Chapter Eight

1–8. The expulsion of the demon (Asmodeus) and the mutual prayer of the newlyweds — Tobias and Sarah. 9–14. Raguel prepares a grave for his son-in-law. 15–21. Raguel’s thanksgiving to God for the salvation of the newlyweds and a two-week wedding celebration.

Tobit 8:1. When they had finished supper, they brought Tobias to her. Tobit 8:2. But as he went, he remembered the words of Raphael, and took the censer, and put in it the heart and liver of the fish, and burned them. Tobit 8:3. When the demon smelled the odor, he fled to the upper regions of Egypt, and the angel bound him. 1–3. The deliverance of Sarah from the evil spirit of course cannot be attributed to the physical properties of the fish’s heart and liver or to the burning itself or to the odor emanating from the burning of these parts: such material means could not have a direct effect on a bodiless spirit — Asmodeus. The meaning of this account, vv. 1–3, of Sarah’s deliverance from Asmodeus is simply that this deliverance was miraculous and was mediated by a certain material means. In this respect this miracle does not contradict the character of other biblical miracles, which are usually combined with external actions and material means (see, for example, Num 21:8-9; cf. Commentary on the Bible, vol. I or 2 Kgs 2:19 and Commentary on the Bible, vol. II). Likewise, the thought in v. 3 about the departure of Asmodeus to Upper Egypt, that is, to the desert, and his binding by the angel (Raphael) can be brought into agreement with biblical angelology and demonology, insofar as the desert appeared in the conception of the Hebrews to be the dwelling place of evil spirits (Lev 16:9-10; cf. Matt 12:43), and also the concept of “binding,” that is, depriving of the ability to act, is more than once used by the sacred writers with respect to evil spirits (Matt 12:29; 2 Pet 2:4; Jude 1:6 vv.), and in the Apocalypse the binding of Satan for 1,000 years is assigned to an angel having the key to the abyss (Rev 20:1-3, cf. 12:9) (see A. Glagolev, Old Testament Biblical Teaching on Angels, pp. 591, 695).

Tobit 8:4. When they were left alone in the room, Tobias rose from the bed and said: Arise, sister, so that we may pray that the Lord may have mercy on us. Tobit 8:5. And Tobias began to say: Blessed are You, God of our fathers, and blessed is Your holy and glorious name forever! May the heavens and all Your creatures bless You! Tobit 8:6. You created Adam and gave him a helper and support — a wife. From them came the human race. You said: It is not good for man to be alone; let us make a helper for him similar to him. Tobit 8:7. And now, Lord, I take this my sister not to satisfy lust, but truly as a wife: grant me, I beseech You, to grow old with her! Tobit 8:8. And she said with him: Amen. 4–8. The burning of the fish’s heart and liver (v. 2) was only a symbol of the prayer of Tobias and Sarah that followed (cf. Ps 140:2; Rev 8:4). This prayer is remarkable as one of the few surviving examples in the Bible of an Old Testament man’s prayer, and is marked by a pure biblical spirit, containing: a) a theocratic confession of faith in God (v. 5; cf. Exod 3:14-15 vv.) b) the biblical teaching on the creation of man and the origin of all mankind (v. 6a, cf. Gen 1-2) and c) the biblical teaching on the essence and purpose of true marriage (vv. 6b–7, cf. Gen 2:23-24).

Tobit 8:9. And they both slept peacefully that night. Meanwhile Raguel rose and dug a grave, Tobit 8:10. saying: Did he also die? Tobit 8:11. And Raguel came to his house Tobit 8:12. and said to Edna, his wife: Send one of the servants to see whether he is alive; if not, we will bury him and no one will know. Tobit 8:13. The servant, opening the door, went in and found both of them sleeping. Tobit 8:14. And coming out, she reported to them that he was alive. 9–14. In the actions and arrangements of Raguel toward both his previous sons-in-law and Tobias, some scholars (for example, Zöckler) have discerned signs of unnatural coldheartedness, strange inconsistency, etc. But this objection clearly suffers from subjectivity and has no support in the text of the book itself.

Tobit 8:15. And Raguel blessed God, saying: Blessed are You, God, with every blessing pure and holy! May Your holy ones, and all Your creatures, and all Your angels, and all Your chosen ones bless You forever! 15. Unlike the accepted Greek text, in which the doxology is attributed to Raguel alone, in other Greek manuscripts it is attributed to Raguel together with Sarah.

Tobit 8:16. Blessed are You, who have gladdened me, and it has not happened to me as I thought, but You have dealt with us according to Your great mercy! Tobit 8:17. Blessed are You, who have had mercy on two only children! Show them mercy, Master, and grant them to finish their lives in health, with joy and compassion! Tobit 8:18. And he commanded his servants to fill in the grave. Tobit 8:19. And he prepared a wedding feast for them for fourteen days. Tobit 8:20. And Raguel said to him with an oath before he finished the wedding feast: Do not go away until these fourteen days of the wedding feast are completed; 19–20. Fourteen days or two weeks of wedding celebration — a period double the usual duration of this celebration in the ancient and modern East (Gen 29:27-28; Judg 14:17; in present-day Syria, according to the testimony of Wetzstein, the wedding celebration lasts likewise 7 days: the “royal week” of the newlyweds).

Tobit 8:21. but then, taking half of my property, go in peace to your father: the rest you will receive when I and my wife die.