Chapter Two

1–5. On the feast of Pentecost, Tobit sends his son to invite one of the poor coreligionists to dinner. 3–8. Tobias brings word that a strangled Jew lies on the square, and Tobit buries him. 9–14. The blindness befalling Tobit, the poverty of the family, and the reproaches of his wife.

Tobit 2:1. And when I returned to my house, and my wife Anna and my son Tobias were given to me, on the feast of Pentecost, which is the holy week of weeks, there was prepared for me a good meal, and I reclined to eat. Tobit 2:2. And when I saw much food, I said to my son: Go, and bring, whom you can find, of the poor of our brothers who remembers God, and I will wait for you. 1–2. Upon his return to Nineveh, at the intercession of Achiacharus (I:22), Tobit not only was able to live again with his wife and son, but apparently received possession of his house and had such adequate means of livelihood that he was able to hold a festive meal on the feast of Pentecost, according to the prescriptions of the law (Deut 16:11) (LXX: αριστον καλόν, Vulg.: prandium bonum, Slavonic: a good meal). “Pentecost”—Πεντηκοστή—a later name for “the feast of weeks” (Deut 16:10); this name first appears in 2 Macc 12:32 and then in the New Testament (Acts 2:1; 1 Cor 16:8), in the greater part of the ancient texts of the Book of Tobit this name does not appear: in the Sinaiticus Codex the feast is named “the fiftieth day of our feast,” i.e., of Passover (‘εν τή Πεντηκοστή τής εορτής ημών, ή εστίν αγία εβδομάδων), in Chaldean and Hebrew Munster—according to the biblical text, “the feast of weeks.” The lack of mention of sacrificial offerings, divine service and the like in the account of Tobit’s strict piety in captivity is explained by the absence among the Israelites in Assyrian captivity of all the appurtenances of the lawful worship according to the prescriptions of Moses. All the more scrupulously Tobit performs (verse 2, cf. I:16–17) the commandment of the law concerning charity to needy coreligionists at festive meals (Deut 12:18-19 and others).

Tobit 2:3. And he came and said: Father, one of our tribe has been strangled and lies on the market place. Tobit 2:4. And at once, before I tasted food, I rose hastily and took him up to a place until the setting of the sun. Tobit 2:5. And having returned, I washed myself and ate my bread in sorrow. Tobit 2:6. And I remembered the prophecy of Amos, when he said: “Your feasts shall be turned into mourning, and all your merriment into lamentation. Tobit 2:7. And I wept. And when the sun had set, I went and dug a grave and buried him. Tobit 2:8. And the neighbors ridiculed me and said: he is no longer afraid to be put to death for this deed; he already fled, and behold, he is burying the dead again. 3–8. From the fact that when Tobias made a chance exit to the street, the case of the execution of a Jew immediately came to light (verse 3), it is reasonably concluded (e.g., by Calmet), that the persecution of the Israelites, begun by Sennacherib, had not completely ceased even under Esarhaddon, despite the relative gentleness of this king and his closeness to Achiacharus, a relative and protector of Tobit, who was probably generally well-disposed toward the captive Israelites. The course of action of Tobit in this case, and in many others, reveals in him a true observer of the law: having fulfilled the requirements of love for the deceased coreligionist—through burying his body,—which Tobit did very frequently in the grievous time for the captive Hebrews (I:18; XII:12),—he hastens to fulfill also the prescription of the law concerning ritual purity (Num 19 ff.), although, for the lack of sacrificial worship in captivity and, of course, purifying ashes of the red heifer, he performs purification by a simple washing (LXX: ‘ ελουσάμην). The fact that in the Book of Tobit it is told more than once that Tobit buried the dead, left without burial,—as the principal kind of charity of this man (I:17–18; II:3–4, 7–9; IV:17; XII:12),—gave some researchers (e.g., Zimrock, Kuhler, Cosquin) cause to perceive a similarity between the Book of Tobit and the legend widespread in many lands (Armenia, Italy, Turkey, Serbia, Russia) of the grateful dead, where the burial of an unburied corpse is a source of good fortune for the one who performed the burial, and the counterpart to which in the Book of Tobit would be the beneficence of the Angel to Tobit’s family. But the features of similarity indicated have a purely external and accidental character and in no way give ground to speak of mutual dependence of the Book of Tobit and the aforementioned legend (see in Prof. Drozdov, pp. 312–318). The hardships of captivity, the weight of which was acutely felt during the great feasts, which for the theocratic consciousness of the people of God were a source of great joy, naturally brought to the remembrance of Tobit, who doubtless well knew the law and the prophets,—the corresponding prophecy of Amos (Amos 8:10 verse, in similar manner the author of the 1 Maccabees recalls this prophecy, 1 Macc 1:39-41, in depicting the hardships of the Jews under the dominion of the Syrians), this is one of the few direct quotations in the biblical books.

Tobit 2:9. And that very night, returning after the burial and being unclean, I lay down to sleep behind the courtyard wall, and my face was not covered. Tobit 2:10. And I did not perceive that there were sparrows on the wall. When my eyes were open, the sparrows dropped their droppings on my eyes, and white scales formed on my eyes. And I went to physicians, but they did not help me. But Achiacharus provided for me until he went away to Elymais. 9–10. In the completion of the sorrow and grief of Tobit, a great misfortune befell him—the loss of his sight: when, after the burial, Tobit lay at night in the courtyard with an “uncovered face” (πρόσωπον μου ακάλυπιον ην, verse 9), bird droppings (στρουθία, hirundines; Slavonic-Russian: sparrows; the corresponding Hebrew word—“tzipporim”—means small birds in general, cf. Ps 8:9; Gen 15:10; Lev 14 ff.); here—birds, near human habitation: sparrows or Vulg.: swallows, as a consequence of which white scales (λευκώματα) formed on both eyes, and then, as a result of unsuccessful treatment by unskilled physicians, perhaps (medicine in ancient Assyria and Babylon stood low, bordering on magic) complete blindness ensued (verse 10). This fact, for an unbiased mind, presents nothing incredible, physically impossible, contrary to the objections of negative criticism (see in Prof. Drozdov, pp. 344–348, 480–481). Having lost all his property and all means of livelihood as a result of disease and treatment, Tobit received sustenance for some time from the aforementioned (I:21–22) Achiacharus, until the latter departed to Elymais (it was Achiacharus who departed to Elymais, as it stands in the Sinaiticus manuscript of the LXX and the Vet. latin, not Tobit, as (επορεύθην) stands in the accepted Greek text and Slavonic translation. Elymais—the biblical-Hebrew Elam, Greek Susiana (Gen 10:22; Isa 11:11 and others).

Tobit 2:11. And my wife Anna did women’s work of spinning wool Tobit 2:12. and sent it to the rich, who gave her wages, and once they also gave her a kid. Tobit 2:13. And when they brought it to me, it began to bleat; and I said to my wife: Where did this kid come from? Perhaps it is stolen? Return it to its owners! For it is not lawful for us to eat what is stolen. Tobit 2:14. And she said to me: It was given to me as a gift beyond my wages. But I did not believe her and insisted that she return it, and I was angry with her. But she answered me: Where now is your charity and your righteous deeds? See how all these have appeared on you! 11–14. When, with the departure of Achiacharus to Elymais (verse 10), the last source of means for Tobit had dried up, his wife began to earn sustenance by the usual women’s work (‘ εν τοις γυναικείοις, i.e., έργοις, in the Sinaiticus manuscript; consequently,—women’s work, not women’s chambers or apartments, as in Slavonic-Russian)—spinning wool and weaving (Cf. Prov 31:13), receiving payment for her labor from her employers (verses 11–12a). In addition to the usual payment, Tobit’s wife was once given as a gift a kid (according to the text of Vet. Lat., as well as according to the Sinaiticus Codex of the LXX, this happened on the 7th day of the month of Dystros, which some researchers (Graetz, Ant. Scholz, and others) identify with the Syro-Macedonian Dystros (Hebrew Adar), but it is possible that “Dystros”—δύστρος, here represents a Greek transcription of Hebrew Tishri—the name of the 7th month, consequently, the kid was given to Anna, Tobit’s wife, shortly, a week before the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Lev 23:34), precisely to give the poor family the opportunity to have a better table at the approaching feast (see in Prof. Drozdov, pp. 483–486). In the reproachful answer of Anna (verse 14) to Tobit’s suspicions (verse 13) there is a similarity to the speech of the wife of Job to him Job 2:9 (especially in the LXX text of the Book of Job): this circumstance, as well as the general similarity in the fates of suffering and deliverance from suffering of Tobit and Job, gave some researchers (Eichhorn, Bertholdt, Waigeninger, and others) cause to perceive in the Book of Tobit a free imitation of the Book of Job. But such similarity (deliberately, moreover, emphasized in the Vulgate text, verse 15) between the two works does not present anything artificial, and the conclusion of some researchers mentioned now is entirely arbitrary.