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Tobit

About this book

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 2 Kings 25:20 and Tobit 12:15

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

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Summary

2 Kings 25 uses the phrase “see the king’s face” for officials with direct access to the king. The same court language appears in Tobit, where the angel Raphael says he stands in God’s presence, applying royal bureaucracy to heaven.

Passages

2 Kings 25:20

Hebrew Bible
18 The captain of the royal guard took Seraiah, the chief priest, and Zephaniah, the priest who was second in rank, and the three doorkeepers. 19 From the city he took a eunuch who was in charge of the soldiers, five men seeing the king's face30 who were discovered in the city, an official army secretary who drafted citizens for military service, and 60 citizens from the people of the land who were discovered in the city. 20 Nebuzaradan, captain of the royal guard, took them and brought them to the king of Babylon at Riblah.
600–501 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in 2 Kings

Tobit 12:15

Deuterocanon
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.
225–175 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Tobit

References

"... The “angels of the presence” [literally “of the Face”] are, along with the “angels of holiness,” the highest class of angels, those who are privileged to see God’s face and serve Him directly in the heavenly sanctuary, just as earthly kings allow only some of their servants to be “those who see the king’s face” (see 2 Kings 25:19; Esther 1:10, 14; Tobit 12:15). This particular angel of the presence is apparently the angel, the one often chosen by God for special tasks ..."
James L. Kugel, A Walk through Jubilees: Studies in the Book of Jubilees and the World of Its Creation (Leiden: Brill, 2012), 26.

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

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2 Kings 25:20 and Tobit 12:15

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