SESSION THREE: Getting Deeper Tobit 1:3-3:6

The introductory sentence to this book is filled with interesting details that set the stage for the rest of the book. Tobit and his family and several other Jews from Jerusalem are in exile in Nineveh approximately 500 miles away. That exile took place in the 8^th Century B.C. though there is controversy as to when this particular book was written. We learn in the first two paragraphs all about how Tobit was a practicing Jew when he was in Israel. He made his pilgrimage to Jerusalem. He tithed his resources according to law and even obeyed a “sabbatical year” which was a time when the Jews would give their land a years rest from supplying crops. The sabbatical year happened once every seven years.

When the exile happens, the rest of Tobit’s countrymen neglect the rigorous Jewish dietary laws and eat the food they were to neglect (for example swine meats or combining dairy and meat). Tobit’s uncommon allegiance to God’s law wins him God’s favor in the recognition by the king, Shalmanesar, to be in charge of his money. It’s a point that is easily ignored but important to the story to note that, when Tobit went to Media for supplies, he would stop at his relative’s house, Gabael in Rages, and deposit money. Keep this point in the back of your mind.

When Shalmanesar dies and is replaced by his evil son, Sennacherib, Tobit falls into disfavor with the new King over burial. The text is somewhat ambiguous as to why Sennacherib becomes so angry at Tobit that he is exiles him again and takes all his possessions. We do know that burial is a mitzvah, or righteous act, in the Jewish tradition. Tobit is taking people who are, literally, being thrown in the trash and burying them. It’s possible that the people being killed were Jews who either were antagonistic to the government or simply being used to make a statement to cause fear in both the residents and the visitors to the walled city. In that case, Sennacherib may have wanted them left on the garbage pile to show why you don’t “cause trouble” and Tobit was stopping that statement. It’s also possible that the Assyrian tradition was not to bury the dead and Tobit interrupted that tradition. In any case, we know that Tobit is a righteous individual since he is continues burying people despite having all his property removed.

All of this seems to be preparation for the first real “scene” of the story. Tobiah, having been dispatched by his Father to have the poor come to supper in celebration of having his “normal life” back, returns with the story of murder in the city. Even before the new leaders can throw his fellow Jew in the garbage, Tobit leaves the table and goes to buy the man. In doing this, he makes himself “unclean” so he isolates himself from his family in their courtyard. While in the courtyard, the droppings of a bird cause cataracts for him. In the Old Testament, it common at this point in history to attribute evil actions to birds unlike in the time when the story of Noah and the Ark was written when birds could be seen as divine guides to safety. This particular bird causes Tobit to be blinded and, ultimately, become dependant on other people. This section ends with a disagreement between Anna (she finally gets to speak!) and a prayer of desperation from our hero, Tobit.

From www.dictionary.com

bleat –noun

4.	the cry of a sheep, goat, or calf.

5.	any similar sound: the bleat of distant horns.

6.	foolish, complaining talk; babble: I listened to their inane bleat all evening.