Theology - Essay Example

Theology One of the most mystifying tales in the apocryphal could be found in the book of Tobit. The book of Tobit is a book of the Old Testament that does not appear in the Hebrew Bible, and is among the over ten Apocryphal writings in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox versions of the Bible. The New Oxford Annotated Bible would be used to take Bible citations from the book of Tobit. The enthralling story in the book of Tobit is the story of Sarah and Tobias, Tobias is the son of Tobit, the person whose name is used for the book, while Sarah is a relative of Tobit living in the Median Capital, Ecbatana. Sarah had been married seven times and each one of her husbands had been slain on their wedding night by her jealous demonic husband Asmodeus, as a result of this, she prayed that God should take her life away (Tobit 3: 11-15). Her cry was heard as Archangel Raphael is sent to help her (Tobit 3:25). Tobias on the other hand was sent by his blind father “Tobit” to the Median city of Rages to help him retrieve the money he left in trust with his friend and on his way, Archangel Raphael disguises as Azarias (Tobias’s relative) to escort him and on their way, Tobias catches a large fish in the Tigris River and his Angelic guide advises him to keep the heart, gall and liver of the fish because of its miraculous healing qualities, Tobit 6:1-8 (Coogan). On getting to Ecbatana, Tobias sees Sarah, whom he fell in love with and he was persuaded by Raphael to marry Sarah, and Tobias thus married Sarah thus becoming the eighth man that Sarah was married to. On the wedding night, which would have been Tobias’s death as was the custom of Sarah’s demonic husband ‘Asmodeus’ to kill her husband on the wedding nights, but he could not achieve this in the case of Tobias. According to Coogan “On the wedding night, Tobias as instructed by Archangel Raphael uses the heart and liver of the fish to rout Asmodeus” (Tobit 6: 9-21). The book of Tobit is centered on the Assyrian capital of Nineveh between the ends of the 8th century BC, a period after the conquering of the Israelites by the Assyrians, and the ruin of Nineveh in 612 BC. The book was written sometime between the 2nd and 1st century BC in Palestine. The author of the book of Tobit is still a subject of controversy as it is unknown till date, but there are speculations that Tobit had a hand in the first few chapters of the book. The original language it was written was either Hebrew or Aramaic, though the oldest surviving complete text of the book is in Greek. Fragments of the book in Hebrew and Aramaic were recovered at Qumrān, Palestine in 1955 and according to The Jerome Biblical Commentary, "The discovery at Qumran of both Hebrew and Aramaic fragments of Tobit confirms the conjecture that the original language was Semitic, and, more probably, Aramaic. The best complete texts are in Greek and follow two rather divergent traditions, one represented by the Sinaiticus codex and Old Latin and another found in the codices Vaticanus and Alexandrinus. Although Jerome did not consider Tobit canonical, Augustine and Ambrose supported it. Hence it was accepted by the council of Hippo (393) and succeeding councils." (Dumm 620). Contemporary theorists postulate that the book of Tobit does not really represent what could be said to be historically genuine as there are doubts about the happenings in the book, and hence the story of Sarah and Tobias could have been fictitious. According to Hebrew demonology, Asmodeus is the chief of the demons that is sometimes identified with Beelzebub, the prince of demons. In the story of Sarah, he appears as an evil spirit that possesses great lust for the beautiful Sarah. At this point, the importance of prayer becomes very clear, and according to the Collegeville Bible Commentary, it is noted that, “At every crucial moment, the main characters turn to prayer. It is the turning to God in prayer that finally delivers Sarah from the demon Asmodeus.” (Nowell 37). There are however historical and geographical contradictions with the text. The book confuses the kings of Assyria and is ignorant of the topography of Mesopotamia, where much of the story is set. The story fits into the biblical book in the sense that it tells us of God’s undying love for his children and it tells us that God always answers the prayers of his children through the help of his Archangels as was seen in the case of Sarah, when she was delivered from the demonic Asmodeus. God sent Archangel Raphael to assist Sarah as he sent Archangel Gabriel to grant Daniel’s prayer request in Daniel 10 vs. 10-13. Similar match is also in the case of Hagar in Genesis 21 vs. 16-19, when God heard her cry in the wilderness and sends an unnamed angel in the wilderness to comfort her and God later provided water for Ishmael to drink. Moreover, the book of Tobit’s description of enduring and patient Sarah, whose seven successive husbands all died on their wedding night, carries on another major thesis of the biblical book: the barren woman, of which Elizabeth, Hannah, Rebecca, Rachel, Sarah (Abraham’s wife) are better known examples. In fact, the mockery that the younger Sarah receives from her maids makes one to reflect on the disdain suffered by the older Sarah in the hands of Hagar, as well as Peninnah’s mean treatment of Hannah at the beginning of 1st Samuel. According to the Harper Collins commentary, “The book of Tobit’s account of Raphael’s ascension makes use of language similar to that later used by New Testament writers to describe Jesus ascension, and may have provided a literary model of the New Testament” (Nickelsburg 791), when it was written there that, “...It is time therefore that I return to him that sent me: but bless ye God, and publish all his wonderful works.” And when he had said these things, he was taken from their sight, and they could see him no more. Then they lying prostrate for three hours upon their face, blessed God…... (Tobit 12: 20-22) (Coogan). My father ‘Tobit’ called me one day and said Tobias my son and I answered and said here I am father. He said that I should help him collect the money he lent one of his friends in the city of Rages. I then answered my father that I would do whatever he asked me to do, but queried that I do not recognise the man I am to collect the money from and also that I do not know the way to Rages, but father said that there was no problem about that I should look for someone loyal to accompany me to Rages. I then set out and saw a man, not knowing he was an angel of God, I then persuaded him to take me to Gabelus (the man that owed my father) in Rages, a request which he granted. While sailing in the Tigris River with the man, I saw a mysterious fish that really frightened me, but the man told me not to be afraid and that I should grab the fish by the gill which I did but with fear in my heart. All these while, I never knew that the man was an angel, and the man said that I should take out the heart, liver and gall of the fish that it is necessary for useful medicines and I did as he said and roasted and ate the remaining part of the fish. The man told me that if I put a little piece of the heart of the fish upon coals, that the smoke drives away all kind of devils. I then saw a beautiful lady, whose name was Sarah and I became emotionally attached to this lady and was persuaded by the man to marry her, but I expressed my fears of having anything to do with the lady as I learnt that she had been given to seven husbands, but a devil killed the husbands on the wedding nights. I and Sarah were married and the demon ‘Asmodeus’ tried to kill me but I did as the man commanded and drove him away with the heart and liver of the fish, people taught that I would die like the other seven husbands that Sarah had been previously engaged to, but with the help of God I survived. The man later revealed himself as the Archangel Raphael and said that he was sent by God Almighty to guide and guard me. I thank God for sending Raphael to me to assist me as I could not have exorcised this demon Asmodeus without the help of Archangel Raphael. Works Cited Coogan, Michael., Brettler Z. Marc, & Newsom A. Carol., The New Oxford Annotated Bible: New Revised Standard Version with the Apocrypha Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007. Dumm R.Demetrius “Tobit, Judith, Esther.” The Jerome Biblical Commentary Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall, Inc., 1968. Nickelsburg, George “Tobit,” in The HarperCollins Bible Commentary ed. James L. Mays San Francisco: HarperCollins, 2000. Nowell, Irene Collegeville Bible Commentary: Jonah, Tobit, Judith Collegeville, Minnesota: Liturgical Press, 1986. Read More