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Tobit

About this book

Tobit's Song of Praise

Chapter 13

1 And he said Blessed is God that lives for ever, and his kingdom,⁠ For he chastises, and shows mercy.⁠ 2 He leads down to Hades below the earth,⁠ And he brings up from the great destruction; And there is nothing that shall escape his hand.⁠ 3 Give thanks to him before the Gentiles, you children of Israel, For he has scattered you among them, 4 And there he has shown you his greatness; And extol him before all the living. Because he is our Lord, and he our God, and he our Father, Yes, he is God to all the ages:⁠ 5 He will chastise you for your iniquities,⁠ And will show mercy to you all.⁠ 6 When you turn to him out of all the nations Wherever you shall be scattered, With your whole heart and with your whole soul, to do truth before him, Then he will turn to you, and will no longer hide his face from you.⁠ And now see what he has done with you, And give him thanks with your whole mouth,⁠ And bless the Lord of righteousness, And exalt the everlasting King. I, in the land of my captivity, give him thanks, And show his strength and majesty to nations of sinners.)⁠ Turn, you sinners, and do righteousness before him.⁠ Who can tell if he will accept you and have mercy on you? 7 I exalt my God, and my soul shall rejoice in the King of heaven; 8 Of his greatness let all men tell, And let them give him thanks in Jerusalem. 9 O Jerusalem, you holy city! he will chastise you for the works of your hands, And will again have mercy on the sons of the righteous. 10 Give thanks to the Lord with goodness, and bless the everlasting King, That your tabernacle may be built in you again with joy, And that he may make glad in you all that are captives, And love in you all that are miserable and all the generations of eternity. 11 A bright light shall shine to all the ends of the earth; Many nations shall come from afar, And the inhabitants of the utmost ends of the earth to your holy name; With their gifts also in their hands to the King of heaven,⁠ Generations of generations shall utter rejoicing in you, And your name that is elect to the generations of eternity. 12 Cursed shall be all they that shall speak a hard word; Cursed shall be all they that demolish you, And throw down your walls; And all they that overthrow your towers, And set on fire your habitations; But blessed shall be all they that fear you for ever.⁠ 13 Then go and be exceeding glad for the sons of the righteous: For they all shall be gathered together,⁠ And bless the everlasting Lord. 14 Blessed shall they be that love you;⁠ And blessed shall they be That shall rejoice for your peace: And blessed shall be all the men That shall sorrow for you For all your chastisements: Because they shall rejoice in you And shall see all your joy for ever. 15 My soul does bless the Lord the great King; 16 For Jerusalem shall be built again as his house to all the ages. Happy shall I be if the remnant of my seed come to see your glory And give thanks to the King of heaven. And the gates of Jerusalem shall be built with sapphire and emerald, And all your walls with precious stone. The towers of Jerusalem shall be built with gold, And their battlements with pure gold. The streets of Jerusalem shall be paved With carbuncle and stones of Ophir.⁠ 17 And the gates of Jerusalem shall utter hymns of gladness And all her houses shall say, Halleluiah. Blessed is the God of Israel. And the blessed shall bless the name That is holy for ever and ever.

Texts in conversation

Compare Isaiah 2:2 and Tobit 13:11

Hebrew Bible · Deuterocanon

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Summary

Isaiah describes a future where all the nations come to Jerusalem, where the Torah will go out from Jerusalem and bring peace. Tobit echoes this image but shifts the language from “all nations” to “many nations,” perhaps softening Isaiah's universalism.

Passages

Isaiah 2:2

Hebrew Bible
1 Here is the message about Judah and Jerusalem that was revealed to Isaiah son of Amoz. 2 In future days the mountain of the Lord’s temple will endure as the most important of mountains and will be the most prominent of hills. All the nations will stream to it; 3 many peoples will come and say, “Come, let us go up to the Lord’s mountain, to the temple of the God of Jacob, so he can teach us his requirements, and we can follow his standards.” For Zion will be the center for moral instruction; the Lord’s message will issue from Jerusalem. 4 He will judge disputes between nations; he will settle cases for many peoples. They will beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks. Nations will not take up the sword against other nations, and they will no longer train for war.
740–450 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Isaiah

Tobit 13:11

Deuterocanon
9 O Jerusalem, you holy city! he will chastise you for the works of your hands, And will again have mercy on the sons of the righteous. 10 Give thanks to the Lord with goodness, and bless the everlasting King, That your tabernacle may be built in you again with joy, And that he may make glad in you all that are captives, And love in you all that are miserable and all the generations of eternity. 11 A bright light shall shine to all the ends of the earth; Many nations shall come from afar, And the inhabitants of the utmost ends of the earth to your holy name; With their gifts also in their hands to the King of heaven, Generations of generations shall utter rejoicing in you, And your name that is elect to the generations of eternity. 12 Cursed shall be all they that shall speak a hard word; Cursed shall be all they that demolish you, And throw down your walls; And all they that overthrow your towers, And set on fire your habitations; But blessed shall be all they that fear you for ever. 13 Then go and be exceeding glad for the sons of the righteous: For they all shall be gathered together, And bless the everlasting Lord.
225–175 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Tobit

References

"... When Solomon's Temple was destroyed in 586 B.C.E., so presumably was the Tabernacle. The restoration of the Temple, like the restoration of Tobit's sight, is central to the narrator's concern and not a pious afterthought ... love [agapesai] ... those ... distressed. The word for God's love for his people is the same one as used for Tobiah's love of Sarah (agapao in 6:18); whereas Asmodeus' love for Sarah was characterized by phileo. But too much can be read into the differences between agapao and phileo, for in the Hebrew Bible the verb 'hb serves for all kinds, levels, and depths of 'love.' A bright light. Compare Isaiah 9:1. Even as the restoration of Tobit's sight marked a new beginning for him, so Jerusalem as a 'bright light' symbolizes the dawning of a new day for Israel. Many nations will come to you. 'Many" (as in Isaiah 2:3) rather than "all" as in Isaiah 2:2. Compare also Isaiah 60:5; Micah 4:2; Zechariah 8:22; Psalm 86:9; 96:7-8. Although Tobit may have confined most of his time and charity to his fellow Israelites, here Tobit's (or better, the author's) compassion and broad-mindedness are clearly evident ..."
Carey A. Moore, Tobit: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (New York: Doubleday, 1996), 280–281.

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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Isaiah 2:2 and Tobit 13:11

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