"... The Tobit narrative employs certain strategies that respond to the limitations of the principle of retribution. First, God still rewards the good deeds of the righteous, although they may be tested for a time and thus experience a time of tears (compare Tobit 12:14). Like a disciplining father, God mastigoi/ or reproves the wise (compare Proverbs 3:11-12; Judith 8:27). In fact, with the use of the same word to describe his sightlessness and his people’s landlessness, Tobit believes that his blindness and the exilic condition of his people are God’s scourging, or God’s discipline that can lead to wisdom. In the end, after passing through the valley of distress, rewards await the righteous. Tobit’s story believes in the possibility that God defers the reward until an opportune time in accordance with his own hidden providential purposes. Perhaps, such testing is an apt and God-willed opportunity to manifest the mysterious wisdom of God to others ..."