Raphael Reveals His Identity

Chapter 12

1 And when the wedding feast was ended Tobit called his son Tobias, and said to him, Child, see that you give the wages to the man which went with you, so that you give him more for his wages. 2 And he said to him, Father, How much shall I give him as his wages? It is no harm to me to give him the half of the possessions which he has brought with me. 3 He has led me in safety, and he cured my wife, and brought the money with me, and cured you; how much shall I give him further as wages? 4 And Tobit said to him, It is due to him, child, to take the half of all which you had when you came. 5 And he called him and said, Take the half of all that you had when you came for your wages, and go in peace. 6 Then he called them both privately, and said to them,⁠ Bless God, and give him thanks in the sight of all that live, for the good things which he has done to you, to bless and praise his name. The words of God show forth to all men with honour and do not be slack to give him thanks. 7 It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but to confess and reveal the works of God.⁠ And confess them with honour.⁠ Do the good, and evil shall not find you. 8 Better is prayer with truth, and alms with righteousness than riches with unrighteousness;⁠ it is better to give alms than to lay up gold:⁠ 9 almsgiving does deliver from death, and it purges away all sin.⁠ They that do alms shall be fed with life;⁠ 10 they that commit sin and unrighteousness are enemies to their own life. 11 I will show you all the truth and will keep close nothing from you. Already I have shown you and have said, It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but the works of God to reveal gloriously.⁠ 12 And now, when you did pray and Sarah, I did bring the memorial of your prayer before the glory of the Lord:⁠ and when you did bury the dead, likewise.⁠ 13 And when you did not delay to rise up, and leave your dinner, but did go and cover the dead, 14 then I was sent to you to try you; and at the same time God did send me also to heal Sarah your daughter-in-law. 15 I am Raphael, one of the seven angels, which stand and enter before the glory of the Lord.⁠ 16 And they were both troubled, and fell upon their faces; and they were afraid.⁠ 17 And he said to them, Do not be afraid, peace be to you; bless God to all eternity. 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. 22 And they blessed and praised God and they gave him thanks for these his great works, how the angel of God had appeared to them.

Texts in conversation

Compare Tobit 12:12 and Cyprian, Treatises 4:33

Deuterocanon · Early Christian

Summary

The Christian theologian Cyprian uses Tobit’s depiction of the angel Raphael and how he presented prayers to God for his own teaching on prayer, demonstrating how it was used as authoritative scripture in early Christian tradition.

Passages

Tobit 12:12

Deuterocanon

11 I will show you all the truth and will keep close nothing from you. Already I have shown you and have said, It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but the works of God to reveal gloriously. 12 And now, when you did pray and Sarah, I did bring the memorial of your prayer before the glory of the Lord: and when you did bury the dead, likewise. 13 And when you did not delay to rise up, and leave your dinner, but did go and cover the dead, 14 then I was sent to you to try you; and at the same time God did send me also to heal Sarah your daughter-in-law. 15 I am Raphael, one of the seven angels, which stand and enter before the glory of the Lord. 16 And they were both troubled, and fell upon their faces; and they were afraid. 17 And he said to them, Do not be afraid, peace be to you; bless God to all eternity.

225–175 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Tobit

Cyprian, Treatises 4:33

Early Christian

33 Prayers go up quickly to God when the merits of our works commend them to God. So too the angel Raphael stood by Tobit, who was always praying and always working, saying: "It is honorable to reveal and confess the works of God. For when you and Sarah prayed, I offered the remembrance of your prayer in the sight of the glory of God; and when you buried the dead in simplicity, and because you did not hesitate to rise and leave your dinner, but went and buried the dead man, I was sent to test you; and again God sent me to heal you and Sarah your daughter-in-law. For I am Raphael, one of the seven righteous angels who stand and go about before the glory of God." Through Isaiah too the Lord warns and teaches similar things, testifying: "Loose every knot of injustice," he says, "undo the stranglings of oppressive contracts; let the broken go free into rest, and tear up every unjust bond; break your bread to the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; if you see the naked, clothe him, and do not despise those of your own seed. Then your light will break forth in its season, and your garments will spring up quickly, and righteousness will go before you, and the glory of God will surround you. Then you will cry out, and God will hear you; while you are still speaking, he will say: 'Here I am.'" He promises that he is present, and says that he hears and protects those who, loosing the knots of injustice from their heart and giving alms to the household of God according to his precepts, while they hear what God commands to be done, themselves also deserve to be heard by God. The blessed apostle Paul, helped by the brothers in his need of affliction, said that the works that are done are sacrifices to God: "I am filled," he says, "having received from Epaphroditus the things sent from you, a sweet fragrance, a sacrifice acceptable and pleasing to God." For when one has pity on the poor he lends to God, and he who gives to the least gives to God; he offers spiritually to God sweet fragrances.

245–260 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Cyprian, Treatises

References

"... Cyprian of Carthage’s (bishop of Carthage 248/49–258 CE) use of Tobit is even broader; Gamberoni speaks of more than a dozen quotations in Cyprian’s oeuvre. Cyprian uses the book, alongside other scriptural passages as a scriptural fundus of arguments regarding the “benefits of good works and mercy.” Cyprian thus treats Tobit clearly as scripture. He even introduces it as scriptura divina in his treatise on the Lord’s prayer. Tobit, however, is not just a source for general aspects of Christian piety: Tobit 4:11 and its claim for mercy becomes an important argument in the discussion regarding the treatment of the so-called lapsi, that is Christians who negated their belief during the persecution under Emperor Decius (249–251 ce). Cyprian is also the first author who is interested in the figure of Tobit as an example of the righteous sufferer and patience. De Mortalitate (Mort. 10) and De Bono Patientiae (Ptient. 18) put Tobit, his justice and mercy, his suffering, and his final fate alongside the figure of Job. Even if he does not make extensive use of Tobit, Origen describes the book of Tobit (alongside Esther, Judith, and the Wisdom of Solomon) as being an appropriate text for beginners (Homily in Numbers 27:1) and understands it as part of the canon (Or. 14,4: ἐνδιάθηκος) while his Jewish partners in discussion do not acknowledge it. He uses the book, for example, in his discussion of proper prayer and for his teaching about angels. The later aspect plays also an important role in the apocryphal Testament of Solomon (fourth century), according to which Solomon castigates the demon Asmodaeus in a way which is heavily influenced by the book of Tobit ..."

Tobias Nicklas, “The Apocrypha in the History of Early Christianity,” in The Oxford Handbook of the Apocrypha, ed. Gerbern S. Oegema (New York: Oxford University Press, 2021), 52–73.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

Raphael Reveals His Identity

Tobit14 chapters

Compare Tobit 12:12 and Cyprian, Treatises 4:33

Summary

Passages

Tobit 12:12

Cyprian, Treatises 4:33

References

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