Tobit 12:12

Deuterocanon

10 but those who commit sin and do wrong are their own worst enemies. 11 "I will now declare the whole truth to you and will conceal nothing from you. Already I have declared it to you when I said, "It is good to conceal the secret of a king, but to reveal with due honor the works of God.' 12 So now when you and Sarah prayed, it was I who brought and read the record of your prayer before the glory of the Lord, and likewise whenever you would bury the dead. 13 And that time when you did not hesitate to get up and leave your dinner to go and bury the dead, 14 I was sent to you to test you. And at the same time God sent me to heal you and Sarah your daughter-in-law.

Augustine City of God 1.13

On the City of God Against the Pagans
Patristic

For the body is not an extraneous ornament or aid, but a part of man's very nature. And therefore to the righteous of ancient times the last offices were piously rendered, and sepulchres provided for them, and obsequies celebrated; and they themselves, while yet alive, gave commandment to their sons about the 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 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 against His burial.

 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 ..."

de Wet, Chris L. The Book of Tobit in Early Christianity: Greek and Latin Interpretations from the 2nd to the 5th Century CE (pp. 1-13) HTS Teologiese Studies Vol. 76, No. 4, 2020

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