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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 Tobit 13:4 and Matthew 23:9

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

Tobit represents a shift in Jewish tradition about God by calling him Father, showing a move toward parental images of care and authority. In Matthew, Jesus continues this pattern and reflects the growing use of Father as a name for God.

Passages

Tobit 13:4

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

Matthew 23:9

New Testament
6 They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues 7 and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.’ 8 But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,’ for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. 9 And call no one your ‘father’ on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. 10 Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,’ for you have one Teacher, the Christ. 11 The greatest among you will be your servant.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... Kasper states that ancient Israel believed God has “the attitude of a father.” Marsh similarly affirms that the usage of “Father” as a divine appellation in the Tanakh “is clearly a metaphor, an image employed to express some aspect or aspects of God’s relationship with God’s people.” Moreover, Jeremiah the prophet indicates that God’s paternity with respect to Israel is symbolic or metaphorical, when he speaks of YHWH “becoming” a Father to Israel (Jeremiah 31:9 NRSV). Therefore, it seems that the paternal title for deity is a well-established metaphor in ancient Judaism: the expression appears to form part of an avowed unfamiliar identity synthesis that communicates the notion of God electing or providentially guiding Israel, the historical seed of Abraham (2 Chronicles 20:7; Isaiah 41:8). Consequently, although the communal address “our Father” is “relatively late,” (according to Vermes) the metaphor of God as Father (ab) to the Israelite nation appears to have been a prominent leitmotif in the sacred documents of early Judaism (See Tobit 13:4; Antiquities 5.93) ..."
Edgar G. Foster, “Metaphor and Divine Paternity: The Concept of God's Fatherhood in the Divinae Institutiones of Lactantius (250–325 CE)” (PhD diss., University of Glasgow, 2008), 109–110.

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Tobit 13:4 and Matthew 23:9

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