Category:Tobias (subject)

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

Overview

The good son

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.

Tobias's education

Tobit reminded the child to keep the commandments and love his neighbors (chap. 4). The first duty of a child is to honor his parents mother and father), to support them when they are old, and to bury them when they die. Then there are the duties toward God and toward the neighbors, especially the poor. Then, there is the command to marry, support the family as well as the duty to work and "pay the wages of those who work for you."

Tobias's journey

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.

• Tobias and the Angel (1460 Pollaiuolo), art
• Tobias and the Angel (1465 Gozzoli), art
• Raffaele e Tobiolo (Tobias and the Angel / 1475 Andrea della Robbia), art
• Tobias and the Angel (1475 Verrocchio), art
• Tobias and the Angel (1480 Lippi), art
• Three Angels and Young Tobias (1485 Lippi), art
• Healing of Tobit (1555 Hemessen), art
• The Archangel Raphael Refusing Tobias's Gift (1612 Biliverti), art
• Angel and Tobias with the Fish (1625 Lastman), art
• Prayer of Tobias and Sarah (1654 Knüpfer), art
• Marriage of Tobias and Sarah (1673 Steen), art
• Tobias and the Angel (1740 Giaquinto), art
• Tobias som läker sin blinde faders ögon (Healing of Tobit / 1854 Malmström), art
• Tobias Saying Farewell to His Father (1860 Bouguereau), art
• Tobias and the Angel (1863 Rosales), art
• Le jeune Tobie rendant à la vue à son père (Healing of Tobit / 1879 Fagel), art

Tobias's Marriage with Sarah

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 healed his father

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's Happy and Long Life

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