Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TOBIT

A postexilic Jewish book with clear folktale antecedents yet modeled on Jewish sacred literature, found in the Apocrypha.

Story

Exiled in Nineveh in the days of the Assyrian Empire, the Jewish household of Tobit, his wife Anna, and their son Tobias combine piety with success in the gentile world, until a wicked king, Sennacherib, ascends the throne and persecutes the Jews (1:1-18). As a result of providing a decent burial for his kinsmen, Tobit loses first his wealth and then his eyesight (1:19–2:10).

Tobit prays for death (2:11–3:6), but he also recalls some money he left in trust with Gabael, a relative in Media. Should he not tell Tobias about this money before God grants his prayer (3:7–4:4)? So Tobit dispatches his son to Media, provided with much good advice (4:5-21) and a guide. The guide gives himself out as Azariah, a relative from Tobit’s tribe, but he is in reality the angel Raphael (“God heals”; 5:1-21).

Along the way, Raphael instructs Tobias to catch a large fish and preserve its liver, heart, and gall for use in healing and exorcism (6:1-9). Then Raphael leads Tobias to the home of Raguel and Edna (6:10–7:18). Their daughter Sarah is beautiful, virtuous, and an ideal match for Tobias, but she is also bewitched: the demon Asmodeus has killed her previous seven husbands on their wedding night. But by heeding Raphael’s exhortation to piety and his instructions about the use of the fish’s heart and liver, Tobias is able to marry Sarah and live till the next morning (8:1-9).

Raguel holds a two-week feast for the newlyweds, during which time Raphael retrieves the money from Gabael (8:10–10:12). At the end of two weeks, Tobias returns with Sarah to Nineveh. At this point, the healing property of the fish gall become evident, as Tobias uses it to cure Tobit’s blindness (11:1-18).

When the time comes to pay “Azariah,” the guide reveals himself as Raphael, an angel sent in answer to their prayers, who exhorts them to continue in their piety (12:1-22). Tobit praises God and predicts a glorious future for restored Israel (13:1–14:15).

Literary Antecedents

Tobit is rife with motifs from folktales to which scholars have given colorful names: e.g., The Grateful Dead Man, The Monster in the Bridal Chamber. Beneath these motifs lies a classic fairy-tale plot which begins when a hero leaves his family to go on a journey to remedy some misfortune that has befallen them. In the course of his journey, he finds a young woman in distress. Having obtained some special agent that helps him deal with this distress where others have failed, he marries her, finds a remedy for his family’s initial misfortune, and returns home with his bride.

In Tobit this fairy-tale plot is placed in a context that makes it a vehicle for Jewish edification and encouragement. Unlike the fairy tale, Tobit unfolds in a specific time and place: the (Assyrian) Exile. Just as the troubles of Tobit and Sarah are brought on ultimately by their condition of exile, so the healing of their troubles points toward the end of their exile. This message is reinforced by a wealth of references to stories, laws, ethical teachings, and prophecies from the Law, the Prophets, and other Jewish sacred literature. There is also reference to the story of Ahikar, who is introduced into the story as Tobit’s nephew.

Tobit’s fairy-tale source(s) and numerous anachronisms explain the present scholarly consensus that Tobit is fictional. This view goes back at least as far as Luther, who described Tobit as “useful fiction” and a “delightful, pious comedy.”

Date, Language, and Versions

Tobit has been reasonably dated as early as the 5th century b.c.e. and as late as the 2nd century. Fragments of the book (four in Aramaic, one in Hebrew) were found at Qumran. Assuming Joseph Fitzmyer is correct in dating the oldest of these to 100 b.c.e., a later date for Tobit is not possible.

The Qumran fragments have buttressed the prevailing critical opinion that Tobit was originally written in Aramaic. The full text of the book has come down to us in two Greek recensions that are markedly different: Sinaiticus and Vaticanus. Earlier translations, as recently as the RSV and Goodspeed, relied heavily on Vaticanus. However, for several decades, Sinaiticus has been generally regarded as the earlier of the two recensions, and this conclusion is now supported by the Qumran material. Most recent translations make some use of Vaticanus as well, if only to fill in the lacunae that occur in Sinaiticus at 4:7-19; 13:6-10. Names in Tobit are often rendered according to their Greek transliterations (e.g., “Tobias”) rather than their Aramaic antecedents (“Tobiah”).

Themes

Tobit incorporates a wealth of Jewish attitudes and beliefs. Prominent among them are those related to the Jewish family, almsgiving, and angels. Concern for family lineage is shown when Tobit seeks to determine whether “Azariah” is a fit guide for his son, and also in the proposed marriage of Tobias and Sarah. Unlike other postexilic books, Tobit advocates marriage between cousins (perhaps partly as a way of consolidating a family’s wealth). Filial duty is prescribed by the parents and embodied in the children. Yet family life is not always ideal. The friction that exists between Tobit and Anna when she becomes the “breadwinner,” or when they fear for Tobias’ safety, is tellingly depicted. There are many other vignettes of family life: weddings, burials, meals, sleeping arrangements, farewells, and reunions.

In a larger sense, the entire Jewish community is Tobit’s “family.” The duty Tobit has to them, and which he enjoins on his son, is summed up in the word eleēmosýnē, traditionally translated “almsgiving.” The primary acts of charity described as almsgiving in Tobit are feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, and giving the dead a proper burial. Such conduct will ultimately be rewarded by God, which is why Tobit can say “almsgiving delivers from death” (4:10).

These words are repeated verbatim by Raphael when he explains that it was in response to Tobit’s almsgiving and prayer that he was sent by God to aid them. Raphael describes himself as one of seven angels who “stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord” (12:15). He fights demons and assists mortals, but his sphere is uniquely heavenly, and he reminds Tobit and Tobias that he did not really eat and drink, but only appeared to. All this reflects the developed angelology of the postexilic period.

Later Use of Tobit

Tobit contains perhaps the earliest statement of the “Golden Rule” (in its “negative” form, 4:15) which has proved a fountainhead of Jewish and Christian moral teaching. The presence of Tobit at Qumran attests to the esteem in which it was held in ancient Judaism, but despite its popularity and piety it was not included in the Jewish Bible. Midrash Tanḥuma (ca. 500 c.e.) contains a folktale similar to Tobit, although there is probably no direct dependence either way.

While many Eastern Church fathers did not regard Tobit as canonical, in the Western Church its canonicity received either qualified or (more often) unqualified endorsement. Readings from Tobit have been used in the Roman Church to celebrate holy days in honor of angels; other readings (e.g., Tobias’ prayer, 8:5-8) have been used for marriage ceremonies.

Bibliography. J. C. Dancy, The Shorter Books of the Apocrypha. Cambridge Bible Commentary (Cambridge, 1972), 1-66; G. Nickelsburg, “Stories of Biblical and Early Post-Biblical Times: Tobit,” in Jewish Writings of the Second Temple Period, ed. M. E. Stone. CRINT 2/2 (Philadelphia, 1984), 40-46; W. Soll, “Misfortune and Exile in Tobit,” CBQ 51 (1989): 209-31; F. Zimmermann, The Book of Tobit (New York, 1958).

Will Soll

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

TOBIT

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)