Chapter Fourteen

Tobit’s Deathbed Testament

1–4. In view of the destruction of Nineveh that Tobit foresees, he persuades Tobias to move from Nineveh to Media for safety. 5–8. Prophecy of the restoration of the temple and the conversion of the gentiles to the religion of Jehovah. 9–11. Exhortation to justice and mercy and Tobit’s testament concerning his burial. 12–15. The death of Tobit and his wife, the removal of Tobias to his father-in-law Raguel; the death of both.

Tobit 14:1. And Tobit completed the prayer. Tobit 14:2. He was eighty-eight years old when he lost his sight, and after eight years he recovered it. And he continued to practice almsgiving and remained reverent before the Lord God and praised Him. Tobit 14:3. Finally, having grown very old, he called his son and his six grandsons and said to him: My son, take your sons; behold, I am old and at the end of my life. Tobit 14:4. Go to Media, my son, for I am sure that Nineveh will be destroyed, as the prophet Jonah spoke; and in Media it will be more peaceful for a time. Our brothers in the land of our fathers will be scattered from that good land; Jerusalem will become a waste, and the house of God in it will be burned and will be empty for a time. 2–4. In the determination of the number of years of Tobit’s life, there are great differences between different texts of the book of Tobit; the same must be said of other chronological dates of the book of Tobit according to various texts. So, according to the accepted Greek text (verse 2), Tobit lost his sight at fifty-eight years of age, but according to the Alexandrian manuscript (and Slavonic translation)—at eighty-eight years of age, and recovered it after eight years; the total number of years of Tobit’s life in the accepted text is determined (see verse 11) as 158 years (according to manuscripts 44, 55, 106 of Holmes—150 years). On the contrary, according to the Sinaiticus manuscript of the LXX and the Vet. Lat.—112 years, and according to the Vulgate and Syriac text—102 years, while in the determination of particular epochs of Tobit’s life in these texts there are in turn great differences (for example, according to the Vulgate verses 1–3, Tobit went blind at fifty-six years of age, recovered at sixty years of age, lived after that for forty-two years, died at one hundred two years, etc.). These differences, arising from erroneous readings or omissions of some letters serving as numerals, and deliberate changes on the part of translators and editors in order to harmonize individual chronological data with one another (see in Prof. Drozdov, p. 148–149). Consequently, the use of the book of Tobit for the purpose of establishing the date of contemporary historical events, for example, the destruction of Nineveh (verse 4), is extremely difficult (cf. in M. Simashkevich (now Bishop Mitrofan). The Prophecy of Nahum about Nineveh. Exegetical Research with an Outline of the History of the Assyrian State and a Historical-Critical Solution of the Question of the Origin of the Book of the Prophet Nahum. St. Petersburg, 1875, p. 338–339). The prophecy concerning the coming destruction of Nineveh (verse 4) in the accepted Greek text is attributed to the prophet Jonah. But since the prophecy of Jonah concerning the destruction of Nineveh (Jonah 3:4) due to the repentance of its inhabitants (ibid., verses 5–10) was not fulfilled in the time of the prophet Jonah, and there is no reason to recognize the fulfillment of this prophecy as not canceled, but only postponed for a certain time, one should recognize the reading of the Sinaiticus manuscript as more correct, according to which this prophecy is attributed to the prophet Nahum, the prophetic book of which is indeed chiefly devoted to the prediction of the destruction of Nineveh and all Assyria (see, for example, Nah 3:7; Zeph 2:13-15). In the Vulgate, the name of the prophet is not given, but a general reference is made to the inevitability, immutability (of the prophetic) word of God: non enim excidit verbum Domini.

Tobit 14:5. But God will again have mercy on them and will bring them back to the land; and they will rebuild the house of God, not like the former one, until the times of the age are fulfilled. And afterward they will return from captivity and rebuild Jerusalem gloriously, and the house of God will be restored in it for all generations forever—a magnificent building, as the prophets spoke. Tobit 14:6. And all peoples will turn and will truly fear the Lord God and destroy their idols; Tobit 14:7. And all peoples will bless the Lord. And His people will praise God, and the Lord will exalt His people; and all those who truly and righteously love the Lord God will rejoice, showing mercy to our brothers. 4–7. Likewise, his faith in the coming temporal desolation of Jerusalem and in its subsequent restoration, as well as his faith in the conversion of the nations to Jehovah (cf. 13:9–18), Tobit bases on the utterances of the prophets concerning this subject (see, for example, Isa 3:8 chapter: Zeph 2:11; Zech 8:8).

Tobit 14:8. Therefore, my son, go out from Nineveh, for surely all will come to pass that the prophet Jonah spoke. 8. Cf. verse 4.

Tobit 14:9. But you keep the law and the commandments and be merciful and just, so that it may go well with you. Tobit 14:10. Bury me properly, and your mother with me, and then do not remain in Nineveh. My son, see what Anam did to Ahikar, who raised him: how he brought him from light into darkness, and how he repaid him. Ahikar was saved, but the other received his due reward—he descended into darkness. Manasseh practiced almsgiving and was saved from the death trap that was set for him; but Anam fell into the trap and perished. Tobit 14:11. So, children, know what almsgiving does and how justice saves. When he said this, his soul departed from him on his bed; he was one hundred fifty-eight years old, and his son buried him with honor. 9–11. Tobit’s deathbed admonitions to his son, contained here, briefly repeat the admonitions given to Tobias before his departure to Rages in Media (chapter 4) regarding almsgiving verses 9 and 11, cf. 4:7–11; 16–17; regarding Tobit’s burial together with his wife verse 10, cf. 4:3–4. The commandment concerning mercy and almsgiving is illustrated in verse 10 by a reference to a certain episode with the well-known Ahikar (1:22; 2:10; 11:17). The meaning of this episode is clear: the mercy of Ahikar saved him from destruction by a certain ungrateful and treacherous pupil of his, who in the Sinaiticus manuscript of the LXX and in Vet. Lat. is called Nadab, which is evidently identical with the name Nasbas, the nephew of Ahikar—in 11:17. But in the accepted Greek text of this episode it is obscured and complicated, first, by the fact that instead of Nadab, a certain Anam (or Adam) is named—probably due to confusion of this episode with the history of Mordecai and Haman in the book of Esther; second, moreover, a new case of the salvation of Manasseh—a person unknown (some old interpreters arbitrarily saw in him the husband of Judith, see Jdt 8:2)—from the snares of Anam is cited.

Tobit 14:12. When Anna died, he buried her also with his father. After this, Tobias with his wife and his children departed to Ecbatana to Raguel, his father-in-law, Tobit 14:13. And reached an honored old age, and buried his father-in-law and mother-in-law properly, and inherited their estate and that of Tobit, his father. Tobit 14:14. And he died at one hundred twenty-seven years in Ecbatana of Media. 11–14. Tobias exactly fulfilled his father’s testament: he moved to Ecbatana not before the death of his mother Anna, whom, according to his father’s testament (verse 10, cf. 4:3–4), he buried together with Tobit. The years of Tobias’ life (verse 14) are shown differently in different texts of the book of Tobit: in the accepted Greek text—127 years, according to other manuscripts—107 years; in the Sinaiticus manuscript and in Vet. Lat.—117 years, in the Vulgate—99 years. In the Vulgate, it is added about Tobias that he saw the fifth generation of his sons’ sons, and that all his relatives and descendants were distinguished by piety (Viditque quintam generationem filios filiorum suorum… Omnis autem cognatio ejus el omnis generatio ejus in bona vita, et in sancta conversatione permansit, ita, ut accepti essent tam Deo, quam hominibus et cunctis habitantibus in terra).

Tobit 14:15. But before he died, he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which was captured by Nebuchadnezzar and Ashuir, and he rejoiced in his death over Nineveh. 15. After his removal to Ecbatana, probably not long before his death, Tobias heard of the destruction of Nineveh—perhaps from captive Assyrians brought to Ecbatana by the Median king. The destroyer of Nineveh, according to the Sinaiticus manuscript of the book of Tobit (verse 15), is represented as Ahikar—A χιάχαρος, ό βασιλεύς της Μήδειας (in Vet. Lat. Achicar, rex Medorum): here the name of Ahikar, or Ahikar, repeatedly encountered in the book of Tobit (even in chapter 14 itself, verse 10), appeared as a result of confusion with the similarly-sounding name of the Median king Kyaxares, Κυαξάρής, of whom, as the conqueror of Assyria, Herodotus speaks (Histor. I, 106). The reports of other ancient historians (Abydinus, Alexander Polyhistor, Ctesias) about the participation of the Babylonians, led by Nabopolassar, in the destruction of Nineveh, can be fully reconciled with these data—of the book of Tobit (according to the Sinaiticus manuscript) and the history of Herodotus (see in Prof. Drozdov, p. 516–525). Principally, however, the testimony of the book of Tobit (and Herodotus) is confirmed recently, in 1894, by the discovered inscription of the Babylonian king Nabonidus, according to which “the king of the Medes,” that is, the Medes, appears as the helper of Nabopolassar, and the destruction of Assyria itself is attributed to the Medes. In this same inscription, the chronological date of the destruction of Assyria and Nineveh is indicated—fifty-four years before the restoration of the temple of the god Sin in the city of Haran in 553 B.C., that is, the destruction of Nineveh took place in 606 B.C.—a date which at the present time can be considered generally accepted (see there, p. 525–527). In the accepted Greek text of the book of Tobit (verse 15), the name of Kyaxares is replaced by the name of the conqueror known to every Jew from the time of the Babylonian exile—Nebuchadnezzar, while the name of the country—Assyria (A σσυρίας or A σσυρ)—was unsuccessful changed to the name of a person—the supposed second conqueror—Ashuir (“ Ασυήρος or: according to manuscripts 23, 58, 64, 76, 106, 236, 243, 246, 249, Complutensian, Aldine: A σσουήρος; according to manuscripts 44, 106: A σσύριος). Thus, the book of Tobit, beginning with a narrative of the exile of the inhabitants of the Kingdom of Israel to Assyria and in particular to Nineveh (1:1–8), ends with testimony of the destruction of this world empire and its famous capital (14:15). Such is the sacred, biblical pragmatism of the historical fate of Assur—a people that was “the rod of God’s wrath” (Isa 10:5) for the punishment of Israel! Professor of the Kiev Spiritual Academy, Master of Theology Priest A. A. Glagolev. Our Telegram channel