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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 14:6 and Revelation 7:9

Deuterocanon · New Testament

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Summary

Tobit describes a time when exiles return, Jerusalem and the temple are restored, and the nations abandon idols to worship God. Revelation echoes this universal vision, describing a multitude from every nation gathered at the end of the age.

Passages

Tobit 14:6

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

Revelation 7:9

New Testament
4 Now I heard the number of those who were marked with the seal, 144,000, sealed from all the tribes of the people of Israel: 5 From the tribe of Judah, 12,000 were sealed, from the tribe of Reuben, 12,000, from the tribe of Gad, 12,000, 6 from the tribe of Asher, 12,000, from the tribe of Naphtali, 12,000, from the tribe of Manasseh, 12,000, 7 from the tribe of Simeon, 12,000, from the tribe of Levi, 12,000, from the tribe of Issachar, 12,000, 8 from the tribe of Zebulun, 12,000, from the tribe of Joseph, 12,000, from the tribe of Benjamin, 12,000 were sealed. 9 After these things I looked, and here was an enormous crowd that no one could count, made up of persons from every nation, tribe, people, and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb dressed in long white robes, and with palm branches in their hands. 10 They were shouting out in a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God, who is seated on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
92–96 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Revelation

References

"... Revelation takes up the most universalistic form of the hope of the Old Testament. It will not be Israel alone that will be God's people with whom he dwells. It will not even be the eschatological Israel, redeemed from every nation. Rather, as a result of the witness of the church called from every nation, all nations will be God's peoples. In his statement of this hope, John goes further even than Zechariah, who expects many nations to join the elect people, Israel, as proselytes, thus becoming 'my people'. In Revelation 21:3, all humanity becomes God's peoples. Other Old Testament texts could also have influenced this formulation (Isaiah 19:25; 25:6; 56:7; Amos 5:12; Psalm 47:8-9; compare Tobit 14:6-7). We should take this to mean, not just (some) human beings as opposed to angels or animals, but the human race. It has the universalistic sense which it commonly has in Revelation's usage ..."
Richard Bauckham, The Climax of Prophecy: Studies on the Book of Revelation (Edinburgh: T&T Clark, 1993), 311.

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 14:6 and Revelation 7:9

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