Texts in Conversation
Tobit 13 echoes Genesis 27, where Jacob receives a blessing that the nations will serve him and those who bless him will be blessed. In Tobit, this is applied not to an individual but to Jerusalem, portraying the city as the center of future honor.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Genesis 27:29
Hebrew Bible
28 May God give you the dew of the sky and the richness of the earth, and plenty of grain and new wine. 29 May peoples serve you and nations bow down to you. You will be lord over your brothers, and the sons of your mother will bow down to you. May those who curse you be cursed, and those who bless you be blessed.” 30 Isaac had just finished blessing Jacob, and Jacob had scarcely left his father’s presence, when his brother Esau returned from the hunt. 31 He also prepared some tasty food and brought it to his father. Esau said to him, “My father, get up and eat some of your son’s wild game. Then you can bless me.”
Date: 750–400 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Tobit 13:12
Deuterocanon
11 A bright light shall shine to all the ends of the earth; Many nations shall come from afar, And the inhabitants of the utmost ends of the earth to your holy name; With their gifts also in their hands to the King of heaven, Generations of generations shall utter rejoicing in you, And your name that is elect to the generations of eternity. 12 Cursed shall be all they that shall speak a hard word; Cursed shall be all they that demolish you, And throw down your walls; And all they that overthrow your towers, And set on fire your habitations; But blessed shall be all they that fear you for ever. 13 Then go and be exceeding glad for the sons of the righteous: For they all shall be gathered together, And bless the everlasting Lord. 14 Blessed shall they be that love you; And blessed shall they be That shall rejoice for your peace: And blessed shall be all the men That shall sorrow for you For all your chastisements: Because they shall rejoice in you And shall see all your joy for ever.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The narrative draws extensively on older traditions. Apart from a multitude of allusions to single biblical phrases, previous texts often function as subtexts in such a way that an earlier passage serves as a matrix for identical twists, thematic links, and allusions. In this context, Genesis 24 is of outstanding importance. In addition to these correspondences, references to Deuteronomy also play an important role (see especially the reception of Deuteronomy 30:2–33:5 in Tobit 13:5–6). Tobit’s eschatological hymn in Tobit 13 and his outlook into his people’s future in Tobit 14:4–7 contain numerous allusions to the salvation prophecies of Deutero and Trito-Isaiah as well as to other prophetic traditions. Sapiential tradition, as it appears especially in the speeches in Tobit 4 and Tobit 12, can be traced back to the wisdom teaching of Proverbs and Sirach. Tobit focuses on this when the value of almsgiving is emphasized ..."
Beate Ego, “The Book of Tobit in the Story of Cornelius in Acts 10,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha, ed. Gerbern S. Oegema (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021), 306–334.
* 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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