Read this if you…
- like a charming biblical novella with an angel-in-disguise, a love story, and a demon to defeat
- want the deuterocanonical book where the archangel Raphael accompanies a young man on a quest
- care about reading parts of the Bible that read more like folktale than scripture
Skip this if you…
- don't want to read explicitly religious/Christian texts
The lineage through Tobit
- Paradise Lost by John Milton. Tobit shaped it. - Milton plucks the demon Asmodeus straight out of *Tobit* — the "fishy fume" that drove him off Tobit's son's bride becomes Milton's image for Satan's frustrated lust - Tobit's angelic companion Raphael returns too, named in *Paradise Lost* as the spirit who "deign'd to travel with Tobias" - This deuterocanonical book gave Milton two figures — one demonic, one angelic — that he wove directly into his epic
Depicted in Art
Raphael ascends in a blaze of light as Tobit, Tobias, Anna and Sarah kneel in awe; the angel's identity revealed only at the moment of departure.
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1637
Aged blind Tobit sits at home accusing Anna of stealing the goat she has been given; Anna defends herself holding the kid.
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1626
Blind Tobit sits by the hearth in shadow while Anna spins; both wait for Tobias to return from his journey.
Rembrandt van Rijn, 1630
Recommended Editions
King James Version
Oxford University Press · 1611
The most influential and commonly quoted translation in English. The prose rhythm everyone else is responding to, even modern translations.
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Notable Quotes
Do that to no man which thou hatest.
Screen & Stage
Tobias and the Angel
Stage · 1930
James Bridie
Posters via The Movie Database (TMDB)
- Martin Luther, German theologian and Reformer, 1483–1546: "Even if it were all made up, Tobit would be a beautiful, wholesome, useful drama by a gifted poet — good for us Christians to read."
- Søren Kierkegaard, Danish philosopher, 1813–1855: The true hero of Tobit is not Tobias but Sarah, who dares to be healed and to live.
- Jerome, translator of the Latin Vulgate, Doctor of the Church, c. 347–420: Hearing the Odyssey in Tobit's journey home, Jerome slipped the dog's wagging tail into his Latin — a classicist's tribute.
- Rembrandt van Rijn, Dutch Golden Age painter, 1606–1669: Rembrandt returned to Tobit across his life in more than fifty paintings, drawings, and etchings.
- Carey A. Moore, biblical scholar, Anchor Bible commentator, 1930–2015: "I can honestly say that I really like and admire them. I 'feel at home' with them."
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