The Book of Tobit (Tobias)

⭑ Catholic Public Domain Version 2009 ⭑

⮜ Back | Contents | Next ⮞

- Chapter 1 -

Tobias’s early piety: his works of mercy, particularly in burying the dead.

Tobit was from the tribe and city of Naphtali (which is in the upper parts of Galilee above Asher, after the way, which leads to the west, that has on its left the city of Sephet).(a)

Although he had been taken captive in the days of Shalmaneser, the king of the Assyrians, even in such a situation as captivity, he did not desert the way of truth.

So then, every day, all that he was able to obtain, he bestowed on his fellow captive brothers, who were from his kindred.

And, when he was among the youngest of any in the tribe of Naphtali, he showed not so much as any childish behavior in his work.

And then, when all went to the golden calves which Jeroboam, king of Israel, had made, he alone fled from the company of them all.

Yet he continued on to Jerusalem, to the temple of the Lord, and there he adored the Lord God of Israel, offering faithfully all his first-fruits and his tithes.

So then, in the third year, he administered all his tithes to new converts and to new arrivals.(b)

These and similar such things, even as a boy, he observed according to the law of God.

Truly, when he had become a man, he received as wife Anna of his own tribe, and he conceived a son by her, to whom he assigned his own name.(c)

From his infancy, he taught him to fear God and to abstain from all sin.

Therefore, when, during the captivity, he had arrived with his wife and son at the city of Nineveh, with all his tribe,

(even though they all ate from the foods of the Gentiles,) he guarded his soul and never was contaminated with their foods.

And because he was mindful of the Lord with his whole heart, God gave him favor in the sight of Shalmaneser the king.

And he gave him the power to go wherever he would want, having the freedom to do whatever he wished.

Therefore, he continued on to all who were in captivity, and he gave them helpful advice.

But when he had arrived at Rages, a city of the Medes, he had ten talents of silver, from that which he had been given in honor by the king.

And when, in the midst of the great tumult of his kindred, he saw the destitution of Gabael, who was from his tribe, he loaned him, under a written agreement, the aforementioned weight of silver.

In truth, after a long time, Shalmaneser the king died, while Sennacherib his son reigned in his place, and he held a hatred for the sons of Israel.

Every day, Tobit traveled through all his own people, and he consoled them, and he distributed to each one as much as he could from his resources.

He nourished the hungry, and he supplied clothes to the naked, and he showed concern for the burial of the dead and of the slain.

And then, when king Sennacherib had returned from Judea, fleeing the scourge which God had caused all around him because of his blasphemy, and, being angry, he was slaughtering many from the sons of Israel, Tobit buried their bodies.

And when it was reported to the king, he ordered him to be slain, and he took away all his belongings.

In truth, Tobit, fleeing with nothing but his son and his wife, was able to remain hidden because many loved him.(d)

In truth, after forty-five days, the king was slain by his own sons,

and Tobit was able to return to his house, and all his resources were restored to him.

Footnotes

(a)1:1 The Latin text plainly says that Sephet is on the ‘left,’ but the Challoner and the Douay-Rheims versions have this as on the ‘right.’ The Wycliffe version has it as ‘the left.’(Conte)

(b)1:7 In this context, the new arrivals would refer not merely to any stranger or foreigner, but to those who were a new arrival to Jerusalem, who were there to inquire about the Jewish faith. And the new converts would be those one step further in the process of becoming a Jew. The word ‘ministraret’ indicates that Tobit did not merely give away his tithes, but he applied them judiciously to particular persons and circumstances, as needed.(Conte)

(c)1:9 Since Tobit and his son have the same name, editors of various Bible editions have introduced variations on the name, so as to distinguish between the father and his son. In this translation, the father is called ‘Tobit,’ and his son is called, ‘Tobias.’ But actually, they have the same name.(Conte)

(d)1:23 The word ‘nudus’ in this context does not mean that Tobit was naked, but that he fled with nothing of his possessions, but only with his wife and son.(Conte)