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Augustine echoes Tobit's praise of God's goodness at the close of Confessions 13 to credit his good deeds to God's gifts, making the end of his account a prayer for lasting rest with God.
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2500 BCE
1000+ CE
Tobit 13:10
Deuterocanon
7 As for me, I exalt my God, and my soul rejoices in the King of heaven. 8 Let all people speak of his majesty, and acknowledge him in Jerusalem. 9 O Jerusalem, the holy city, he afflicted you for the deeds of your hands, but will again have mercy on the children of the righteous. 10 Acknowledge the Lord, for he is good, and bless the King of the ages, so that his tent may be rebuilt in you in joy. May he cheer all those within you who are captives, and love all those within you who are distressed, to all generations forever.
Augustine, Confessions 13.38
Early Christian
We can see all those things which you have made because they are—but they are because you see them. And we see with our eyes that they are, and we see with our minds that they are good. But you saw them as made when you saw that they would be made. And now, in this present time, we have been moved to do well, now that our heart has been quickened by your Spirit; but in the former time, having forsaken you, we were moved to do evil. But you, O the one good God, have never ceased to do good! And we have accomplished certain good works by your good gifts, and even though they are not eternal, still we hope, after these things here, to find our rest in your great sanctification. But you are the Good, and need no rest, and are always at rest, because you yourself are your own rest. What man will teach men to understand this? And what angel will teach the angels? Or what angels will teach men? We must ask it of you; we must seek it in you; we must knock for it at your door. Only thus shall we receive; only thus shall we find; only thus shall your door be opened.
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Notes and References
“... Conybeare (2016:59) notes: ‘The entire prayer of Tobit 13 is
in fact of immense importance for the themes of the
Confessions’. O’Donnell (1992b:6–7) demonstrates that
Tobit 13 was important for the Confessiones not only
because of allusions to its content, but even its structure,
which O’Donnell clearly sets out. Tobit 12:7, after all, has
Raphael say that it is important to reveal and confess the
works of God, which is the major impetus of the
Confessiones. O’Donnell (1992b:6–7) notes several allusions
to Tobit 13 in Confessiones 1.1.1, 1.2.2, 1.16.26, 2.2.4, 2.3.6,
2.6.14, 2.9.18, 3.3.5, 4.15.24, 7.21.27, 8.5.12, 8.6.14, 10.2.2,
10.6.8, 12.16.23, 13.38.53 and so on. ...”
de Wet, Chris L.
The Book of Tobit in Early Christianity: Greek and Latin Interpretations from the 2nd to the 5th Century CE
(p. 9) HTS Teologiese Studies Vol. 76, No. 4, 2020
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
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