1:1 The book of the words of Tobit, son of Tobiel, the son of Ananiel, the son of Aduel, the son of Gabael, of the seed of Asael, of the tribe of Nephthali; 2 Who in the time of Enemessar king of the Assyrians was led captive out of Thisbe, which is at the right hand of that city, which is called properly Nephthali in Galilee above Aser. 3 I Tobit have walked all the days of my life in the ways of truth and justice, and I did many almsdeeds to my brethren, and my nation, who came with me to Nineveh, into the land of the Assyrians.

AMBROSE. Tobit was a just, merciful, hospitable man; and endowed with core virtues, he underwent hardships of captivity, which he bore humbly and patiently, sorrowing for the common injustice rather than for his own, and not complaining that the approbation of his virtues had been of no avail to him, but rather judging that this outrage committed against him was less than the price of his sins. He incurred punishment under the decree, etc. [Ambrose of Milan, de Tobia, PL14.1.759B]

CYPRIAN. Therefore until this corruptible shall put on incorruptibly, and this mortal receive immortality, whatsoever are the disadvantages of the flesh are common to us with the human race. Thus, when the earth is barren with an unproductive harvest, famine makes no distinction; thus, when with the invasion of an enemy any city is taken, captivity at once desolates all. [Cyprian of Carthage, De Mortalitate CSEL 8.5]

AUGUSTINE. For even in the likeness of the sufferings, there remains an unlikeness in the sufferers; and though exposed to the same anguish, virtue and vice are not the same thing. For as the same fire causes gold to glow brightly, and chaff to smoke; and under the same wave the straw is beaten small, while the grain is cleansed; and as the residues are not mixed with the oil, though squeezed out of the container by the same pressure, so the same violence of affliction proves, purges, clarifies the good, but damns, ruins, exterminates the wicked. And thus it is that in the same affliction the wicked detest God and blaspheme, while the good pray and praise. So material a difference does it make, not what ills are suffered, but what kind of man suffers them. For, stirred up with the same movement, mud exhales a horrible stench, and ointment emits a fragrant odor. [Augustine of Hippo, City of God, 1.8 NPNF s.1 v.2]

BEDE. Tobit points out the captivity of the human race by the captivity of the king of all of the perverse, that is, the Devil, who has cast us out of the heavenly homeland into this valley of exile. [Bede, Allegorica interpretatio in Tobiam PL91.924C ]

BEDE. So the teachers of the people of Israel used to minister the alms of God’s word not only to unsophisticated hearers, but also the Gentile converts. For whatever natural good thing they had that was not taken by the enemy who held them captive, they showed it to their own men as an example of virtue, and a portion of their saving knowledge as a tithe of their resources, the foreigners, that is, offered to the Gentiles. [Bede, Allegorica interpretatio in Tobiam PL 91.924D]

1:4 And when I was in my own country, in the land of Israel being but young, all the tribe of Nephthali my father fell from the house of Jerusalem, which was chosen out of all the tribes of Israel, that all the tribes should sacrifice there, where the temple of the habitation of the most High was consecrated and built for all ages. 5 Now all the tribes which together revolted, and the house of my father Nephthali, sacrificed unto the heifer Baal. 6 But I alone went often to Jerusalem at the feasts, as it was ordained unto all the people of Israel by an everlasting decree, having the first fruits and tenths of increase, with that which was first shorn; and them gave I at the altar to the priests the children of Aaron.

AUGUSTINE. The providence of the Lord God towards us is so great that, not wanting us to err, he gave us the law and examples of good works, so that, following them, one may lead an honest and peaceful life with the fear of God. For he who is the maker of life naturally does not wish his work to be subject to death. Although nature itself is not devoid of law, the Lord, being good and merciful, wanted us to have greater knowledge of the things to be pursued and of the things to be avoided, and to this end he showed them through texts and examples, as the present reading attests. Therefore God’s servant holy Tobit was given to us, after the law, as an example, so that we may know how the things we have read are done, and so that, if trials come, we may not desist from the fear of God, and that we may not hope for help from any other source than from him, keeping in mind that it is written, “I have been young, and now am old; and I have not seen the just forsaken, nor his seed seeking bread” (Ps. 36:25). Therefore, he who hopes in God with all his mind can never be deceived. Even if tribulations arise for a time through Satan’s maneuvers, the examples of holy men teach us that these things are permitted by God only for the sake of increasing our rewards; because if we bear tribulations with composure, we shall here be given consolation with effect, and in the future we shall be given eternal life with glory. For because our God is just and there is no respect of persons with him (Rom. 2:11), he lets us be tested, because he loves us, so that he may give us immense rewards after the hardship. Indeed, when the apostle was praying for his trials to cease, the Lord said to him, “My grace is sufficient for you; for power is made perfect in infirmity”. As a reaction to this the apostle said, “When I am weak, then am I stronger”, and “I rejoice in my tribulations,” he said, “that the power of Christ may dwell in me” (2 Cor. 12:9-10). [Augustine, Quaestiones Veteris et Novi Testamenti, De Tobia, PL 35.2363]*

1:7 The first tenth part of all increase I gave to the sons of Aaron, who ministered at Jerusalem: another tenth part I sold away, and went, and spent it every year at Jerusalem: 8 And the third I gave unto them to whom it was meet, as Debora my father’s mother had commanded me, because I was left an orphan by my father.

1:9 Furthermore, when I came to the age of a man, I married Anna of my own kindred, and of her I begat Tobias.

BEDE. when I came: So when Egypt was enriched, the people of Israel took the synagogue with all its legal ceremonies instituted by Moses. Tobit had a son by Anna because he knew that Christ would be born from his own race, whence, ’raise up a prophet to you, etc. (Acts 3:22, Deut. 18:15)’ And ‘of the fruit of your womb I will set upon your throne (Ps. 131:11).’ He gave his name to him by believing and confessing what the Father said concerning him, ‘I will make him my firstborn (Ps 88:28).’ This is the name of Israel, whence: ‘Israel is my son, my firstborn (Ex 4:22).“ [Bede, Allegorica interpretatio in Tobiam PL91.924D]

1:10 And when we were carried away captives to Nineveh, all my brethren and those that were of my kindred did eat of the bread of the Gentiles.

BEDE. And from Tobias’ infancy he taught him to fear God by believing and confessing sin, and to not sin, but that a spirit of the fear of the Lord would fill him. [Bede, Allegorica interpretatio in Tobiam PL91.925A]

1:11 But I kept myself from eating; 12 Because I remembered God with all my heart. 13 And the most High gave me grace and favor before Enemessar, so that I was his purveyor.

AUGUSTINE. So, let us be informed by the Scripture of how praiseworthy holy Tobit is, whose devotion captivity did not diminish, whom the loss of his eyes did not stop from blessing God, whom the exhaustion of his resources did not divert from the way of justice and truth (Tob. 1-3). Indeed, need tests a just man and proves him to be just, and keeping fairness when in poverty is the true and perfect justice. From things that diminish the devotion of some, praiseworthy Tobit gained an increase of it. For want, he says, humiliates a man, and he who is humiliated cannot keep justice. But holy Tobit’s spirit, intent on God, was neither broken by captivity nor humiliated by want, because he buried the bodies of the slain in spite of the prohibition, and, certain of God’s generosity, he was compassionate even with the small means that he had, knowing that God prefers the compassion that is done from small means, as did the widow whom the Lord praised in the Gospel (Lk. 21:2-4). Therefore holy men, certain that God has reserved for himself the judgement of all that is done in this world, not only have not been vexed about tribulations, losses, and other calamities or reproaches, but they have even accepted them with gratitude, as did our apostles, who after being beaten rejoiced that they had been accounted worthy to suffer reproach for the name of Christ (Acts 5:41). Indeed, the calamities that unjustly strike the faithful, whether in tribulations or in reproaches, are the signs of future rewards. Therefore just Tobit was so pleasing to God that he obtained for his merits a twofold reward: for the present he recovered, through the angel’s agency, the sight that he had lost, and was also enriched with the resources that are useful in this life; and for the future he was made an heir of the kingdom of heaven: so that we might be taught through this that when someone obeys God’s law with all their heart and does not doubt his promises, God often augments their resources in this world, and grants them eternal life in the next. There is also something else that invites us to compliance with God’s law: holy Tobit did not only obtain the rewards of his own justice, because there is added to the sum of his glory also something from the good actions of those who behave as his imitators. For examples are praised in their imitators. This can happen to us as well if we live in such a way that it becomes appropriate for us to have imitators too. [Augustine, Quaestiones Veteris et Novi Testamenti, De Tobia, PL 35.2363-4)

1:14 And I went into Media, and left in trust with Gabael, the brother of Gabrias, at Rages a city of Media ten talents of silver. 15 Now when Enemessar was dead, Sennacherib his son reigned in his stead; whose estate was troubled, that I could not go into Media. 16 And in the time of Enemessar I gave many alms to my brethren, and gave my bread to the hungry, 17 And my clothes to the naked: and if I saw any of my nation dead, or cast about the walls of Nineveh, I buried him. 18 And if the king Sennacherib had slain any, when he came, and fled from Judea, I buried them privately; for in his wrath he killed many; but the bodies were not found, when they were sought for of the king. 19 And when one of the Ninevites went and complained of me to the king, that I buried them, and hid myself; understanding that I was sought for to be put to death, I withdrew myself for fear.

AMBROSE. I gave many alms to my brethren. For the devil deceived Eve so that she might overthrow her husband, that she might pledge their inheritance. What do the usurers do They deceive those who are indebted. They bind the sureties. But Tobit did not seek a pledge or demand surety. But you must run about to seek a surety that you may bind him with your obligations. Behold another enemy is being prepared. For when you have nothing whence to pay your debt, he will in your place. You will be found a circumventor in this case and a deceiver, who have deceived your friend. He will be stripped, he will be cast into chains in your place. [Ambrose of Milan, de Tobia, PL 14.12.792B]®

1:20 Then all my goods were forcibly taken away, neither was there anything left me, beside my wife Anna and my son Tobias. 21 And there passed not five and fifty days, before two of his sons killed him, and they fled into the mountains of Ararath; and Sarchedonus his son reigned in his stead; who appointed over his father’s accounts, and over all his affairs, Achiacharus my brother Anael’s son.

1:22 And Achiacharus intreating for me, I returned to Nineveh. Now Achiacharus was cupbearer, and keeper of the signet, and steward, and overseer of the accounts: and Sarchedonus appointed him next unto him: and he was my brother’s son.

AMBROSE. Tobit took punishment under the decree that none of the children of the captivity should give burial to the dead, but he was not restrained by the prohibition so much as spurred on lest he seem to abandon the duty of piety through fear of death; for the reward of mercy was the penalty of death. As a criminal discovered guilty of such an offense, he could scarcely at length as a needy exile, since his patrimony had been seized, be restored by a friend to his family. [Ambrose of Milan, de Tobia, PL 14.1.759B]’

BEDE. The Devil wanted to kill the people of God by spiritual death through idolatry, and he was not able to remove certain powers of virtue, because there were many holy men who would provide safety for his life. Tobit escaped with his son and wife, for the Devil could not destroy his faith in the Incarnation nor the state of the synagogue, which is seen clearly in the Maccabean struggles (2 Mac. 6-7). After the murder of the king, by his sons, all of Tobit’s things were restored, because after the Devil had been defeated by his own crimes, which he made like a wicked child, prosperity returned to the people of God, which we also see change in the state of the Church in the same way. [Bede, Allegorica interpretatio in Tobiam PL91.925C ]