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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 Tobit 14:10 and Jude 1:13

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

Tobit 14 describes Nadab’s treachery ending in eternal darkness, contrasting it with Ahikar’s deliverance through his generosity. Jude uses the same image of eternal darkness for the fate of corrupt teachers, following Jewish tradition.

Passages

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

Jude 1:13

New Testament
11 Woe to them! For they have traveled down Cain’s path, and because of greed have abandoned themselves to Balaam’s error; hence, they will certainly perish in Korah’s rebellion. 12 These men are dangerous reefs at your love feasts, feasting without reverence, feeding only themselves. They are waterless clouds, carried along by the winds; autumn trees without fruit—twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild sea waves, spewing out the foam of their shame; wayward stars for whom the utter depths of eternal darkness have been reserved. 14 Now Enoch, the seventh in descent beginning with Adam, even prophesied of them, saying, “Look! The Lord is coming with thousands and thousands of his holy ones, 15 to execute judgment on all, and to convict every person of all their thoroughly ungodly deeds that they have committed, and of all the harsh words that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”
60–80 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Jude

References

"... The third illustration shifts to the bad effects these false teachers have rather than the good effects they do not have. They are like a wave that brings seaweed and garbage up on the shore (Isaiah 57:20). The metaphor breaks down with aischynas: they are foaming with shameful deeds, the overflow of their evil character. They are also like wandering stars (1 Enoch 18:13-16; 21:1-6: 88:1-3) which is a likely reference to planets that appear to wander from their course or to comets or meteors that manifest an apparently erratic course. 'Wandering stars' may be an allusion to fallen angels, who are closely associated with the stars in Jewish tradition. In any case, God has reserved for them the gloom of eternal darkness, in contrast to the earlier eternal fire (Tobit 14:10; 1 Enoch 63:6). Clearly the author intends this as a metaphorical description of life without God forever, not a literal description of what hell is like (it cannot be both utterly dark and utterly light forever). The teachers are thus accused of disorderly, useless and harmful conduct, of acting like irrational and amoral animals. 1 Enoch 80:6 describes all of nature becoming disorderly and lawless just before the eschatological end of things. And the fate of such star beings is utter and outer darkness (1 Enoch 18, 20). The rhetorical intent and effect of this colorful language was to create a negative emotional response, to create pathos, this case appealing to one's sense of fear and horror at betrayal and shameful behavior. The six metaphors of verses 12-13 provide a powerful series of mental images and associations which seriously diminish the ethos of the sectarians especially with regard to their leadership and teaching roles ..."
Ben Witherington, Letters and Homilies for Jewish Christians: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary on Hebrews, James and Jude (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2010), 622.

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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Tobit 14:10 and Jude 1:13

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