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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 Tobit 12:15 and Revelation 1:4

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

In Revelation, greetings are sent from the seven spirits in front of God’s throne, an image that may reflect the description of angels in texts such as Tobit, where Raphael identifies himself as one of seven angels who stand in God’s presence.

Passages

Tobit 12:15

Deuterocanon
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

Revelation 1:4

New Testament
1 The revelation of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must happen very soon. He made it clear by sending his angel to his servant John, 2 who then testified to everything that he saw concerning the word of God and the testimony about Jesus Christ. 3 Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy aloud, and blessed are those who hear and obey the things written in it, because the time is near! 4 From John, to the seven churches that are in the province of Asia: Grace and peace to you from “he who is,” and who was, and who is still to come, and from the seven spirits who are before his throne, 5 and from Jesus Christ—the faithful witness, the firstborn from among the dead, the ruler over the kings of the earth. To the one who loves us and has set us free from our sins at the cost of his own blood 6 and has appointed us as a kingdom, as priests serving his God and Father—to him be the glory and the power for ever and ever! Amen.
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... After his ceremonial introduction, Raphael claims that he is one of the seven angels who are in front of God’s glory. The image of God’s throne surrounded by angelic beings appears already in the Old Testament. It suffices here to evoke two prophetic commission narratives: in Isaiah, God’s throne is surrounded by seraphim (Isaiah 6:2–7), while in Ezekiel the reader is given the additional information that there are four beings around the throne-chariot of God (Ezekiel 1:4–25). Along with the differentiation of the angelic world within early Judaism, we can also observe the development of more prominent angelic figures. Sometimes they appear individually, at other times in a group of four or seven. For the number four, the model is evidently Ezekiel. For the number seven, the motivation might be that it is a perfect number. The appearance and naming of the tetrade in the Book of the Watchers is of great significance. When they first appear, they look upon the created world from a (heavenly) sanctuary (1 Enoch 9:1–2), which shows that their role is primarily a cultic one: “And then Michael, Sariel, Raphael, and Gabriel looked down from the sanctuary of heaven and saw much blood being shed upon the earth, and all lawlessness being wrought upon the earth ..."
Géza G. Xeravits, The Angel’s Self-Revelation in Tobit 12 (Supplements to the Journal for the Study of Judaism, 2017), 1399–1417.

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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Comments

  • Also please reference Enoch 19

    John Bigelow, January 4, 2025

Tobit 12:15 and Revelation 1:4

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