b and 10 frame a section on almsgiving that reiterates 4.6–11.
12.8 The combined references to prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and laying up gold parallel Mt 6.1–21, which is itself based on Jewish wisdom teaching.
12.9 Almsgiving saves from death. In light of subsequent events the truth of 4.10 is now evident, although Tobit’s assertion there that almsgiving delivers from death seemed ironic.
12.11–22 Raphael reveals to Tobit and Tobias what readers have known since 3.16–17.
12.12 On the notion that angels read the record of human prayers and deeds in God’s presence, cf. 1 Enoch 8.4–9.11; 89.76; 97.3–6; 99.3; 104.1.
12.14 Raphael’s having been sent to test Tobit may suggest divine initiative in the events described in 2.1–10. More likely, it reflects the widespread belief that Satan originates testing or tempting and that God witnesses human responses and provides help, sometimes through an angel; cf. Mt 4.1–10; 6.13; 1 Cor 10.13; Dead Sea Scrolls Rule of the Community (1QS) 3.20, 24; Jubilees 17.15–18.16.
12.16 This imagery and vocabulary are traditional in epiphany accounts; cf. Dan 10.1–12; 1 Enoch 14.24–15.1.
12.19 That angels do not eat human food is a traditional idea (cf. Lk 24.36–43; Testament of Abraham 4, recension A).
12.20–22 The formula I am ascending to him who sent me recurs in Jn 16.5. John shares with Tobit the pattern of a descending and ascending savior figure. The command to write a book is also consonant with the commissioning function in such stories about heavenly messengers on earth; cf. Rev 1.9–20. It is to be a doxological book, and the commands to bless God (vv. 17–18) and acknowledge God’s merciful activity resonate with the frequent blessing of God throughout the narrative and in the hymn that follows (see 13.1, 3, 6, 10, 15, 17).
Tobit 13
Tobit’s Thanksgiving to God
1Then Tobita said:
“Blessed be God who lives forever,
because his kingdomb lasts throughout all ages.
2For he afflicts, and he shows mercy;
he leads down to Hades in the lowest regions of the earth,
and he brings up from the great abyss,c
and there is nothing that can escape his hand.
3Acknowledge him before the nations, O children of Israel;
for he has scattered you among them.
4He has shown you his greatness even there.
Exalt him in the presence of every living being,
because he is our Lord and he is our God;
he is our Father and he is God forever.
5He will afflictd you for your iniquities,
but he will again show mercy on all of you.
He will gather you from all the nations
among whom you have been scattered.
6If 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 no longer hide his face from you.
So now see what he has done for you;
acknowledge him at the top of your voice.
Bless the Lord of righteousness,
and exalt the King of the ages.e
In the land of my exile I acknowledge him,
and show his power and majesty to a nation of sinners:
‘Turn back, you sinners, and do what is right before him;
perhaps he may look with favor upon you and show you mercy.’
7As for me, I exalt my God,
and my soul rejoices in the King of heaven.
8Let all people speak of his majesty,
and acknowledge him in Jerusalem.
9O Jerusalem, the holy city,
he afflictedf you for the deeds of your hands,g
but will again have mercy on the children of the righteous.
10Acknowledge the Lord, for he is good,h
and bless the King of the ages,
so that his tenti may be rebuilt in you in joy.
May he cheer all those within you who are captives,
and love all those within you who are distressed,
to all generations forever.
11A bright light will shine to all the ends of the earth;
many nations will come to you from far away,
the inhabitants of the remotest parts of the earth to your holy name,
bearing gifts in their hands for the King of heaven.
Generation after generation will give joyful praise in you;
the name of the chosen city will endure forever.
12Cursed are all who speak a harsh word against you;
cursed are all who conquer you
and pull down your walls,
all who overthrow your towers
and set your homes on fire.
But blessed forever will be all who revere you.j
13Go, then, and rejoice over the children of the righteous,
for they will be gathered together
and will praise the Lord of the ages.
14Happy are those who love you,
and happy are those who rejoice in your prosperity.
Happy also are all people who grieve with you
because of your afflictions;
for they will rejoice with you
and witness all your glory forever.
15My soul blessesk the Lord, the great King!
16For Jerusalem will be builtl as his house for all ages.
How happy I will be if a remnant of my descendants should survive
to see your glory and acknowledge the King of heaven.
The gates of Jerusalem will be built with sapphire and emerald,
and all your walls with precious stones.
The towers of Jerusalem will be built with gold,
and their battlements with pure gold.
The streets of Jerusalem will be paved
with ruby and with stones of Ophir.
17The gates of Jerusalem will sing hymns of
joy,
and all her houses will cry, ‘Hallelujah!
Blessed be the God of Israel!’
and the blessed will bless the holy name forever and ever.”
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a Gk he
b Other ancient authorities read forever, and his kingdom
c Gk from destruction
d Other ancient authorities read He afflicted
e The lacuna in codex Sinaiticus, verses 6b to 10a, is filled in from other ancient authorities
f Other ancient authorities read will afflict
g Other ancient authorities read your children
h Other ancient authorities read Lord worthily
i Or tabernacle
j Other ancient authorities read who build you up
k Or Omy soul, bless
l Other ancient authorities add for a city
13.1–17 Tobit’s hymn of praise, a much-expanded counterpart to 11.14–15, epitomizes the book’s many exhortations to praise God. Very possibly a version of a liturgical composition, it reflects real usage in the author’s time and lends verisimilitude to this portrait of a pious Israelite. Although its vocabulary is reminiscent of the Psalter (esp. Pss 92–118), its themes reflect the concerns of the author’s time.
13.1–2 The introduction establishes the hymn’s theme of divine justice and mercy.
13.1 An opening blessing and explication (“Blessed are you…because…”) is formulaic in prayers of this period (cf. Dead Sea Scrolls Thanksgiving Hymns [1QH] 13[5].20; 18[10].14). V. 1b implies the title King of the ages (vv. 6, 10).
13.2 On the word pair afflicts / shows mercy (see also v. 5), see note on 11.15. Tobit’s situation is inseparable from the nation’s; see note on 3.2–5. Sickness and healing were, in Israelite thought, descent to and return from Sheol (Greek Hades), the realm of the dead. The complex of ideas here echoes Deut 32.39; 1 Sam 2.6; Wis 16.13–15; 2 Macc 7.35. For death, Sheol, and resurrection as metaphors for exile and return, cf. Ezek 34; Bar 2.17; 3.4–8.
13.3–7 The first of two major sections of the hymn. Its vocabulary echoes Deut 30.2, and it presumes the importance of Deut 28–33 as a prediction of Israel’s situation in exile and Diaspora. The Deuteronomic scheme of sin, punishment, repentance, and salvation predominates in Jewish literature of the Greco-Roman period. Cf. Testament of Moses; Baruch; 2 Macc 3–8; Jubilees 23.14–31.
13.3 This section of the hymn is addressed to the children of Israel…scattered in exile. Like the blessing in v. 1, “I acknowledge you, O Lord…for…” is formulaic in contemporary hymns (cf. Dead Sea Scrolls Thanksgiving Hymns [1QH] 11[3].19; 12[4].5).
13.5 Return to the promised land is the solution for the Diaspora and exile faced by the author.
13.6 Such a restoration requires that Israel repent (turn to God with all your heart and with all your soul). Tobit’s acknowledgment of God to a nation of sinners reflects a concern that the enemy not draw unwarranted conclusions about its power and the weakness of Israel’s God, who is described throughout the hymn with titles that emphasize the divine power, majesty, and sovereignty. On this concern, cf. Deut 32.27–31; Dan 1–6.
13.8–17 Although Tobit is a Galilean, the second major part of the hymn focuses on Jerusalem as the locus of salvation; cf. 1.6–8; 14.5–7. The direct address to Jerusalem and the joyful anticipation of Jerusalem’s deliverance parallel a number of contemporary compositions (Bar 4.36–5.9; Psalms of Solomon 11; Dead Sea Scrolls Psalms Scroll [11QPsa]22.1–15; cf. Sir 36.1–17). Like other contemporary texts influenced by Isa 40–66 (the chief source for the hope of Zion’s restoration), these verses do not foresee a restoration of the Davidic dynasty. God will rule as King without an earthly agent.
13.16–17 Cf. Isa 54.11–14 and the even bolder allusion to the new Jerusalem in Rev 21.9–27.
Tobit 14
Tobit’s Final Counsel
1So ended Tobit’s words of praise.
2Tobita died in peace when he was one hundred twelve years old, and was buried with great honor in Nineveh. He was sixty-twob years old when he lost his eyesight, and after regaining it he lived in prosperity, giving alms and continually blessing God and acknowledging God’s majesty.
3When he was about to die, he called his son Tobias and the seven sons of Tobiasc and gave this command: “My son, take your children 4and hurry off to Media, for I believe the word of God that Nahum spoke about Nineveh, that all these things will take place and overtake Assyria and Nineveh. Indeed, everything that was spoken by the prophets of Israel, whom God sent, will occur. None of all their words will fail, but all will come true at their appointed times. So it will be safer in Media than in Assyria and Babylon. For I know and believe that whatever God has said will be fulfilled and will come true; not a single word of the prophecies will fail. All of our kindred, inhabitants of the land of Israel, will be scattered and taken as captives from the good land; and the whole land of Israel will be desolate, even Samaria and Jerusalem will be desolate. And the temple of God in it will be burned to the ground, and it will be desolate for a while.d
5“But God will again have mercy on them, and God will bring them back into the land of Israel; and they will rebuild the temple of God, but not like the first one until the period when the times of fulfillment shall come. After this they all will return from their exile and will rebuild Jerusalem in splendor; and in it the temple of God will be rebuilt, just as the prophets of Israel have said concerning it. 6Then the nations in the whole world will all be converted and worship God in truth. They will all abandon their idols, which deceitfully have led them into their error; 7and in righteousness they will praise the eternal God. All the Israelites who are saved in those days and are truly mindful of God will be gathered together; they will go to Jerusalem and live in safety forever in the land of Abraham, and it will be given over to them. Those who sincerely love God will rejoice, but those who commit sin and injustice will vanish from all the earth. 8,9So now, my children, I command you, serve God faithfully and do what is pleasing in his sight. Your children are also to be commanded to do what is right and to give alms, and to be mindful of God and to bless his name at all times with sincerity and with all their strength. So now, my son, leave Nineveh; do not remain here. 10On whatever day you bury your mother beside me, do not stay overnight within the confines of the city. For I see that there is much wickedness within it, and that much deceit is practiced within it, while the people are without shame. See, my son, what Nadab did to Ahikar who had reared him. Was he not, while still alive, brought down into the earth? For God repaid him to his face for this shameful treatment. Ahikar came out into the light, but Nadab went into the eternal darkness, because he tried to kill Ahikar. Because he gave alms, Ahikare escaped the fatal trap that Nadab had set for him, but Nadab fell into it himself, and was destroyed. 11So now, my children, see what almsgiving accomplishes, and what injustice does—it brings death! But now my breath fails me.”
Death of Tobit and Anna
Then they laid him on his bed, and he died; and he received an honorable funeral. 12When Tobias’s mother died, he buried her beside his father. Then he and his wife and childrenf returned to Media and settled in Ecbatana with Raguel his father-in-law. 13He treated his parents-in-lawg with great respect in their old age, and buried them in Ecbatana of Media. He inherited both the property of Raguel and that of his father Tobit. 14He died highly respected at the age of one hundred seventeenh years. 15Before he died he heardi of the destruction of Nineveh, and he saw its prisoners being led into Media, those whom King Cyaxaresj of Media had taken captive. Tobiask praised God for all he had done to the people of Nineveh and Assyria; before he died he rejoiced over Nineveh, and he blessed the Lord God forever and ever. Amen.l
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a Gk He
b Other ancient authorities read fifty-eight
c Lat: Gk lacks and the seven sons of Tobias
d Lat: Other ancient authorities read of God will be in distress and will be bur
ned for a while
e Gk he; other ancient authorities read Manasses
f Codex Sinaiticus lacks and children
g Gk them
h Other authorities read other numbers
i Codex Sinaiticus reads saw and heard
j Cn: Codex Sinaiticus Ahikar; other ancient authorities read Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus
k Gk He
l Other ancient authorities lack Amen
14.1–11a The final chapter centers on the events relating to Tobit’s death, especially his second testament (vv. 3–11a), which, unlike the first (ch. 4), focuses on predictions about the future (vv. 4–7).
14.2–3a The narrative introduction contrasts with the setting of Tobit’s first testament and affirms that Tobit’s piety has been rewarded; his almsgiving and praise of God have led to a long, prosperous life.
14.4–7 Tobit supports his predictions by appealing to everything…spoken by the prophets of Israel (v. 4); cf. 2.6; 14.5. These references attest the authority of the biblical prophetic corpus in at least some circles during the author’s time. Vv. 4–5 are the earliest extant testimony to the belief that the events of history are fixed and must occur at their appointed times (v. 4) in accordance with prophetic predictions. Later apocalyptic speculation lays out detailed scenarios based on this idea; cf. Dan 10–12; 1 Enoch 85–90; 93.1–10 + 91.11–17. A number of NT texts also presume that future events are fixed and must occur according to the prophetic word (Mk 8.31; 9.11; 13.7, 10; Rev 1.1; cf. Acts 1.7). Identifiable historical events in Tobit’s scenario for the future begin with the destruction of Nineveh (612 BCE), predicted by the prophet Nahum (v. 4), and end with the return from the Babylonian exile and the rebuilding of Jerusalem in splendor (515 BCE; v. 5), as foreseen in Isa 40–66. In vv. 5b–7, the recitation of historical events gives way to a picture of the future that transcends the author’s experience: a glorified temple, the conversion of the nations and their abandoning of their idols, the full return of the Diaspora, and the removal of sin from the earth. Elements in this scenario are predicted in the books of the prophets, notably Isa 40–66, but the best parallel is 1 Enoch 91.11–14.
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