Chapter Six

1–9. An adventure on the way of Tobias and Raphael to Media. 10–18. The angel’s advice to Tobias about marriage with Sarah and about the means to be saved from the malice of the demon Asmodeus.

Tobit 6:1. And she ceased weeping. 1. In the accepted Greek text, as in the Slavonic and Russian translations, the remark found in the Sinaiticus Codex of the LXX about the dog following the travelers is omitted (καί ό κύων ᾿εξήλθεν μετ᾿ αυτού καί επορεύθη μετ αύτων Sinaiticus Codex), which remark was probably erroneously transferred (in the accepted Greek text, Slavonic-Russian) to 5:17 (cf. 11:3). The dog, belonging to Tobias, was evidently a domestic animal and received from its owner a certain kind of attention: this was the case only in Assyro-Babylonia (and later in Greece), but not at all among the Hebrews in Palestine, where until a later time dogs were half-wild, stray animals (Ps 21:17), were considered unclean and despised (1 Kgs 14:11; 2 Kgs 9:35-36, etc.; see Prof. Drozdov, pp. 502–507). Tobias and Raphael, departing from Nineveh to Media, spent the first night on the bank of the Tigris River (v. 2): there is nothing impossible about this (contrary to the opinion of Ewald and others), since although Nineveh itself lay on the Tigris River and precisely on its left, eastern bank, and the direction of Tobias and Raphael’s journey — toward Rages and Ecbatana — had of necessity to be eastward — but the Tigris in its course had many very significant turns, and it is quite understandable that travelers heading east (or southeast) could encounter the Tigris or one of its tributaries on their way (for example, the Great or Upper Zab). See Prof. Drozdov, pp. 505–508.

Tobit 6:2. And the travelers came in the evening to the Tigris River and encamped there for the night. Tobit 6:3. The young man went to bathe, and a great fish leaped out of the water and tried to swallow the young man. Tobit 6:4. Then the angel said to him: Seize the fish. And the young man caught the fish and drew it onto the land. Tobit 6:5. And the angel said to him: Cut open the fish, take out its heart, liver, and bile, and keep them. Tobit 6:6. The young man did as the angel told him; and they roasted the fish and ate it; and they went on and came to Ecbatana. Tobit 6:7. And the young man said to the angel: Brother Azariah, what are this liver and heart and bile of the fish for? Tobit 6:8. He answered: If a demon or evil spirit troubles anyone, the heart and liver must be burned before such a man or woman, and the torment will cease; Tobit 6:9. and the bile is to be rubbed on a person who has cataracts on his eyes, and he will be healed. 3–9. By the ravenous fish that rushed at Tobias as he approached the river (v. 2), some understand the fish known to the Arabs as sabot, or alsabut, others identify it with pike: the latter may be supported by the particular prevalence of this fish among the Jews, as it satisfied the requirements of a clean fish according to the Law of Moses (Lev 11:9-12). Regarding the healing significance of the fish’s entrails — heart, liver, and bile — of which the angel speaks (v. 9) — it can be said as follows: their utility from the standpoint of organotherapy is quite admissible; the main point is: the healing of the sick is placed here in dependence on prayer (vv. 16–17) (see A. Glagolev, cited work, p. 694, Prof. Drozdov, pp. 352–360).

Tobit 6:10. When they drew near to Rages, Tobit 6:11. the angel said to the young man: Brother, now we shall lodge with Raguel, your kinsman, who has a daughter named Sarah. Tobit 6:12. I will speak to him about her, so that he may give her to you as wife, for to you belongs her inheritance, as you are the only one of her family; and the maiden is beautiful and sensible. Tobit 6:13. So listen to me; I will speak to her father and, when we return from Rages, we will celebrate the wedding. I know Raguel: he will by no means give her to any other husband against the Law of Moses; otherwise he will be guilty of death, for the inheritance belongs to you, and not to another. Tobit 6:14. Then the young man said to the angel: Brother Azariah, I have heard that this maiden has been given to seven husbands, but all died in the bridal chamber; Tobit 6:15. and I am the only son of my father and I am afraid lest, when I enter her chamber, I die like those before me; for a demon loves her, who harms no one except those who approach her. And therefore I fear lest I die and bring the life of my father and mother to the grave in sorrow on account of me; and they have no other son to bury them. Tobit 6:16. The angel said to him: Have you forgotten the words which your father commanded you, to take a wife of your own kindred? Listen to me now, brother: she is to be your wife, and do not be concerned about the demon; on this very night she will be given to you as wife. Tobit 6:17. But when you enter the bridal chamber, take a censer, place in it the heart and liver of the fish, and burn them; Tobit 6:18. and the demon will smell the odor and depart, and will never return again. But when you come to her, both of you rise up, call upon the merciful God, and He will save and have mercy on you. Do not be afraid; for she was destined for you from the ages, and you will save her, and she will go with you, and I know that you will have children from her. Having heard this, Tobias loved her, and his soul was strongly drawn to her. And they arrived in Ecbatana. 10–18. In the angel’s speech, containing his counsel to Tobias about entering into marriage with Sarah, as she comes from the same family as him (vv. 12–13, 16), there is disclosed not only the relation to the corresponding instruction of Tobit to his son (Tob 4:12-13), but also to that view of the Mosaic legislation by which daughters — heiresses of their father’s portion — in the absence of sons — had to marry only within the bounds of “the tribe of the family of their father” (Num 36:7; Commentary on the Bible, vol. I). Tobias’s words about Sarah in v. 15 (Greek 14) “a demon loves her, who harms no one except those who approach her,” δαιμόνιον φιλεί αυτήν, ό ούκ αδικεί ούδένα, πλην τών προσαγογόντων αυτή, — are commonly understood by interpreters to mean that Asmodeus was inflamed with unclean love toward Sarah (or even had carnal relations with her) and, as if from jealousy and revenge, killed her husbands before they were with her as a wife (3:8). Against such an understanding of v. 15 may be said the fact that the words δαιμόνιον φιλεί αυτήν are absent in the Sinaiticus list of the LXX, in the Vulgate, the Chaldean, and the Hebrew Massoretic text, as well as the fact that according to v. 8 note 18 the demon tormented Sarah (hence did not love her), and according to 3:14 Sarah remained chaste and virginal. Independently of this, however, it must be acknowledged that the idea that demons or angels can be in carnal relations with women, as a popular belief, was undoubtedly present among the Jews, as shown by the history of the interpretation of the passage Gen 6:2 (see A. Glagolev, Old Testament Biblical Teaching on Angels, pp. 201–205), and therefore Tobias — an unenlightened man — could express, especially as a rumor or guess, a superstitious opinion about the carnal passion of Asmodeus toward Sarah (cf. Prof. Drozdov, pp. 386–389). In reality, the action of Asmodeus on Sarah was expressed in the extremely painful, oppressed state of Sarah, similar to that which the evil spirit brought upon Saul (1 Sam 16:14-15), impelling her to strike her servants (3:9) and even driving her to the decision to take her own life (3:10; cf. Commentary on the Bible, vol. II). 17–18. The counsel given by Raphael to Tobias here was subsequently carried out exactly by him (Tob 8:2-3).