Category:Tobias (subject)

Tobias is a son of Tobit. His coming to age is narrated in the Book of Tobit.

Overview

Tobias and his parents, Tobit and Anna, were a family of pious Israelites from Northern Israel. They lived at the time of the Assyrian Exile. At the feast of Pentecost, Tobit sent his son to bring at the table "whatever poor person you may find of our people among the exiles in Nineveh." Tobit came back announcing that a fellow Israelite had been murdered and his body thrown in the market place. Tobit went out and buried the body but got sick. He lost his sight for an infection and could no longer support his family. Tobit had left in trust some money to a friend in Media. The only hope was now that his child could go and take that money. It was a long and dangerous journey for a child. The family searched for a person who could go with him. A certain Azariah offered to accompany the child. They did not know that he was the angel Raphael in disguise.

Tobit reminded the child to keep the commandments and love his neighbors (chap. 4). Tobias took his dog with him and followed Azariah.

Along the way, while washing his feet in the river Tigris, a fish tries to swallow Tobias's foot. By the angel's order, Tobias captured it and removed its heart, liver and gall bladder, telling him that they had the power to cast away the demons and to heal the sick.

Through his voyage, Tobias became an adult. Marriage marked the end of its journey and childhood. When he arrived in Media, he was told that a beautiful Israelite girl, Sarah, lived there and a demon was preventing her from being married. Tobias burned the fish's lever and heart. "The odor of the fish so repelled the demon that he fled to the remotest parts of Egypt" (8:3).

Tobias left his home a child and returned a happy and rich man. He prepared a medicine with the gall of the fish and restored his father's sight. Tobit and Tobias offered Azariah half of their properties to thank him for his help. At this point the angel Raphael revealed his true identity and left them.

Tobias lived a long and happy life. He had seven children, buried his parents, and saw the end of the exile.