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 are pious Israelites from Northern Israel. They live at the time of the Assyrian Exile. At the feast pf Pentecost, Tobit sends 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 goes 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. It 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 follow 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 captures it and removes its heart, liver and gall bladder, telling him that they have the power to cast away the demons and to heal the sick.

Through his voyage, Tobias become an adult. Marriage marks the end of its childhood. When he arrives in Media, he is told that a beautiful Israelite girls, Sarah, lives there and a demon is preventing her from being married. Tobias burns 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 restore 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 live a long and happy life. He had seven children, buried his parents, and saw the end of the exile.