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Tobit

About this book

Sarah Is Delivered from the Demon

Chapter 8

1 And when they had finished eating and drinking, they desired to sleep, and they led the young man away and brought him into the chamber. 2 And Tobias remembered the words of Raphael, and took the liver of the fish and the heart - out of the bag which he had, and put them on the ashes of the incense. 3 And the smell of the fish baffled the demon, and he ran away into the upper parts of Egypt; and Raphael went and fettered him there and bound him at once.⁠ 4 And they went forth and shut the door of the chamber. And Tobias rose up from the bed, and said to her, Sister, arise; let us pray and make supplication to our Lord that he may work mercy and deliverance for us. 5 And she arose, and they began to pray and make supplication that deliverance might be brought about for them, and he began to say, Blessed are you, God of our fathers, and blessed is your name for ever and ever; let the heavens bless you, and all your creation to all the ages. 6 You made Adam, and made Eve his wife for a helper and a stay for him: of them both came the seed of men:⁠ and you did say, It is not good that the man should be alone; let us make him a helper like to him. 7 And now I do not take this my sister for lust, but in truth: command that I and she may find mercy and grow old together. 8 And they said together, Amen. 9 And they slept the night. And Raguel arose and called his servants with him and they went and dug a grave, 10 for he said, Lest he perish, and we become a derision and a reproach. 11 And when they had finished digging the grave Raguel came into the house, and called his wife, 12 and said, Send one of the maidservants and let her go in and see if he be alive: and if he is dead that we may bury him, that no man know it. 13 And they sent the maidservant and lighted the lamp and opened the door, and she went in and found them sleeping and slumbering together. 14 And the maidservant came forth, and told them that he was alive and that there was nothing amiss. 15 And he blessed the God of heaven and said, Blessed are you, O God, with all pure blessing; let them bless you for ever. 16 And blessed are you, because you have made me glad: and it has not befallen as I supposed, but you have dealt with us according to your great mercy. 17 And blessed are you, because you have had mercy on two that are the only begotten children of their parents: show them mercy and deliverance, O Lord; and fulfil you their life with gladness and mercy. 18 Then he told his servants to fill the grave before the morning came. 19 And he told his wife to make many loaves. And he went to the herd, and fetched two oxen and four rams, and ordered them prepared; and they began to make ready. 20 And he called Tobias and said to him, For fourteen days you shall not stir hence, but shall stay here eating and drinking at my house, and shall gladden my daughter's sorely afflicted soul. 21 And all that is mine take half of it, and go in safety to your father; and the other half, when I and my wife die, is yours. Be of good cheer, child! I am your father, and Edna is your mother; and yours now are we and your sister's; from henceforth we are for ever. Be of good cheer, child!

Texts in conversation

Raphael Binds Demons in 1 Enoch and Tobit

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses · Deuterocanon

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Summary

In 1 Enoch, the angel Raphael ties Azazel's hands and feet and throws him into darkness. In Tobit, Raphael similarly binds Asmodeus so he cannot harm Tobias and Sarah. Both follow Jewish apocalyptic traditions about judging rebellious divine beings.

Passages

1 Enoch 10:4

Pseudepigrapha, Apocalypses
2 'Go to Noah and tell him in my name to hide himself and reveal to him that the end is near: the entire earth will be destroyed, a deluge is about to cover the whole earth and will wipe out everything on it. 3 And now instruct him so that he may escape and his descendants may be preserved for all future generations.' 4 And the Lord also said to Raphael: 'Bind Azâzêl hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: make a hole in the desert in Dûdâêl, and throw him in. 5 Place upon him rough and jagged rocks, cover him with darkness, and let him remain there forever, and cover his face so he may not see light.
300 BCE – 100 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in 1 Enoch

Tobit 8:3

Deuterocanon
1 And when they had finished eating and drinking, they desired to sleep, and they led the young man away and brought him into the chamber. 2 And Tobias remembered the words of Raphael, and took the liver of the fish and the heart - out of the bag which he had, and put them on the ashes of the incense. 3 And the smell of the fish baffled the demon, and he ran away into the upper parts of Egypt; and Raphael went and fettered him there and bound him at once. 4 And they went forth and shut the door of the chamber. And Tobias rose up from the bed, and said to her, Sister, arise; let us pray and make supplication to our Lord that he may work mercy and deliverance for us.
225–175 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Tobit

References

"... Binding a demon renders him powerless. This seems to be a technical term for binding demons. See Montgomery (1913: 52). Compare 1 Enoch 10.4 where God tells Raphael to “bind Azazel by his hands and feet and throw him into the darkness; and split open the desert that is in Dudael and throw him there.” Since the incense was usually used to summon a god, perhaps the original folk tale had the incense and liver used to attack Asmodeus who was bound and taken away by Raphael, and then there has been subsequent confusion in the account ..."
Robert J. Littman, Tobit: The Book of Tobit in Codex Sinaiticus (Leiden: Brill, 2008), 149.

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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1 Enoch 10:4 and Tobit 8:3

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