By Gary Topping–
I’d wager that the book of Tobit is one of the least-read books in the Bible. Protestants don’t even have it in theirs, and as little as we read it, we Catholics might as well throw it out as well. That’s a pity, for it’s a wonderful story of human love and kindness, of divine guidance and healing. When you have a tale that’s both a road trip and a love story, involving characters ranging from an archangel to a puppy dog, how can you go wrong?
Tobit, like the books of Jonah and Judith, is a short novel set in the time of the Assyrian captivity. Ordinarily classified with the historical books, it belongs just as well with the wisdom, or poetical, literature. The plot is a bit complicated, and I’m going to give only a bare bones summary here because I want you to read and enjoy it for yourself.
The character Tobit is a pious Jew living in the city of Nineveh. Among other good works, he assumes for himself the responsibility of secretly providing respectful burials for Jews whom the Assyrians execute and simply throw outside the city gates to decompose. But like Job, another good man, Tobit falls on hard times, becomes blind, and prays for death. Before he dies, though, he commissions his son, Tobiah, to undertake the long journey back to their homeland of Media to recover a large fortune he had left there. Knowing it will be a perilous trip, the archangel Raphael appears, in disguise, as a companion to protect and advise the young man.
They set out on the journey, accompanied by Tobiah’s dog. One evening, while camped at a river, a large fish leaps out and bites Tobiah, whereupon Raphael instructs him to kill and eat the fish and to cut out and retain certain of its internal organs which have medicinal value.
Another story element emerges when they arrive in Media. A young woman named Sarah, a relative of Tobiah, has tried several times to get married, but each time a demon attacks and kills her betrothed before the wedding can be consummated. Raphael tells Tobiah that if he will marry Sarah and burn some of the fish organs in the bedroom on their wedding night, it will drive away the demon. That in fact happens. After recovering Tobit’s fortune, the newlyweds return to Nineveh with Raphael, the dog trotting along behind them. A happy ending ensues when Raphael demonstrates that the magical fish organs, when rubbed on Tobit’s eyes, restore his sight. Raphael reveals his identity and returns to heaven.
To me, the story offers several interesting features. For one thing, it is the only time in the Bible when the archangel Raphael appears by name, though his presence is implied in other cases. The presence of the dog is another interesting element. Animals in the ancient world were viewed in a purely utilitarian light, as working animals and sources of food, wool and leather. This is the only instance in the Bible of one of them kept as a pet. Finally, Tobit is as prolific provider of advice to young people as Shakespeare’s Polonius; in fact his lengthy platitudes rather weigh the story down. Chapter 4 consists entirely of his instructions to Tobiah before the son embarks on the journey, and it is interesting to me in that it anticipates to a large degree the Sermon on the Mount in its ethical thrust. It even includes a version of the Golden Rule: “Do to no one what you yourself dislike.” (4:15) This may be accounted for by the fact that Biblical scholars think Tobit was a relatively late addition to the scriptural canon, and thus the author would have had access to the major Hebrew prophets, with their strong spiritual and ethical emphases.
Some clever cartoonist someday should prepare a comic book version of Tobit for kids. Shorn of Tobit’s heavy sermonizing, it is a wonderful story of adventure and love spiked with magical elements and illustrating God’s love for Man. Remember you heard it here first!
