12:1 Then Tobit called his son Tobias, and said unto him, My son, see that the man have his wages, which went with you, and you must give him more.

AUGUSTINE. Blessed Tobias, who knew how to break his bread for the hungry man, prepared to pay quickly the hired servant for his work. After patiently listening to the reading that has just been recited, we were wondering at the treatment of the father and of the son, and at the way they were instructed by the angel, whom they believed to be an earthly hired servant, under heavenly glory. In truth, Tobit was stricken with the calamity of blindness in order to receive the angel as a physician, who, kindled with divine firebrands, gasped, “Prayer is good with fasting and alms” (Tob. 12:8). The prayer of the just man is the key to heaven. The prayer ascends, and God’s mercy descends. Although the earth is deep down and heaven is high up, God hears the tongue of man, if his conscience is clean. He talks with the senses, if there is but a sigh on our part. Rain from the eyes is enough for his ears; he hears tears more quickly than words. The prayer of the hater is always driven away from his ears. The soul of the father and of the son was one; while either of them had his own limbs, they had a singular union of minds. Son, says Tobit, let us dismiss this man, adding something to the wages that were agreed on; because he has brought us much good with his work (ibid. 1, etc.). And the son, after recounting the treatment they had received from him, says to his father: Father, can it possibly be right for so blessed a servant as this to be paid only the wages that were agreed on, while his good guidance is inestimable We shall repay him with too little honor if we determine a measure for his merits. Did he himself provide only what had been agreed on What had been agreed on was that he should show me the region and the man to whom you had entrusted the money. First, travelling as if on a heavenly way, he prepared from the fish the eye salve that both you and I needed; he guided me, got the money back, gave me Sara for a wife. Does he deserve only the wages that were agreed on, while he was for me like a heavenly bridesman, and, what is more, father, cured the spots on your eyes by removing the film that covered them, and lit up our whole house by illuminating the lamps of your eyes I now see more clearly because I behold you seeing. My excellent father, does he not deserve half of the goods Let a guide and provider such as this, such a physician and guardian, as he said, receive as his share half of the goods that he has brought with me, since he has shown such kindness to me in his guidance. The good father liked the response of his wise son. He started asking the hired servant to take indeed his wages. [Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 226.4, on the Blessed Tobit]?

12:2 And Tobias said unto him, O father, it is no harm to me to give him half of those things which I have brought: 3 For he has brought me again to you in safety, and made whole my wife, and brought me the money, and likewise healed you. 4 Then the old man said, It is due unto him.

12:5 So he called the angel, and he said unto him, Take half of all that you have brought and go away in safety.

AMBROSE. But not content merely with these limits of virtue, holy Tobias also knew that a reward must be paid to the hired servant. He offered him even a half, and instead of a worthy hired servant he found an angel! And whence do you know that you may not defraud some just man of his hire—this is worse, if he be infirm, for “woe to him that shall scandalize one of these little ones.” How do you know whether there be an angel in him For we ought not to doubt that there can be an angel in the hired servant, since Christ can be, who is accustomed to be in the least. Give the hired servant his reward therefore and do not defraud him of the price of his labor, because you too are a hired servant of Christ, and He has sent you to His vineyard, and a heavenly reward is laid up for you. Do not therefore injure the servant working in truth nor the hired servant giving his life, do not despise the needy man who spends his life at his labor and maintains it by his hire. For this is to kill a man, to deny him the succor required for his life. You too are a hired servant on this earth; give his reward to the hired servant, that you too may be able to say to the Lord when you pray: “Give a reward to them that uphold you.” (Eccl. 36:18) [Ambrose of Milan, De Tobia. PL 14.24.91.793B]

12:6 Then he took them both apart, and said unto them, Bless God, praise him, and magnify him, and praise him for the things which he has done unto you in the sight of all that live. It is good to praise God, and exalt his name, and honorably to show forth the works of God; therefore be not slack to praise him.

12:7 It is good to keep close the secret of a king, but it is honorable to reveal the works of God. Do that which is good, and no evil shall touch you.

AMBROSE. They words have I hidden in my heart, that I may not sin against you (Ps. 118:11) Hence, therefore, it is good to conceal the king’s mystery; for the sins against God, whosoever thinks that the secret things entrusted to him, may be revealed to the unworthy. There is then danger then not merely in telling what is false, but even what is true, when one communicates such things to persons to whom we ought not. [Ambrose of Milan, Expositio in psalmum David 118, PL 15.2.26.1219C ]®

JEROME. Moreover, that king who is the Son of God, is the Son of the Father who is the King. Therefore His precepts should be kept, His will done. And this is exactly what is written in the book of Tobit: “it is good to hide the secret of the king”. He warns in particular why we should not ask why God has taught every single thing, but see that teaching as a commandment, and this is what an impious man hastens to fulfil. [Jerome, Commentarius in Ecclesiasten, PL 23.1074B]®

ATHANASIUS. We ought not then to parade the holy mysteries before the inexperienced in the faith, lest the heathen in their ignorance deride them, and the Catechumens being over-curious be offended. [Athanasius of Alexandria, Apologia Contra Arianos 1.11 NPNF s.2 v.4]

12:8 Prayer is good with fasting and alms and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than much with unrighteousness. It is better to give alms than to lay up gold:

CYPRIAN. Moreover, those who pray should not come to God with fruitless or naked prayers. Petition is ineffectual when it is a barren entreaty that beseeches God. For as every tree that brings not forth fruit is cut down and cast into the fire; assuredly also, words that do not bear fruit cannot deserve anything of God, because they are fruitful in no result. And thus Holy Scripture instructs us, saying, Prayer is good with fasting and almsgiving. For He who will give us in the day of judgment a reward for our labors and alms, is even in this life a merciful hearer of one who comes to Him in prayer associated with good works. Thus, for instance, Cornelius the centurion, when he prayed, had a claim to be heard. For he was in the habit of doing many alms deeds towards the people, and of ever praying to God. To this man, when he prayed about the ninth hour, appeared an angel bearing testimony to his labors, and saying, Cornelius, your prayers and your alms are gone up in remembrance before God. Those prayers quickly ascend to God which the merits of our labors urge upon God. [Cyprian of Carthage, Treatise 4.32-33 ANF v.5]

CLEMENT OF ALEXANDRIA. Now fasting signify abstinence from all evils whatsoever, both in action and in word, and in thought itself. [Clement of Alexandria, The Stromata 4.12 ANF v.2]

AMBROSE. Wherefore also the Lord Jesus, wishing to make us more strong against the temptations of the devil, fasted when about to contend with him, that we might know that we can in no other way overcome the enticements of evil. Further, the devil himself hurled the first dart of his temptations from the quiver of pleasure, saying: “If You be the Son of God, command that these stones become bread.” (Matt. 4:3) After which the Lord said: “Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God;” (Mat. 4:4) and would not do it, although He could, in order to teach us by a salutary precept to attend rather to the pursuit of reading than to pleasure. And since they say that we ought not to fast, let them prove for what cause Christ fasted, unless it were that His fast might be an example to us. Lastly, in His later words He taught us that evil cannot be easily overcome except by our fasting, saying: “This kind of devils is not cast out but by prayer and fasting.” (Matt. 17:21) And what is the intention of the Scripture which teaches us that Peter fasted, and that the revelation concerning the baptism of Gentiles was made to him when fasting and praying, (Acts 10:10) except to show that the Saints themselves advance when they fast. Finally, Moses received the Law when he was fasting; Exodus 34:28 and so Peter when fasting was taught the grace of the New Testament. Daniel too by virtue of his fast stopped the mouths of the lions and saw the events of future times. (Dan. 6-7) And what safety can there be for us unless we wash away our sins by fasting, since Scripture says that fasting and alms do away sin (Tob. 12:8-9) [Ambrose of Milan, Letter 63.15-16 NPNF s.2 v.10]

12:9 For alms does deliver from death, and shall purge away all sin. Those that exercise alms and righteousness shall be filled with life:

AMBROSE. Although we have committed grievous faults, we have found a great Physician; we have received the great medicine of his grace. The medicine of mercy moves great sins (Eccl. 10:4). We have very many aids, by which we redeem our sins; you have money, redeem your sin. The Lord is not for sale, but you are for sale. By your sins you have been put up for sale, redeem yourself by your works, redeem yourself by your money; money is cheap, but mercy is precious. ‘Alms’, he says, ‘does deliver from sin’ [Ambrose of Milan, On Elijah and Fasting CSEL 32.458]”°

AUGUSTINE. The angel, who had been sent to do a kindness for free, immediately rejoiced at the wages they had thought about. Tobit, said he, or Tobias, why are you thinking, rather superfluously, about my wages Keep what the heavenly Father has granted you. I am the instrument of healing, he is the maker of health. You do not know what sort of servant it is whose help you have earned the enjoyment of. You were not afraid to bury those who had died in captivity, Tobit: your works ascended to the Lord, because you left your dinner to lay a dead man to rest. I brought rich sacrifices to the Lord on account of this respectable burial; I was sent as a laborer of the heavenly market. The two of you buried a dead man, and were not afraid of the sting of death. The buried man himself clamored in your defense with a silent voice. [Augustine of Hippo, Sermon 226.5, on the Blessed Tobit)”

LEO I. Let no one therefore, dearly beloved, flatter himself on any merits of a good life, if works of charity be wanting in him, and let him not trust in the purity of his body, if he be not cleansed by the purification of almsgiving. For “almsgiving wipes out sin,” kills death, and extinguishes the punishment of perpetual fire. But he who has not been fruitful therein, shall have no indulgence from the great Recompenser, as Solomon says, “He that closes his ears lest he should hear the weak, shall himself call upon the Lord, and there shall be none to hear him (Prov. 21:13).” And hence Tobias also, while instructing his son in the precepts of godliness, says, “Give alms of your substance, and turn not your face from any poor man: so shall it come to pass that the face of God shall not be turned from you. ” This virtue makes all virtues profitable; for by its presence it gives life to that very faith. [Leo the Great, Sermon 10.4, NPNF s.2 v.12]

12:10 But they that sin are enemies to their own life. 11 Surely I will keep close nothing from you. For I said, It was good to keep close the secret of a king, but that it was honorable to reveal the works of God.

12:12 Now therefore, when you did pray, and Sara your daughter in law, I did bring the remembrance of your prayers before the Holy One: and when you did bury the dead, I was with you likewise.

PSEUDO CHRYSOSTOM. Just as well-selected incense delights anyone who smells it, so the prayer of the righteous is sweet before God. Do you wish to know its great honor As soon as the prayer leaves the mouth, angels take it on their hands and offer it before God, as the archangel says to Tobit, ’I brought a reminder of your prayer before the holy One.’ Do you wish to know its power The prayer of the three boys made it so that the burning fire did not consume them but rather delighted them, so that it seemed to be a flame in appearance but was a sunshade in it function. The more glorious prayer is, the more carefully it ought to be preserved, lest it be made of no account because it was used to please people. [Opus Imperfectum, Homilies on Matthew, PG 56 v.6 Hom.13]’

AUGUSTINE. Prayers may be made known also to the angels that are in the presence of God, that these beings may in some way present them to God, and consult Him concerning them, and may bring to us, either manifestly or secretly, that which, hearkening to His commandment, they may have learned to be His will, and which must be fulfilled by them according to that which they have there learned to be their duty; for the angel said to Tobit. [Augustine of Hippo, Letter 130 9.18 NPNF s.1 v.1]

12:13 And when you did not delay to rise up, and leave your dinner, to go and cover the dead, your good deed was not hid from me: but I was with you. 14 And now God has sent me to heal you and Sara your daughter in law.

12:15 I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels, which present the prayers of the saints, and which go in and out before the glory of the Holy One.

AUGUSTINE. The angels are said to offer up our prayers to God. Not that they instruct him what we do, or what we ask; for he knows all things exactly as they are, even before they are: And therefore cannot possibly be ignorant of them afterwards. But they attend his pleasure upon these occasions, execute his orders, and what they knew God has decreed, are sometimes instruments of accomplishing, and sometimes messengers too to give the parties concerned, notice of. Thus, the angel tells Tobit, ‘That he brought the remembrance of his prayer before the holy One’, and that there are some spirits, whose office it is, to present the prayer of the saint, and to go in and out before the Throne of God. [Augustine of Hippo, Meditations 2.3]

BEDE. When the angel is ready to return to heaven, he explains more fully to them who he is, why he came, and that he is about to return to God. At that time also the Lord will disclose more fully to that same people, as it progresses spiritually, the rewards of knowing him, revealing and showing everyone that he is in the Father and the Father in him. And so the angel returns to God, while Tobias stays with his father. Likewise, the elect also understand the Lord to be equal with the Father in his divinity, and consubstantial with us in his humanity. [Bede the Venerable, Allegorica interpretatio in Tobiam PL 91.935B]”*

12:16 Then they were both troubled, and fell upon their faces: for they feared. 17 But he said unto them, Fear not, for it shall go well with you; praise God therefore. 18 For not of any favor of mine, but by the will of our God I came; wherefore praise him forever.

12:19 All these days I did appear unto you; but I did neither eat nor drink, but you did see a vision.

AUGUSTINE. For so also was it with the angels who presented themselves to the eye and touch of men, not because they could do no otherwise, but because they were able and desirous to suit themselves to men by a kind of manhood ministry. For neither are we to suppose, when men receive them as guests, that the angels eat only in appearance, though to any who did not know them to be angels they might seem to eat from the same necessity as ourselves. So these words spoken in the book of Tobit, “You saw me eat, but you saw it but in vision;” (Tob. 12:19) that is, you thought I took food as you do for the sake of refreshing my body. [Augustine of Hippo, The City of God 13.22 NPNF s.1 v.2]

JOHN OF DAMASCUS. They behold God according to their capacity, and this is their food. They are above us for they are incorporeal, and are free of all bodily passion, yet are not passionless: for the Deity alone is passionless. They take different forms at the bidding of their Master, God, and thus reveal themselves to men and unveil the divine mysteries to them. [John of Damascus, Orthodox Faith, 2.3 NPNF s.2 v.9]

BEDE. It is probable that the food eaten was consumed as soon as it reached the spiritual or heavenly body. Like water thrown onto a burning flame. [Bede, commentary on Genesis, book 4.216]”°

12:20 Now therefore give God thanks: for I go up to him that sent me; but write all things which are done in a book. 21 And when they arose, they saw him no more. 22 Then they confessed the great and wonderful works of God, and how the angel of the Lord had appeared unto them.