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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 12:16 and Revelation 1:17

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

Tobit describes the angel Raphael inspiring fear, then giving reassurance. Revelation follows this when John bows in front of a figure who tells him not to be afraid. Both describe an angelic tradition that developed in the Second Temple Jewish period.

Passages

Tobit 12:16

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

Revelation 1:17

New Testament
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. 14 His head and hair were as white as wool, even as white as snow, and his eyes were like a fiery flame. 15 His feet were like polished bronze refined in a furnace, and his voice was like the roar of many waters. 16 He held seven stars in his right hand, and a sharp double-edged sword extended out of his mouth. His face shone like the sun shining at full strength. 17 When I saw him I fell down at his feet as though I were dead, but he placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid! I am the first and the last, 18 and the one who lives! I was dead, but look, now I am alive—forever and ever—and I hold the keys of death and of Hades!
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... The worship of angels aligned with God is also vigorously rejected in some Jewish and Jewish-Christian documents which do so within the narrative context of an angelophanic encounter. The passages listed below (where possible, with approximate dates of the writing) consist of prohibitions directed against a seer's revering reaction to the presence of an angelic figure ... In addition there are passages in the New Testament, as well as in later Jewish and Christian writings which, though not always in an angelophanic setting, may well have been formally influenced by this "refusal tradition." Here we may especially note Mark 10:17-18 and parallels ("Good Teacher..."; "Do not call me good; nobody is good except one, God"); Acts 10:25 (Peter's rejection of Cornelius' prostration); History of the Rechabites 5:3b-6:3 (a mild reprimand of Zosimus' posture); Joseph and Aseneth 14:9-11 (implicit rejection of Aseneth's fearful reaction) and 15:11-12 (esp. the longer recension; refusal to divulge name after Aseneth declares her intention to praise the angelic figure) ..."
Loren T. Stuckenbruck, Angel Veneration and Christology: A Study in Early Judaism and in the Christology of the Apocalypse of John, Wissenschaftliche Untersuchungen zum Neuen Testament 2. Reihe 70 (Tübingen: Mohr Siebeck, 1995), 75–76.

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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  • Useful reference

    Douglaspseus, April 8, 2025

  • Interesting!

    Svet Jonry, May 16, 2025

  • I found a few really interesting articles here

    Harold, July 1, 2025

  • Thanks a bunch!

    LarisaDrona, May 14, 2026

Tobit 12:16 and Revelation 1:17

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