Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 14.djvu/825

 TOBIAS

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TOBIAS

scholar; it is found in Walton's "Polyglot", (d) HM, Hebrew Munsteri, published by Mtinster in Basle A. D. 1542, Tound in Walton's "Polyglot". This text agrees as a rule with Neubauer's Aramaic, even when the latter is at variance with AB. It is, according to Ginsburg, of fifth-century origin. The Hebrew versions together with the Aramaic omit reference to the dog, which plays a prominent part m the other versions.

The foregoing review of the various and diverse recensions of the Book of Tobias shows how hard it would be to reconstruct the original text and how easily textual errors may have crept into our Vulgate or the Aramaic on which it depends.

C. Contents. — Unless otherwise stated, these ref- erences are to the Vulgate recension, whereof the Douay is a translation. The story naturally divides itself into two parts: (1) the fideUty of Tobias the elder and of Sara to the Lord (i, 1-iii, 25); (a) the fidehty of Tobias (i, 1-iii, 6), — before the captivity (i, 1-10), during the captivity (i, 11-iii, 6) shown by his acts of mercy to fellow captives (i, 11-17) and especially to the dead (i, 18-25), acts that resulted in his bhndness (ii, 1-18), the taunts of his wife (ii, 19-23), and the recourse of Tobias to God in prayer (iii, 1-6). (b) The fidelity of Sara, daughter of Raguel and Edna (iii, 7-23). The very day that Tobias in Ninive was taunted by his wife and turned to God, Sara in Ecbatana was taunted by her maid as the murderess of seven husbands (iii, 7-10), and turned to God in prayer (iii, 11-23). The prayers of both were heard (iii, 24-25).

(2) The fidehty of the Lord to Tobias and to Sara through the ministrations of the angel Raphael (iv, 1-xii, 22). — (a) Raphael cares for the young Tobias on his journey to Gabael in Rages of Media to obtain the ten talents of silver left in bond by his father (iv, 1-ix, 12). The young man set out, after long instruction by his father (iv, 1-23); Raphael joins him as guide (v, 1-2S); Tobias while bathing in the Tigris is attacked by a large fish, catches it, and, at the advice of Raphael, keeps its heart, hver, and gall (vi, 1-22); they pass through Ecbatana, stop at Raguel's; Tobias asks Sara for wife and receives her (vii, 1-20) ; by continence and exorcism and the odour of the burning liver of the fish and the aid of Raphael, he conquers the devil who had slain the seven previous husbands of Sara (viii, 1-24) ; Raphael gets the money of Gabael in Rages, and brings him to Ecbatana to the marriage celebration of young Tobias (ix, 1-12). (b) Raphael cures the blindness of the elder Tobias, on the return of his son, and man- ifests the truth that he is an angel (x, 2-xii, 31). Conclusion: The hymn of thanksgiving of Tobias the elder, and the subsequent history of both father and son (xiii, 1-xiv, 7).

D. Purpose. — To show that God is faithful to those that are faithful to Him is evidently the chief purpose of the book. Neubauer (op. cit., p. xvi) makes out the burial of the dead to be the chief lesson; but the lesson of almsgiving is more prominent. Ewald, "Gesch. des Volkes Israel", IV, 233, sets fidelity to the Mosaic code as the main drift of the author, who writes for Jews of the Dispersion; but the book is meant for all .Jews, and clearly inculcates for them many secondary les.sons and one that is fundamental to the rest — God is true to those who are true to Him.

E. Canonuyity. (1) In Judaism. — The Book of Tobias is deuteroeanonical, i. e. contained not in the Canon of Palestine but in that of Alexandria. That the Jews of the Dispersion accei)ted the book as canonical Scripture is clear from its place in the Sep- tuagint. That the Palestinian Jews reverenced Tobias aa a sacred book may be argued from the existence of the Aramaic translation used by St. Jerome and that pubhshed by Neubauer, as also from

the four extant Hebrew translations. Then, most of these Semitic versions were found as Midrashim, or haggada, of the Pentateuch.

(2) Among Christians. — Despite the rejection of Tobias from the Protestant Canon, its place in the Christian Canon of Holy Writ is undoubted. The Catholic Church has ever esteemed it as inspired. St. Polycarp (.\. D. 117), "Ad PhiUppenses", x, urges almsgiving, and cites Tob., iv, 10, and xii, 9, as authority for his urging. Deutero-Clement (a. d. 150), "Ad Corinthios", xvi, has praises of almsgiving that are an echo of Tob., xii, 8, 9. St. Clement of Alexandria (a. d. 190-210), in "Stromata", vi, 12 (P. G., IX, 324), cites as the words of Holy Writ "Fasting is good with prayer" (Tob., xii, 9); and in "Stromata", i, 21; ii, 23 (P. G,, VIII, 8.53, 1089), "What thou hatest, do not unto another" (Tob., iv, 16). Origen (about a. d. 230) cites as Scripture Tob., iii, 24, and xii, 12, 15, in "De oratione", II; Tob., ii, 1, in sec. 14; Tob., xii, 12, in sec. 31 (cf. P. G., XI, 448, 461, 553); and writing to Africanus (P. G., XI, 80) he explains that, although the Hebrews do not use Tobias, yet the Church does. St. Athanasius (a. d. 3.50) uses Tob., xii, 7, and iv, 19, with the dis- tinctive phrase "as it is written", cf. "Apol. contra arianos", II, and "Apol. ad Imper. Constantium" (P. G., XXV, 268, 616). In the Western Church, St. Cyprian (about a. d. 248) very often refers to Tobias as of Divine authority just as he refers to the other books of Holy Writ; cf. "De mortahtate", x; "De opere et eleemosvnis", v, xx; "De patientia", -xviii (P. L., IV, 588, 606, 634); "Ad Quirinum", i, 20, for Tob., xii; iii, 1 for Tob., ii, 2; and iv, 5-11; iii, 62, for Tob., iv, 12 (P. G., IV, 689, 728, 729, 767). St. Ambrose (about A. D. 370) wrote a book entitled "De Tohia" against usury (P. L., XIV, 759), and introduced it by referring to the Biblical work of that name as "a prophetic book", "Scripture". In the entire Western Church, however, the canonicity of Tobias is clearest from its presence in the Old Latin Version, the authentic text of Scripture for the Latin Church from about A. D. 150 until St. Jerome's Vul- gate replaced it. The canonical use of Tobias in that part of the Byzantine Church whose language was Syriac is seen in the writings of St. Ephraem (about A. D. 362) and of St. Archelaus (about a. d. 27S). The earUest canonical lists all contain the Book of Tobias; they are those of the Coimeil of Hippo (a. d. 393), the councils of Carthage (a. d. 397 and 419), St. Innocent I (a. d. 405), St. Augustine (a. d. 397). Moreover, the great fourth- and fifth- century ^iSS. of the Septuagint are proof that not only the Jews but the Christians used Tobias aa canonical. For the Catholic the question of the canonicity of Tobias was infallibly settled by the decisions of the Councils of Trent, Session IV (8 April, 1546) and of the Vatican, Session III, ch. 2 (24 April, 1870).

Against the canonicity of Tobias are urged several rather trivial objections which would at first sight seem to impugn the inspiration of the narrative, (a) Raphael told an untruth when he said he was "Aza- rias the son of the great Ananias" (v, IS). There is no untntth in this. The angel was in appearance just what he said he was. Besides, he may have meant by 'ilzdrvah, "the healer of Jah"; and by 'Sniinyah, "the goodness of Jah". In this event he only told the young Tobias that he was God's helper and the offspring of the great goodness of God; in this there would be no falsehood, (b) A second objection is that the angelologj- of Tobias is taken over from that of the .\ vest a either directly by Iranian influence or indirectly by the inroad of Syriac or Grecian folk-lore. For Raphael says: "I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord" (xii, 15). These seven are the Amesha Spentaa of Zoroastrianism: cf. Fritzsche, "Exege-