Summary
Date: 225-175 B.C.E.
The book of Tobit is a fanciful story that combines depictions of a Jewish extended family with comedy, magical cures, demons bound and cast into Egypt, and happy weddings. Beneath this surface are biblical themes and affirmations of Jewish values, reinforced by the very names of the characters: Tobit is also Tobi-yah, “Yahweh is good.” His wife is named Anna, or Hannah, “Grace,” and the angel Raphael, “El has healed,” in his human guise is also named Azariah, “Yahweh has helped.” Sarah bears the name of the matriarch.