Tobit
Chapter 3
Distressed, I wept and prayed; and expressing my sorrow, I said:
“You are just, O Lord; all your actions and all your ways are merciful and just; your judgments are always accurate and just.
Remember me, Lord, and look on me. Do not punish me for my sins, nor for the wrongs I have committed through ignorance. Pardon the sins which my fathers have committed in your sight,
for they disobeyed your commandments. You have allowed us to suffer pillage, captivity, and death. You have allowed us to be mocked by all the pagan nations among whom we have been dispersed.
Ah, well! All your judgments are just when you choose to punish me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we have not accomplished your will, nor have we sincerely obeyed your commands. We have not walked before you in truth.
Do with me as you will. Take my life from me, and turn me into dust because I prefer death to life. In this way, free me and let me return to dust. I would rather die than live because these unjust reproaches have caused me great distress. Command that I be now released from trials, and let me enter my eternal dwelling place. Do not turn your face away from me.”
The Misfortune of Sarah
That same day, at Ecbatana in Media, Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, was similarly insulted by her father’s young maidservants.
Sarah had seven husbands, but the demon Asmodeus had killed each one before the marriage was consummated. The maidservants said: “It was you who killed your husbands. You have had seven husbands, and you haven’t enjoyed a marital relationship with any of them.
Why do you punish us? Since they are dead, go and join them. May we never see a son or daughter of yours!”
That same day, Sarah was so overwhelmed with distress that she went to the upper room in her father’s house. She thought about hanging herself. But she reconsidered and said: “If people ever reproached my father and told him: ‘You had an only daughter whom you cherished, and she hanged herself because she was unhappy,’ I would cause my father to die of grief in his old age. I shouldn’t hang myself, but to ask the Lord to let me die and not have to endure any more insults.”
At that moment, she stretched forth her hands towards the window and prayed, saying: “You are blessed, O Lord my God, and blessed is your holy and glorious name throughout the ages. May all your works praise you forever.
Lord, I have turned my eyes and my face towards you.
Command that I be set free from the earth and that I may hear no more insults.
You know, O Lord, that I am pure of all contact with man;
that I have not defiled my name, nor my father’s name in the country of my captivity. I am my father’s only daughter. He has no other son or daughter who can inherit from him, nor does he have a close relative who can be given to me as a husband. So, after my seven husbands are dead, I have no one to live for. If it does not seem good to you, O Lord, that I should die, command that people will respect me and have pity on me and that I may hear no more insults.”
The Lord in his glory heard the prayer of Tobit and Sarah,
and he sent Raphael to heal both of them—to restore Tobit’s sight and to give Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, to Tobiah, the son of Tobit, as his wife. Additionally, Raphael would bind the wicked demon Asmodeus so that Sarah would become Tobiah’s wife, as she was rightfully entitled to Tobiah by inheritance. Meanwhile, Tobit, who had gone for a short walk, returned to the house, and Sarah, the daughter of Raguel, came down from the upper room.
Commentaries
Tobit’s Misfortunes.
A series of hardships from 2:1 to 3:6 includes the disrupted feast, the loss of his sight, and the breakdown of family harmony. The first leads to mocking comments from neighbors, the second to compassion from relatives, and the third to reproaches from his wife. The initial comment could weaken Tobit’s faith if the Scripture he recalls did not reinforce his conviction (2:5). The third, which addresses the issue of retribution, highly tests Tobit’s faith (2:14). Out of his deep anguish, the prayer in chapter 3 arises. Two clear influences shape this passage: that of Job, who is honest and innocent and faces hardships; and the post-exilic confessions, which become more meaningful when spoken by someone innocent.
The Misfortune of Sarah.
In another place, yet at the same time, another character appears who has strong reasons to feel troubled and sad. She is Sarah, a devout Jewish woman who, after seven marriages, has not been able to consummate a single one because a demon, Asmodeus, has killed each husband at the moment of marital union. Echoing Tobit, she fervently prays to God, asking Him to take her away from the world of the living. The prayers of both move God, and the author tells us that, as a result of their pleas, an angel will come to care for both believers (16f). A superficial reading might lead us to see desperate attitudes in Tobit and Sarah, as both wish for their deaths to escape their suffering and, most of all, from the reproaches and insults of friends and family. However, the truth is that both prayers reveal a deep spirit of faith, humility, and acceptance of God’s will. These seemingly desperate expressions are more a way to release their feelings than a sign of a lack of faith.