Texts in Conversation
In Revelation, a heavenly figure tells the writer to record what he has seen, following a pattern similar to Tobit. In both, a divine messenger gives instructions and then disappears, showing how angelic messengers became common in Jewish traditions.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 12:20
Deuterocanon
18 I when I was with you, was not with you of any favour of mine, but by the will of God; bless him day by day, praise him. 19 And you behold me that I have eaten nothing, but a vision has appeared to you. 20 And now bless the Lord on the earth and give God thanks: Behold I ascend to him that sent me: write down all these things which have happened to you. And he ascended. 21 And they rose up and could no longer see him.
Date: 225–175 BCE (based on scholarly estimates)
Revelation 1:11
New Testament
10 I was in the Spirit on the Lord’s Day when I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet, 11 saying: “Write in a book what you see and send it to the seven churches—to Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea.” 12 I turned to see whose voice was speaking to me, and when I did so, I saw seven golden lampstands, 13 and in the midst of the lampstands was one like a son of man. He was dressed in a robe extending down to his feet, and he wore a wide golden belt around his chest.
Date: 92–96 CE (based on scholarly estimates)
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Notes and References
"... The motif of a commission to write a book accompanying revelatory discourse by a supernatural being in Tobit 12:20 parallels Revelation 1:11, 19 (1:19 is a commission of the risen Jesus Christ). Revelation 19:10 and 22:8-9 indicate that John of Patmos was aware of the tradition found in Tobit 12:16-18 and other texts such as the Ascension of Isaiah, in which a human attempts to worship an angel but the angel rebuffs obeisance toward anyone but God. The seven angels, the commission to write down, and the angelic refusal of obeisance are parallels between Tobit and Revelation that are common in Jewish and Christian literature. Such parallels support the view that John of Patmos likely knew of and approved of the traditional Jewish piety in the Book of Tobit. ..."
Vincent Skemp, “Avenues of Intertextuality between Tobit and the New Testament,” in Intertextual Studies in Ben Sira and Tobit: Essays in Honor of Alexander A. Di Lella, ed. Jeremy Corley and Vincent Skemp, CBQMS 38 (Washington, DC: Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2005), 43–70.
* 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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