Book of Tobit Tobit, written by Unknown Jewish author
Create a PlanTobit tells the story of a devout Israelite exiled in Nineveh who is blinded after burying the dead, and of Sara, a young woman in Media whose seven husbands were killed by the demon Asmodeus. Both pray for death on the same day, and God sends the angel Raphael, disguised as a travelling companion, to guide Tobit's son Tobias on a journey that brings back the family's money, delivers Sara and makes her his wife, and restores Tobit's sight. The book is a story of providence, prayer and generosity in exile.
Chapters in Tobit
Outline of Tobit
Tobit stays faithful in exile, feeds the hungry and buries the dead, loses his goods under Sennacherib and is then blinded.
Expecting to die, Tobit teaches his son to honour his mother, give alms, live justly and fetch the money left in Media.
After his parents' anxious waiting, Tobias comes home with Sara and heals his father's eyes with the fish's gall.
Raphael reveals who he is, teaches the value of prayer, fasting and almsgiving, and returns to the one who sent him.
Key Themes in Tobit
Almsgiving and Works of Mercy
Feeding the hungry, clothing the naked and burying the dead run through the whole book, and both Tobit and the angel teach that alms deliver from death.
Hidden Providence
God answers two despairing prayers through an angel nobody recognises, and the reader knows from chapter 3 what the characters only learn in chapter 12.
Prayer in Suffering
The story is carried by prayers: of Tobit and Sara in distress, of the couple on their wedding night, of Raguel in relief and of Tobit in thanksgiving.
Faithfulness in Exile
Far from Jerusalem, a family keeps the law, marries within its people and looks forward to the rebuilding of the city and the gathering of the scattered.
Key Verses in Tobit
Do that to no man which thou hatest.
Tobit's counsel to his son, one of the oldest written forms of the Golden Rule.
Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold: For alms doth deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin.
The angel's summary of the life the book commends: prayer, fasting and almsgiving held together.
Characters in Tobit
Locations in Tobit
Assyrian capital where Tobit lives in exile, buries the dead and is blinded; his last words announce its fall
River where Tobias, guided by the angel, catches the fish whose heart, liver and gall will heal
Christ in Tobit
The Golden Rule
Tobit tells his son never to do to another what he hates; Jesus gives the same rule in its positive form, as the summary of the Law and the Prophets.
MAT 7:12Works of Mercy
Tobit feeds the hungry and clothes the naked, the very acts by which the Son of Man says the nations will be judged.
MAT 25:35-36The Woman with Seven Husbands
The Sadducees' question about a woman married to seven brothers recalls Sara's story, and Jesus answers it by speaking of the resurrection.
MAT 22:23-30The Jerusalem of Precious Stones
Tobit's vision of a Jerusalem built with sapphires, emeralds and gold returns in Revelation's description of the new Jerusalem.
REV 21:18-21Frequently Asked Questions
You are readingKing James Version