Toue

1. Sirach. There is, as Fuller has shown [Speaker's Apucr. i. lUO), a great resemblance between the thought of Tobit and Sirach. (1) Aa to the saving value of good works. Both emphasize the value of almsgiving : it is a good gift in God's sight, To 4ii, fills the doer with life, cleanses away all sin and delivers from death, 12^ ; of. Sir 320 2912 ^0'^, Sinners are enemies of their own life, 12"> ; cf. Sir IS" ;is'». (2) The eschatology of Sir. and of Tobit are on the same plane. Both regard Sheol as the abode of joyless shades : it is a tt^(i,>iet ToTet, 3^, where even the righteous fo, 310 132 ; cf. Sir 4«'» 14i« 1728. (3) Both insist on reverent interment of the dead. Very pathetically does Tobit ask to be buried, 43, and for Sarah to be buried beside him, 44 ; he risks his life to inler his brethren, 117 2^- 7, and urges bis son to place cakes (and wine, Aram., ilF, It, Vulg.) on the graves of the righteous (of. Tyler's Primitive Culture, i. 4S.'>ff., iL 30fT.]; ct Sir 7'.» 30'" 3810. (4) Both set value on the same ethical duties : Suritv of marriage, 4i2f- ijO. Sir 72G 3ti24 ; honesty to sen.'ants, 414, ir 7^-; the true e.stinmte of wealth, 51^^, Sir 51 ; benevolence, 47. 14. 17, Sir 4lJ> W 3.-.i". (5) Both base all virtue on the fear of God, 46 8- 19, Sir 637 3310 :j;i5. 2. The Story of Ahilcar. — In this work, recently published by Cainb. Univ. Press, Ahiltar is a pious vizier of Sennaclierib, who, bein;,' childless, adopted a boy, Nadan,and took much pains with his instruc- tion ; but when Nadan grew up he incriminated his adoptive father bj' false letters, and caused him to be sentenced to deatli. The e.xecutioner sp.nred his life, and imprisoned liira in a cellar under his (Ahilfar's) house. At length lie was released, and vengeance was executed on Nadan. This is the story which ia alluded to in 141", i],ore fully in N than B. A^ikar, in the Story,' bemoans himself thus : I have no son to mtrym^, nor a daughter, and ray possessions no one inherits.' Bead with this To I's '27 3i» 43. 'There are many features of resemblance between Ahikar's moral teaching to Nadan, and Tobit's to Tobias. In the Syriac Version of Ahijjar [op, ciL 61) we read : My son, eat thy portion, and despise not the righteous ' (cf. To 4isi ; ' Do not eat bread with a shameless man (cf. To 417 Vulg.): 'Associate with a wise man and thou wilt become like him'(ct To 411); 'My benevolence has saved me (cL To 41O) ; • My son, flee from whoredom " ipp. cit. 5) ; cL 412 ; and notably, ' Pour out thy wine on the graves of the righteous. rather than drink it with evil men' ; cf. 4i7 • Pour . . . give (it) not to sinners.' Harris discusses the two texts of M and B In the Story of Ahikar^ oh. v., and also iu the Amer, Joum, q/ Theology, iiL 54 L 3. The Book of Juhiler-i contains passages prob- ably known to the author of Tobit. To 412 states that Noah took a wife from his relatives. Of course there is no Scripture warrant for this ; but Jubilees (ch. 4) furnishes us with the names of the wives of all the patriarchs from Adam to Nuuh, and each one married a very near relative. Again, when Jacob left home for Haran, Isaac (Jub 271") uses words to Uebekah which resemble To b'i>'- 10» My sister, weep not ; he has gone in peace, and in peace will he return (so K 62l)^ The Most High will preserve him from all evil For I know his way will be prospered . . . and he will return in peace to us (To 6-<i), for he \s on the straight path (419^ He is faithful (K 10'-), and will not perisli.' In Jub 2:^11 we read, ' Separate thyself from the nations, and eat not with them, and beconie not their associate (To 1 1"> : they offer their sacrifices to the dead, and eat over their graves ' (To 417). 4. The Testament of Job has the foil, parallels : — Job's wife begged bread for him (ch. 22) : Job sang a hymn (ch. 33) ; in ch. 45 Job, when dying, says, ' Behold, 1 die ; only forget not the Lord (To 4^) ; do good to the poor (410) ; dest>iNe not the helpless (41'') ; take not to yourselves wives from strangers (4i2), and, lo, I distribute to you all 08 much «i belongs to me' (410). 8. Judith (8') attaches importance to the fact that she and her husband were ' of the same tribe and family.' vii. ToiiiT IN THE Church.— The Didacki (1») gives this advice, 'Whatever thou wishest not to happen to thee, do not thou to anutlier'; To 1" gives this form, ' What thou hatest, do not to another ' {ar> also Iliilel [Taylor, Pirke Aboth, 37]). Did 4'"' is also an adaptation of To 4^"^. Polycarj [ad Phil. ch. 10) says, ' When ye can do good, defer it not, for almsgiving delivers from death ' ; cf. To 12^ Pseudo-Clem, (ad Cor. 16) seems to quote 12' thus : ' Almsgiving is as good as repent- ance for sin ; fasting is better than prayer, but almsgiving (is better) than both. Love covereth a multitude of sins. Prayer from a good conscience siiveth from death.' Harris (Amer. Joum. T/ieul. iii. 546 ff. ) suggests to read 'prayer' for the first 'almsgiving'; and thinks we have tlie original reading of To 12* in the Gr. cursivei ' Good is prayer with fasting, and almsgiving with right- eousness better than both.' Clem. Alex, quotes 4'" as i] ypaip-i) (Strom, ii. 23, § 139). Origen (£/>. ad Afric. xiii.) and Atlianasius (Apol. c. Arian. xL) use Tobit as canonical, though theoretically they did not include it in the Canon, because it was not in the Heb. Bible. Cyprian treats it as authorita- tive in his work on the Lord's Pr.ayer (c. 32). HUary cites it to prove the intercession of angels (in Ps. 129'). Ambrose (de Tabid, 1. 1) treated the book as prophetic, and Augustine included it among the Apocr. of the LXX wliich ' the Christian Churc-li received ' (de Doctr. Christ, ii. 8). Jerome (Prof, ad libh. Salomonis) allowed its perusal, but forbade its canonicity ; whereas the Council of Carthage (A.D. 397) and the Councils of Florence (143'J) and of Trent (154(j) declared it canonical. Luther (cf. Fritzscbe, p. 19) deemed it ' a truly beautiful, wholesome, and profitable tictiou.' The Homilies of the Church of England u.se 4'" 12' as ' a les.son which the Holy Ghost doth teach in sundry places of the Scripture' (Second Book, On Alms- deeds, part 1). Ine Oll'ertory contains sentences drawn from To 4''", and the jireface to the Marriage Service, that marriage ' ought not to be taken in hand lij;litly or wantonly to satisfy carnal lusts,' is clearly an adaptation of Vulg. 6" ; in fact, the first Prayer Book of Kdu.ard VI. contained these words : ' As Thou didst send the angel Raphael to Thobie ami Sara, the daughter of Raguel, to their great comfort, so vouchsafe to send Thy blessing upon these Thy servants.' The names of Abraham and Sarah are now substituted. LrrKRATURK — COMMENTAiiiiiS: Ilgen, Dis Gesehichte TobC$, Twich drt'i/ rerscfiii'denen Orijiiialen, Jena, 18U0 ; Reusch, Das liucli Tu'bias, Freiburg, 1857 ; Fritzsche, Ej-eg. Uaiulbk. 1858 ; Fullrr, .Spt'aki'r'g Apocr., vol i., London, 18SS ; Sengelmann, Hd.s iiticti Tobit, Hamburg, 1857; Outberlet, Das Ihich Tobias, Minister, 1877; Bissell in Lange's Apocr., Edinburgh, 1880; Schuiz, Comvu z. B. 7'ohias, Wurzburg, 1889 ; Zockler, Apokr. det AT, Munchen, 1891 ; Lolir in Kautzsch's Apohr. u. Pscudepiqr. des AT, Tubingen, WOO.— Tk.xts : Swete, OT in Greek, vol. li., gives the text of B and K in full, with readings from A as foot- notes ; Fritzsche gives the text of the Cursives 44. 106 in hia Covu pp. 89-104; Neubauer on Tot/it gives Anim., IIM, It. L ; the Synac is found conveniently in Lagarde's L(7/ri VT Apocr. Si/riace., London, 1861 ; for HF we have only W'alton's Polt/glot', the most accurate edition of Vulg. is that of Vercellono, Uomee, lml.—/IKLPS TO STUor : Schurer, JIJP IL iii. 37-44; Tht .Story of Ahikar, from the Syr., Arab., Arm., Eth., Gr., and Slav. Versions, by Conybeare, Harris, and Mra Lewis, Camh. Univ. Press, 1898; 'Testament of Job'(7'.S v. 1 ; also in .Sffm, Stud, in Memory of A. Kohut, Berlin, 1897, pp. 2l!4-:i3S) ; Book of Jubilees, tr. by Conybeare in J^ii vL vii. ; Nestle, ,S'('/>(i«l- nintastudien, iiL 1809, p. 22 IT.; W. R. Smith's art 'Tobit' in Kixojcl. lirit. 8 ; Nolcieke, Monatsher. dcr kt'nl. Akad. der M'iisentich. ru Berlin, 1879, p. V.^iX. [orig. lang. Greek); Qriitz, ;1foim(»»cAr. 1879, pp. 145 0., 384 II., 4:)3IT^ 509 IT. [orig. lang. New Ueb.J. J. T. MARSHALL.