Book of Tobit
Deuterocanonical (apocryphal) book of Christian scripture / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Book of Tobit (/ˈtoʊbɪt/),[lower-alpha 1] also known as the Book of Tobias, is a 3rd or early 2nd century BC work describing how God tests the faithful, responds to prayers, and protects the covenant community (i.e., the Israelites).[1] It tells the story of two Israelite families, that of the blind Tobit in Nineveh and of the abandoned Sarah in Ecbatana.[2] Tobit's son Tobias is sent to retrieve ten silver talents that Tobit once left in Rages, a town in Media; guided and aided by the angel Raphael he arrives in Ecbatana, where he meets Sarah.[2] A demon named Asmodeus has fallen in love with her and kills anyone she intends to marry, but with the aid of Raphael the demon is exorcised and Tobias and Sarah marry,[1] after which they return to Nineveh, where Tobit is cured of his blindness.[2]
The book is included in the Catholic and Eastern Orthodox canons and the Dead Sea Scrolls, but not in the Jewish Masoretic text; while Protestant tradition places it in the Apocrypha, with Anabaptists, Lutherans, Anglicans and Methodists recognising it as useful for purposes of edification and liturgy, albeit non-canonical in status.[3][4][5][6][1]
The vast majority of modern commentators recognize it as a work of fiction with some references to historical events.[7] The story in the Book of Tobit is set in the 8th century BC, but the book itself is thought to date from between 225 and 175 BC.[8] No scholarly consensus exists on the place of composition ("almost every region of the ancient world seems to be a candidate"); a Mesopotamian origin seems logical given that the story takes place in Assyria and Persia and it mentions the Persian demon "aeshma daeva", rendered "Asmodeus", but it contains significant errors in geographical detail (such as the distance from Ecbatana to Rhages and their topography), and arguments against and in favor of Judean or Egyptian composition also exist.[9]