This leads to yet another unusual turn-of-events in the story as Tobiah runs immediately into the angel Raphael. There is a tradition in the Old Testament of angels being indistinguishable from human beings (for example Genesis 18:1-8) but scattered throughout the story, there are interesting details that, had Tobit been paying attention, he may have noticed there was something different about this stranger.
The interaction with Raphael seems rough at first when both Tobiah and Tobit don’t know his name. To show the youth of Tobiah, he must get approval of his angelic guide from his ailing Father. For his part, the Angel seems to want to assert authority by demanding in 6:8 “…do not be long.” His dialogue with Tobit is just as difficult as he seems extremely reluctant to tell the blind man his name. You will notice that, even though Tobit always calls Raphael “Brother” and Tobiah always calls him either “Brother” or “Azariah” the narrator always calls him “Raphael”. It’s almost as though the Narrator wants to constantly remind the reader that he is in on the secret even if the characters are not.
After the cordial, if somewhat difficult, greeting Tobit wants to know the name of this stranger and is comforted to hear an angel lie to tell him that his name is Azariah and that he is of the same tribe and family as his own. As I pointed out the in the previous section, this isn’t just because Tobit is racist and distrustful of foreigners. Tobit is in exile and feels he can only trust “his people”, especially with such an important assignment. The name Raphael chooses, Azariah, means “God has helped” and is the same name as 21 other figures in the Old Testament. It seems, however, that the narrator mostly wanted us to connect this angel with one of the three men in the fiery furnace, Azariah in the book of Daniel 3:13-30. This is especially true since Azariah’s Father is identified as having a name as another one of the men in the story, Hananiah, a name meaning “God has been gracious”. Hananiah’s brother, Nethaniah, has a name meaning “God has given” and their father is named Shemaiah, which means “God has heard.”
Aside from the meaning of the names, it does make one pause as to why an angel would lie about his name. In history, great debates were waged as to whether this was an evil act. One commentator said that he is stepping into the role of an actual person, an actual man named Azariah. Like Sam from the television show Quantum leap, Raphael is stepping into this man’s shoes and it’s possible the real Azariah was an evil man and that Raphael was acting just as evil. Yet, if you know the story of Daniel, you know that an angel is present in the fire with the three young men. Perhaps, in his answer, he was referring to his involvement in the fiery furnace while Tobit automatically assumes he means today. Nonetheless, it’s not clear why he changes his name but it definitely adds to the intrigue of the story.
As a side note, it’s interesting in this story that all the men are given names theophoric names, or names that have direct references to God, all the women are given names dealing with fertility. All the men’s names end in “iah” or some derivative which is a reference to the divine name given to Moses on Mt. Sinai. Sarah, on the other han, is connected to Abraham’s long-barren wife Sarah, Anna (or Hannah) is bears the same name as the once barren mother of Samuel, and Edna (still to be introduced in this story) means “sexual pleasure.” I think part of the reason for this is that, in Jewish tradition, birthright is connected to the mother. A Jewish mother is necessary to have a Jewish child because you know who the mother is. You may not know who the Father is. So, a women’s fecundity was an important aspect in the identity of a Jewish woman.
Speaking of Jewish women, Anna is suddenly worried about her son and begins to weep. Even though it appears, in 6:1 that Tobit has stopped her tears by the time Tobiah leaves, the text is more ambiguous than the translation leaves room for. It could just mean that she kept crying out loud but continued without audible sound. Her fears are that their only son’s life was being put in jeopardy for money. This allows for Tobit to make the most ironic statement of the book, “A good angel with go with him…” It seems that Anna represents the entirety of Israel in exile who, despite being frustrated by their lot in exile, nonetheless fear trying to make their life better. Tobit, therefore, stands for the courageous few who are willing to sacrifice their sons to make a change in opposition to the majority. Ultimately, we know that Tobit’s courage (and others like him) will eventually allow them to go home.
Tobiah sets out for what Raphael calls a “two-day journey” but is actually over 200 miles away. It would have taken at least 10 days to travel from Ecbatana to Rages. One very interesting detail is the fact that the dog went with them. Commentators have loved trying to come up with a deep meaning for this, especially since dogs were also, in general, seen as unclean animals to be kept out of house (for example in Deut. 23:18) because they are scavengers. Yet, Job 30:1 does seem to portray them as protectors. Some contend that the dog played a larger role in a folk tale that Tobit is based upon but that his role was diminished by the presence of the angel. But do not fear, the dog will come back again.
It’s good that Tobiah didn’t believe in signs, however, since at the end of the first day he almost looses his foot to a large fish. At least it seems to have been his foot. One commentator that I read said that a man’s genitals may have been demurely referred to as “feet”. If that would have been the understanding of the hearers of the story, it would be a point of juxtaposition as the thing that may have prevented yet another one of Sarah’s (future) husbands from having intercourse with her ended up being the very thing that will allow it. Most commentators see a connection to the story of Jonah but in reverse. Jonah was unwilling to go to Nineveh but a fish prevented him from defying the will of God and not going. In this story, a fish tries to prevent Tobit from leaving Nineveh but ends up being the reason he can come back victorious. In classical Christian usage, this fish has been identified with Christ whose death also brought about healing. The fact that this is a large fish is clearly in the fact that Tobit can cook it and eat it and still have some left over to put into his bag to eat later. The story does not explain why Raphael/Azariah doesn’t eat with the boy, nor why Tobiah doesn’t seem to invite him to. This would have been seen as extremely rude for the hospitality of the situation. This detail will come up again in the story later so keep it in mind. In what I call the pinnacle of the story, Raphael tells Tobiah to keep the heart, liver, and gall. When questioned, Raphael basically tells the rest of the story of this book. The heart and liver remove evil spirits and the gall can be used to remove cataracts. Now, can Tobiah actually do it or is he too young?
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