Tobit

This is the book of the words of Tobit, son of Tobiel, who was the son of Ananiel, who was the son of Aduel, who was the son of Gabael. He came from the family line of Asael, of the tribe of Nephthali.

1The book of the words of Tobit, son of Tobiel, the son of Ananiel, the son of Aduel, the son of Gabael, of the seed of Asael, of the tribe of Nephthali;

NoteThe names here are the Greek forms used by the book's translators, so they look unfamiliar beside their Hebrew equivalents elsewhere: Nephthali is Naphtali, one of the twelve tribes of Israel, whose territory lay in the far north of the country around Galilee. "Of the seed of Asael" simply means descended from Asael. Verses 1 and 2 speak of Tobit in the third person, like a title page, and from verse 3 onward Tobit speaks in his own voice.

2In the days of Enemessar, king of the Assyrians, Tobit was taken away as a prisoner from Thisbe. Thisbe lies to the right of the city that is properly called Nephthali, in Galilee, above Aser.

2Who in the time of Enemessar king of the Assyrians was led captive out of Thisbe, which is at the right hand of that city, which is called properly Nephthali in Galilee above Aser.

NoteEnemessar is the Greek form of Shalmaneser, an Assyrian king. Assyria was the dominant empire of the region in the eighth century BC, and its policy was to break conquered peoples by deporting them far from home and resettling them among strangers. The northern tribes of Israel, Naphtali among them, were carried off this way. "At the right hand of" means to the south of: a speaker facing the sunrise has east ahead, north to the left and south to the right. Aser is Asher, the neighboring tribal territory.

3I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and justice all the days of my life. I did many kind deeds for the poor among my own people and my nation, who came with me to Nineve, in the land of the Assyrians.

3I Tobit have walked all the days of my life in the ways of truth and justice, and I did many almsdeeds to my brethren, and my nation, who came with me to Nineve, into the land of the Assyrians.

Note"Almsdeeds" are gifts of money, food or clothing to the poor. Giving alms is a running theme of this book. "My brethren" does not mean Tobit's own siblings but his fellow Israelites. Nineve is Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, on the Tigris in what is now northern Iraq.

4When I was still young and living in my own country, the land of Israel, the whole tribe of Nephthali, my forefather, fell away from the house in Jerusalem. That house had been chosen out of all the tribes of Israel as the place where all the tribes were to offer their sacrifices. There the temple, the dwelling place of the Most High, was set apart and built to last for all ages.

4And when I was in mine own country, in the land of Israel being but young, all the tribe of Nephthali my father fell from the house of Jerusalem, which was chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, that all the tribes should sacrifice there, where the temple of the habitation of the most High was consecrated and built for all ages.

Note"The house of Jerusalem" means the temple there, and "fell from" means broke away from. After Solomon's death the ten northern tribes separated from the kingdom ruled from Jerusalem and set up their own sanctuaries, so that they no longer brought their sacrifices to the Jerusalem temple as the law required. Tobit is saying his whole tribe went with them and he alone did not.

5All the tribes that turned away together offered sacrifices to the heifer Baal, and so did the house of Nephthali my forefather.

5Now all the tribes which together revolted, and the house of my father Nephthali, sacrificed unto the heifer Baal.

NoteThe northern kingdom set up golden calf images at its own sanctuaries as the focus of worship, and Baal was the chief god of the Canaanites, a storm and fertility god. The phrase "the heifer Baal" rolls the two together into one charge of false worship. A heifer is a young cow.

6But I alone went often to Jerusalem for the feasts, as a law that lasts forever had commanded all the people of Israel to do. I brought the first part of my crops, a tenth of everything I produced, and the first wool cut from my sheep. I gave these at the altar to the priests, the sons of Aaron.

6But I alone went often to Jerusalem at the feasts, as it was ordained unto all the people of Israel by an everlasting decree, having the firstfruits and tenths of increase, with that which was first shorn; and them gave I at the altar to the priests the children of Aaron.

NoteThe feasts are the three annual pilgrimage festivals at which Israelite men were expected to appear at the temple in Jerusalem. The "firstfruits" are the earliest part of a harvest, owed to God before the rest could be used; the "tenths of increase" are the tithe, a tenth of everything the land and flocks produced; and "that which was first shorn" is the first wool cut from the sheep, owed on the same principle. The "children of Aaron" are the hereditary priesthood, traced from Moses' brother Aaron, the only men permitted to handle offerings at the altar.

7The first tenth of everything I produced I gave to the sons of Aaron, who served in Jerusalem. A second tenth I sold, and I took the money and spent it in Jerusalem every year.

7The first tenth part of all increase I gave to the sons of Aaron, who ministered at Jerusalem: another tenth part I sold away, and went, and spent it every year at Jerusalem:

NoteIsraelite law provided for more than one tithe. The first went to the temple staff for their support. The second was to be consumed by the household itself in Jerusalem during the festivals, and because a year's produce was too bulky to carry that far, the law allowed it to be sold at home and the money spent on food and drink in the city. Note that the King James says this first tenth went to "the sons of Aaron" while the Greek says the sons of Levi, the wider temple tribe from which the priests were only one family.

8The third tenth I gave to those to whom it was right to give it, just as Debora, my father's mother, had told me to do, because my father had died and left me an orphan.

8And the third I gave unto them to whom it was meet, as Debora my father’s mother had commanded me, because I was left an orphan by my father.

NoteThe third tithe, collected every third year, was left for those with no land of their own to live from: widows, orphans, resident foreigners and the Levites. "Unto them to whom it was meet" means to those to whom it was due; "meet" in 1611 English means fitting or proper, not encountered. Debora is Deborah, Tobit's grandmother, who raised him after his father died.

9Later, when I reached the age of a grown man, I married Anna, a woman from my own family, and she bore me a son, Tobias.

9Furthermore, when I was come to the age of a man, I married Anna of mine own kindred, and of her I begat Tobias.

Note"Of mine own kindred" matters: marrying within the extended family or tribe is treated throughout this book as a duty, a way for an exiled people to keep its identity from dissolving. The same concern drives the plot later. "Begat" is the old word for fathered.

10When we were carried off as prisoners to Nineve, all my own people and my relatives ate the food of the Gentiles.

10And when we were carried away captives to Nineve, all my brethren and those that were of my kindred did eat of the bread of the Gentiles.

Note"The bread of the Gentiles" means food belonging to non-Jews. Israelite law restricted which animals could be eaten and how they had to be slaughtered and prepared, and food from a Gentile table met none of those conditions. Refusing it was costly and conspicuous, which is Tobit's point. Gentiles simply means people who are not Jews.

11But I kept myself from eating it,

11But I kept myself from eating;

12because I remembered God with all my heart.

12Because I remembered God with all my heart.

13And the Most High made Enemessar look on me with kindness and favor, so that I became the man who bought supplies for him.

13And the most High gave me grace and favour before Enemessar, so that I was his purveyor.

Note"Gave me grace and favour before Enemessar" is a Hebrew way of saying that the king came to think well of him. A "purveyor" is a buying agent, the officer who procured supplies for the royal household, a position of trust involving royal money.

14I traveled into Media, and there I left ten talents of silver in the safekeeping of Gabael, the brother of Gabrias, at Rages, a city of Media.

14And I went into Media, and left in trust with Gabael, the brother of Gabrias, at Rages a city of Media ten talents of silver.

NoteA talent was a unit of weight, roughly seventy five pounds, so ten talents of silver is an enormous sum, a fortune rather than savings. Leaving it "in trust" means depositing it with a trusted man for safekeeping, there being no banks; the arrangement was sealed by a written bond, which becomes important later. Media was the region east of Assyria, in what is now northwestern Iran, and Rages lay near modern Tehran, a journey of many hundreds of miles.

15When Enemessar died, his son Sennacherib became king in his place. In his time the roads were unsafe, so that I could no longer travel into Media.

15Now when Enemessar was dead, Sennacherib his son reigned in his stead; whose estate was troubled, that I could not go into Media.

Note"Whose estate was troubled" does not refer to Sennacherib's property. "Estate" in 1611 English means condition or state of affairs, and the Greek says the roads themselves became unsafe, so that travel east to collect the deposit was impossible. In actual Assyrian records Sennacherib was the son of Sargon II rather than of Shalmaneser; the book's royal succession does not line up exactly with the king lists.

16In the days of Enemessar I gave much to the poor among my own people. I gave my bread to the hungry,

16And in the time of Enemessar I gave many alms to my brethren, and gave my bread to the hungry,

17and my clothes to those who had none. If I saw any of my nation lying dead, thrown out along the wall of Nineve, I buried him.

17And my clothes to the naked: and if I saw any of my nation dead, or cast about the walls of Nineve, I buried him.

NoteLeaving a corpse exposed was a deliberate insult in this world, and denying burial to the executed was a standard way for a ruler to extend a punishment past death. Burying such a body was therefore both an act of piety toward the dead and an open defiance of the king, which is why it costs Tobit everything in the verses that follow.

18If King Sennacherib killed anyone after he came back in flight from Judea, I buried them secretly, for in his anger he killed many. The king had the bodies searched for, but they were not found.

18And if the king Sennacherib had slain any, when he was come, and fled from Judea, I buried them privily; for in his wrath he killed many; but the bodies were not found, when they were sought for of the king.

Note"Privily" means secretly. Sennacherib invaded Judea and besieged Jerusalem, then withdrew without taking the city; the text pictures him returning humiliated and killing Judeans in Nineveh out of rage at that failure.

19Then one of the people of Nineve went and told the king about me, that I was the one burying them, and I hid myself. When I understood that I was being hunted down to be put to death, I was afraid and slipped away.

19And when one of the Ninevites went and complained of me to the king, that I buried them, and hid myself; understanding that I was sought for to be put to death, I withdrew myself for fear.

20Then everything I owned was taken from me by force. Nothing at all was left to me except my wife Anna and my son Tobias.

20Then all my goods were forcibly taken away, neither was there any thing left me, beside my wife Anna and my son Tobias.

21Not more than fifty-five days passed before two of Sennacherib's sons killed him, and they fled into the mountains of Ararath. His son Sarchedonus became king in his place, and he put Achiacharus, the son of my brother Anael, in charge of his father's accounts and of all his affairs.

21And there passed not five and fifty days, before two of his sons killed him, and they fled into the mountains of Ararath; and Sarchedonus his son reigned in his stead; who appointed over his father’s accounts, and over all his affairs, Achiacharus my brother Anael’s son.

NoteArarath is Ararat, the mountainous country north of Assyria, roughly modern Armenia, far enough to be beyond the new king's reach. Sarchedonus is the Greek form of Esarhaddon, who did in fact succeed Sennacherib after his murder by his own sons.

22Achiacharus pleaded on my behalf, and I returned to Nineve. Achiacharus was the king's cupbearer, the keeper of his seal ring, his household manager, and the overseer of the accounts. Sarchedonus made him second only to himself. And he was my brother's son.

22And Achiacharus intreating for me, I returned to Nineve. Now Achiacharus was cupbearer, and keeper of the signet, and steward, and overseer of the accounts: and Sarchedonus appointed him next unto him: and he was my brother’s son.

NoteThese are the top offices of a royal court. The cupbearer served the king's wine and, because he could be poisoned in the king's place, had to be utterly trusted. The "signet" is the seal ring used to stamp documents in the king's name, so its keeper controlled what counted as a royal order. The steward ran the household and the overseer of accounts controlled the treasury. Achiacharus is Ahikar, a famous wise counselor known from a widely circulated Near Eastern story of his own; readers of this book would have recognized the name.