Tobit
Chapter 2
Tobit’s Misfortunes
When I returned to my house, my wife Anna and my son Tobiah were given back to me. At the feast of Pentecost, the sacred feast of the Seven Weeks, they prepared a good meal for me, and I sat down to eat.
I saw the many dishes and told my son: “Go and bring as many as you can find of our relatives who are in need and who remember the Lord. I will wait here for them.”
When Tobiah returned, he said: “Father, one of ours has been strangled and thrown into the public square.”
Before I ate anything, I hurried out and carried this man into the house and waited until sunset to bury him.
When I returned home, I washed myself and ate my food in sorrow.
I remembered the prophecy which Amos uttered against Bethel: “Your feasts will be turned into mourning. All your songs will be turned into lamentations,”
and I wept. After sunset, I went out and, after I had dug a trench, I buried the man.
My neighbors mocked me, saying: “He no longer fears to be put to death for doing that; he had to flee, but look, he is again burying the dead.”
That same night, after I buried the body, I went back home. I washed up and then went out into the yard to sleep against the wall; my face was exposed because of the heat.
I did not see that there were sparrows on the wall of the courtyard, and, since my eyes were open, the hot droppings from the sparrows fell into my eyes and formed a white film. I went to find doctors to treat me, but the more ointment they applied to my eyes, the more I became blind because of the film. Finally, I became completely blind. I suffered from blindness for four years. All my brothers were burdened because of me. Ahiqar kept me for two years before he departed for Elymias.
My wife Anna worked hard at a woman’s task, weaving.
On the seventh day of Dystrus month, she cut the cloth and delivered it to her employers. They paid her wages and also gave her a young goat for food.
When she returned home, the kid started crying. I said to her: “Where does the little kid come from? Did you steal it? Return it to its owners, for we are not allowed to eat anything that is stolen.”
But she said: “It is a gift which has been given to me in addition to my wages.” “I don’t believe it. I tell you to return it to its owners.” I was ashamed of her. She replied: “What about your almsgiving and your good deeds? I have to put up with all this from you.”
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.