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Tobit

About this book
Chapter 14

1 And the words of Tobit’s thanksgiving were ended, 2 and he died in peace being a hundred and twelve years old, and was buried magnificently in Nineveh. And he was sixty-two years old when he became maimed in his eyes; and after he recovered his sight he lived in prosperity and gave alms, and he still continued to bless God, and to give thanks for the greatness of God.⁠

Tobit's Farewell and the End of the Story

3 And when he was dying he called Tobias his son, and charged him, saying, Child take your children; 4 and go into Media, for I believe the word of God upon Nineveh, which Nahum spoke, that all those things will be, and will befall Assyria and Nineveh. And all the things which the prophets of Israel spoke, whom God sent, shall befall; and nothing shall be diminished of all the words; and all things shall come to pass in their seasons. And in Media shall be deliverance more than among the Assyrians and in Babylon; therefore I know and believe that all the things which God has spoken will be accomplished and will be, and there will not fall to the ground a word of the prophecies. And as for our kindred which dwell in the land of Israel, against all of them will God devise evils, and they will be carried captive from the good land, and all the land of Israel will be desolate, and Samaria and Jerusalem will be desolate, and the house of God will be in grief and be burned up for a time;⁠ 5 and God will again have mercy en them, and God will bring them back into the land of Israel, and they will again build the house, but not like the first, until the time when the time of the seasons be fulfilled; and afterward they will return, all of them, from their captivity, and build up Jerusalem with honour, and the house of God shall be built in her, even as the prophets of Israel spoke concerning her. 6 And all the nations which are in the whole earth, all shall turn and fear God truly, and all shall leave their idols,⁠ who err after their false error.⁠ 7 And they shall bless the everlasting God in righteousness. All the children of Israel that are delivered in those days, remembering God in truth, shall be gathered together and come to Jerusalem and shall dwell for ever in the land of Abraham with security, and it shall be given over to them; and they that love God in truth shall rejoice,⁠ and they that do sin and unrighteousness shall cease from all the earth. 8 And now, children, I charge you, serve God in truth and do what is pleasing in his sight; and upon your children it shall be enjoined to do alms, and that they be mindful of God and bless his name at every season in truth and with all their strength.⁠ 9 And now, child, depart from Nineveh, and do not abide here. 10 On whatever day you bury your mother with me, on that same day do not abide in its borders; for I see that there is much unrighteousness in it, and much guile is practised in it, and they are not ashamed. See, child, what things Nadab did to Ahikar that brought him up! Was he not brought down alive into the earth? and God you recompensed the shame upon his face, and Ahikar came forth into the light, and Nadab went into the eternal darkness,⁠ because he had sought to slay Ahikar.⁠ Because I did alms, he came forth from the snare of death which Nadab had set for him, and Nadab fell into the snare of death, and it destroyed him. 11 And now, children, consider what alms-giving does, and what unrighteousness does, that it slays. And behold my soul faints. And they laid him upon his bed and he died; and he was buried magnificently. 12 And when his mother died, Tobias buried her with his father, and he and his wife departed to Media and dwelt in Ecbatana with Raguel his father-in-law. 13 And he sustained their old age in honour and buried them in Ecbatana of Media, and he inherited the house of Raguel and of Tobit his father. 14 And he died, being a hundred and seventeen years old, full of renown. 15 And before he died he saw and heard of the destruction of Nineveh, and saw her captivity led into Media which Cyaxares the king of Media took captive. And he blessed God for all he did to the children of Nineveh and Assyria; and before his death he rejoiced over Nineveh, and blessed the Lord God for ever and ever. Amen.

Texts in conversation

Compare 1 Enoch 63:6 and Tobit 14:10

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Deuterocanon

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Summary

Tobit 14 describes Nadab’s betrayal ending in eternal darkness, and 1 Enoch 63 similarly depicts the condemned placed in darkness in judgment. Both use total darkness to express eschatological death and shame.

Passages

1 Enoch 63:6

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
4 We now understand that we should praise and bless the Lord of kings and Him who is king over all kings.' 5 They will say: 'If only we had the chance to praise and give thanks and confess our faith before His glory! 6 And now we long for a moment of rest but do not find it: we strive to achieve it but fail; and light has vanished from before us, and darkness is our dwelling place forever and ever. 7 For we did not believe before Him nor did we glorify the name of the Lord of Spirits, but our hope was in the scepter of our kingdom, and in our own glory. 8 And on the day of our suffering and tribulation, He does not save us, and we find no time to confess that our Lord is true in all His works, and in His judgments and His justice, and His judgments show no favoritism.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Tobit 14:10

Deuterocanon
10 On whatever day you bury your mother with me, on that same day do not abide in its borders; for I see that there is much unrighteousness in it, and much guile is practised in it, and they are not ashamed. See, child, what things Nadab did to Ahikar that brought him up! Was he not brought down alive into the earth? and God you recompensed the shame upon his face, and Ahikar came forth into the light, and Nadab went into the eternal darkness, because he had sought to slay Ahikar. Because I did alms, he came forth from the snare of death which Nadab had set for him, and Nadab fell into the snare of death, and it destroyed him. 11 And now, children, consider what alms-giving does, and what unrighteousness does, that it slays. And behold my soul faints. And they laid him upon his bed and he died; and he was buried magnificently.
225–175 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Tobit

References

"... The planets (“wanderers”) and other astral bodies that do not keep their proper place cannot be used reliably for navigation like the “fixed stars.” Jude allusively suggests that following the intruders’ example and teaching will similarly lead the congregation astray. Jude specifically connects these “wandering stars” with the story of the Watchers in 1 Enoch by speaking of their fate as being held in “the dark gloom of the netherworld ... forever” (Jude 13). In 1 Enoch, the rebellious angels are also spoken of as fallen stars (1 Enoch 18:14; 21:3, 6) that are bound and suffer fiery torments (1 Enoch 18:3-6; 21:3-6). The place of torment is frequently described as a place of darkness (see Psalm 88:12; Tobit 4:10; 14:10; Psalms of Solomon 14:9; 15:10; Matthew 8:12; 25:30; 1 Enoch 63:6) while at the same time being a place where transgressors are punished by burning ..."
David A. DeSilva, The Jewish Teachers of Jesus, James, and Jude: What Earliest Christianity Learned from the Apocrypha and Pseudepigrapha (New York: Oxford University Press, 2012), 109.

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1 Enoch 63:6 and Tobit 14:10

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