Texts in Conversation
Tobit highlights the angel’s record of his prayer and his repeated efforts to bury the dead. The Christian theologian Augustine cites this to argue that burial of the dead is not to be neglected, using Tobit as a source of theology and practice.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 12:12
Deuterocanon
10 they that commit sin and unrighteousness are enemies to their own life. 11 I will show you all the truth and will keep close nothing from you. Already I have shown you and have said, It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but the works of God to reveal gloriously. 12 And now, when you did pray and Sarah, I did bring the memorial of your prayer before the glory of the Lord: and when you did bury the dead, likewise. 13 And when you did not delay to rise up, and leave your dinner, but did go and cover the dead, 14 then I was sent to you to try you; and at the same time God did send me also to heal Sarah your daughter-in-law.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Augustine, City of God 1.13
On the City of God Against the Pagans
Early Christian
And therefore the last offices were piously performed for the righteous of ancient times, and sepulchres provided for them, and funeral rites celebrated; and they themselves, while still alive, gave their sons instructions about their burial, and, on occasion, even about the removal of their bodies to some favorite place. And Tobit, according to the angel's testimony, is commended, and is said to have pleased God by burying the dead. Our Lord Himself, too, though He was to rise again on the third day, applauds, and commends to our applause, the good work of the religious woman who poured precious ointment over His limbs, and did it in preparation for His burial. Matthew 26:10-13 And the Gospel speaks with praise of those who took care to take down His body from the cross, and wrap it lovingly in costly burial cloths, and see to its burial.
Date: 426 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... Tobit’s act of burying the dead seems to be part of what Downs (2016:59–60) calls Tobit’s ‘merciful action’ (ἐλεημοσύνη) (see also Maximus of Turin, Sermones 41.2; in Rebillard 2009:101–102). Although burial was not a requirement for salvation or resurrection, Augustine (City of God 1.13) still used Tobit as an example to show that the burial of the dead should not be neglected ..."
Chris L. de Wet, “The Book of Tobit in Early Christianity: Greek and Latin Interpretations from the 2nd to the 5th Century CE,” HvTSt 76.4 (2020): 1–13.
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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