Bible Dictionary: Book Of Tobit

◄ Book Of Tobit ►

Smith's Bible Dictionary

Book Of Tobit

a book of the Apocryphal which exists at present in Greek, Latin, Syriac and Hebrew texts, but it was probably written originally in Greek. The scene of the book is placed in Assyria, whither Tobit, a Jew, had been carried as a captive by Shalmaneser. It is represented and completed shortly after the fall of Nineveh (B.C. 606), Tob. 14:15, and written, in the main, some time before. Tob. 12:20. But the whole tone of the narrative bespeaks a later age and above all, the doctrine of good and evil spirits is elaborated in a form which belongs to a period considerably posterior to the Babylonian captivity. Asmodeus iii. 8; vi. 14; viii. 3; Raphael xii. 15. It cannot be regarded as a true history. It is a didactic narrative and its point lies in the moral lessons which it conveys, and not in the incidents. In modern times the moral excellence of the book has been rated highly, except in the heat of controversy. Nowhere else is there preserved so complete and beautiful a picture of the domestic life of the Jews after the return. Almost every family relation is touched upon with natural grace and affection. A doctrinal feature of the book is the firm belief in a glorious restoration of the Jewish people. Tob. 14:5; 13:9-18. But the restoration contemplated is national, and not the work of a universal Saviour. In all there is not the slightest trace of the belief in a personal Messiah.

Library

But it Should be Known that There are Also Other Books which Our ...
... of the writing. To the same class belong the Book of Tobit, and the Book of
Judith, and the Books of the Maccabees. In the New Testament ...
/.../38 but it should be.htm

The Content of Prayer: Its Four Moods
... judge forever.'" Since however, the circumcised have marked the passage in Daniel
spurious as not standing in the Hebrew, and dispute the Book of Tobit as not ...
//christianbookshelf.org/origen/origen on prayer/chapter ix the content of.htm

That the Bodies of the Saints Shall after the Resurrection be ...
... So these words spoken in the Book of Tobit, "You saw me eat, but you saw it but
in vision;" [612] that is, you thought I took food as you do for the sake of ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/chapter 22 that the bodies of.htm

Appendix. The Apocryphal Books of the Old Testament.
... 8. The book of Tobit contains a narrative of the piety, misfortunes, and final
prosperity of Tobit, an Israelite of the tribe of Naphtali, who was among the ...
/.../barrows/companion to the bible/appendix the apocryphal books of.htm

God, Then, Gives to Each Thing Its Own Body as He Pleases...
... matters of a profounder and more mystical nature, and such as are fittingly concealed
from the multitude, as is written in the book of Tobit: "It is good to ...
/.../origen/origen against celsus/chapter xix god then gives.htm

Book 4 Footnotes
... What book of the law was thus publicly read, see the note on Antiq. ... the widow, and
the orphans, is fully confirmed by the practice of good old Tobit, even when ...
/.../josephus/the antiquities of the jews/book 4 footnotes.htm

Books not Included in the Hebrew Canon.
... Tobit e cod. Sin. editus (Bonn, 1870); Neubauer, the Book of Tobit: a Chaldee
text (Oxford, 1878). Commentaries: Fritzsche, exeg ...
/.../chapter iii books not included.htm

Estimate of the Scope and Value of Jerome's Writings.
... different parts. The Books of Solomon, for instance, he translated very rapidly
(492), the Book of Tobit in a single day (494). For some ...
/.../jerome/the principal works of st jerome/v estimate of the scope and.htm

The Early Life of Malachy. Having Been Admitted to Holy Orders He ...
... The Greek of the Book of Tobit, followed by the English versions, calls the father
Tobit, and the son Tobias; the Vulgate calls both Tobias. The text of chap. ...
/.../chapter i the early life.htm

The First Sayings of Jesus --His Ideas of a Divine Father and of a ...
... [Footnote 4: Matthew 7:12; Luke 6:31. This axiom is in the book of Tobit,
iv.16. Hillel used it habitually (Talm. of Bab., Shabbath ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/renan/the life of jesus/chapter v the first sayings.htm

Subtopics