Tobit 4:9

Deuterocanon

8 If you have many possessions, make your gift from them in proportion; if few, do not be afraid to give according to the little you have. 9 So you will be laying up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity. 10 For almsgiving delivers from death and keeps you from going into the Darkness. 11 Indeed, almsgiving, for all who practice it, is an excellent offering in the presence of the Most High.

1 Timothy 6:19

New Testament

17 Command those who are rich in this world’s goods not to be haughty or to set their hope on riches, which are uncertain, but on God who richly provides us with all things for our enjoyment. 18 Tell them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, to be generous givers, sharing with others. 19 In this way they will save up a treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the future and so lay hold of what is truly life. 20 O Timothy, protect what has been entrusted to you. Avoid the profane chatter and absurdities of so-called “knowledge.”

 Notes and References

"... The effectiveness of almsgiving expressed through the idiom of laying up or storing treasure is found in Tobit 4:9, Sirach 29:11-12, 1 Timothy 6:19, and Matthew 19:21 ... Note the idioms in First Timothy and Tobit do not refer to a positive afterlife. Although First Timothy, unlike the Book of Tobit, carries a belief in a life after death (e.g., 1 Timothy 1:16 “for everlasting life”), the idiom in 1 Timothy 6:19 echoes the meaning in Tobit 4:9 without explicit mention of afterlife. Thus 1 Timothy 6:19 uses a common cultural idiom in a way that maintains the original meaning despite the different eschatological context. The idiom in First Timothy therefore stands in contrast with the eschatology in Matthew 6:20 and 19:21, both of which refer to “treasure(s) in heaven ..."

Skemp, Vincent "Avenues of Intertextuality between Tobit and the New Testament" in Corley, Jeremy (ed.) Intertextual Studies in Ben Sira and Tobit: Essays in Honor of Alexander A. Di Lella (pp. 43-70) Catholic Biblical Association of America, 2005

 User Comments

Do you have questions or comments about these texts? Please submit them here.