An Atheist Explores the Apocrypha Part Eight: The Adventures of A Boy, His Dog, And An Angel (Tobit 6-10)
Tobit 6-10
The Adventures of A Boy, His Dog, And An Angel
Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Apocrypha version).
In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Old Testament Apocrypha, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.
For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/3aEJ6Q5
For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP
And now:
Tobit 6
“And when the young man went down to wash himself, a fish leaped out of the river, and would have devoured him.”
Ah, good. We do get the adventures of Raphael and Tobias, a disguised angel and a boy on a journey to collect debt money.
When the two get to the Tigris, Tobias is almost eaten by a fish (what kind of fish do they have in the Tigris?) but instead as they say, sometimes the fish eats you, sometimes you eat the fish. Tobias catches the fish and “Azarias” tells him to keep the heart, liver and gall bladder because with the heart and liver “if a devil or an evil spirit trouble any, we must make a smoke thereof before the man or the woman, and the party shall be no more vexed”, and with the gall bladder “it is good to anoint a man that hath whiteness in his eyes, and he shall be healed”. You can smell the folk-tale tropes, can’t you? What’s the betting that they’ll meet a person possessed and a blind man on their travels?
They arrive at Rages, and Raphael says that he’ll arrange lodging with cousin Raguel and also “he also hath one only daughter, named Sara; I will speak for her, that she may be given thee for a wife”. Blimey! Slow down there, Raph.
This daughter is Sara, as mentioned earlier, so at this point we jump back in the narrative. And Tobias has heard of her and her seven dead husbands, and is rightly concerned about marrying the Black Widow, even if he does seem to think that she has a deadly magic vagina – “And now I am the only son of my father, and I am afraid, lest if I go in unto her, I die, as the other before: for a wicked spirit loveth her, which hurteth no body, but those which come unto her”. Wasn’t it mentioned thought that all previous marriages were unconsummated, so Tobias’ Freudian fear is unfounded.
Ah, but wait! Raph explains that Tobias is the only person left who may lawfully marry Sara, but not to worry, because he has his magic fish viscera. “And when thou shalt come into the marriage chamber, thou shalt take the ashes of perfume, and shalt lay upon them some of the heart and liver of the fish, and shalt make a smoke with it: And the devil shall smell it, and flee away, and never come again any more”.
See, I knew they’d come in handy!
Tobit 7
“And when they were come to Ecbatane, they came to the house of Raguel, and Sara met them: and after they had saluted one another, she brought them into the house.”
Of course, having done all the planning and discussion last chapter, now we have to go over the implementation. Our intrepid duo arrive at the house of Ragual, and there are several verses of social niceties – “Then he said to them, Do ye know Tobit our kinsman? And they said, We know him. Then said he, Is he in good health?” Raguel slaughters a ram for food, and they sit down to “eat and drink and be merry”, and Raguel considers it “meet” that Tobias and Sara would marry. He takes Tobias aside to warn him “I have given my daughter in marriage to seven men, who died that night they came in unto her”. I’m wondering here if the euphemism “came in unto her” is not actual sex, but “going into” the bedchamber. Or perhaps consummation involves not dying in the act? I’m not sure I really want to know, to be honest.
That’s really about it. Raguel and his wife Edna draw up a covenant of marriage, and then Edna goes to prepare her daughter for (yet another) wedding night.
Tobit 8
“And as he went, he remembered the words of Raphael, and took the ashes of the perfumes, and put the heart and the liver of the fish thereupon, and made a smoke therewith.”
See, I knew the fish guts would be used later in the story. Here, Tobias makes good use of them on his wedding night (I’m not sure I want to follow that thought through. It implies an abuse of fish guts on a wedding night), burning them in incense. He and Sara then pray before getting down to business.
Raguel, meanwhile, has already dug a grave. When Edna sends in a maid to check on the newlyweds, and discovers a distinctly non-dead bridegroom, Raguel offers thanks to God. Really, though, it’s down to some weird kind of old superstition/magic imparted by Raphael. Tobias doesn’t survive because he’s pious or blessed by God, it’s because he casts a fish gut spell (even if it’s an angel that teaches him).
Still, Raguel commands that Tobias stay for a fortnight for the wedding feast. And probably to make sure the young man doesn’t snuff it in a day or so, but this bit is left unspoken.
Tobit 9
“So Raphael went out, and lodged with Gabael, and gave him the handwriting: who brought forth bags which were sealed up, and gave them to him.”
This is a really short chapter, only six verses long, wherein Tobias asks Raphael to go and collect the debt from Gabeal, because he’s tied up with this whole wedding thing. And Raphael does.
It’s a bit weird, an angel running debt-collecting errands. Sounds like something Neil Gaiman would come up with. Raphael, guardian angel of bailiffs.
Tobit 10
“Now Tobit his father counted every day: and when the days of the journey were expired, and they came not, Then Tobit said, Are they detained? or is Gabael dead, and there is no man to give him the money?”
This is another small chapter, but it’s actually quite full of touching familial affection. Tobit worries that his son has not yet come back (although it reads a bit like he’s more worried about not getting his money back), but Anna rapidly comes to the conclusion that Tobias is dead, and goes into a whole disturbed set of actions where she watches for his return constantly and wails all night and refuses food. Tobit is suitably understanding – “Hold thy peace, take no care, for he is safe”.
Meanwhile, Tobias yearns to return home once his fourteen days are up so that his parents don’t get worried (too late). Raguel tries to persuade him to stay, but in the end they send the newlyweds away “And he said to his daughter, Honour thy father and thy mother in law, which are now thy parents, that I may hear good report of thee. And he kissed her.”
Then Edna tells her daughter that she wants some grandchildren, and tells Tobias to look after her – “grant that I may see thy children of my daughter Sara before I die, that I may rejoice before the Lord: behold, I commit my daughter unto thee of special trust; where are do not entreat her evil.”
It’s all quite cosy and warm for the Bible.
The Adventures of A Boy, His Dog, And An Angel
Welcome to the next instalment of An Atheist Explores Sacred Texts (Apocrypha version).
In this series I work my way chapter-by-chapter through the Old Testament Apocrypha, commenting on it from the point of view of the text as literature and mythology.
For more detail, see the introductory post http://bit.ly/3aEJ6Q5
For the online KJV I use, see here http://bit.ly/2m0zVUP
And now:
Tobit 6
“And when the young man went down to wash himself, a fish leaped out of the river, and would have devoured him.”
Ah, good. We do get the adventures of Raphael and Tobias, a disguised angel and a boy on a journey to collect debt money.
When the two get to the Tigris, Tobias is almost eaten by a fish (what kind of fish do they have in the Tigris?) but instead as they say, sometimes the fish eats you, sometimes you eat the fish. Tobias catches the fish and “Azarias” tells him to keep the heart, liver and gall bladder because with the heart and liver “if a devil or an evil spirit trouble any, we must make a smoke thereof before the man or the woman, and the party shall be no more vexed”, and with the gall bladder “it is good to anoint a man that hath whiteness in his eyes, and he shall be healed”. You can smell the folk-tale tropes, can’t you? What’s the betting that they’ll meet a person possessed and a blind man on their travels?
They arrive at Rages, and Raphael says that he’ll arrange lodging with cousin Raguel and also “he also hath one only daughter, named Sara; I will speak for her, that she may be given thee for a wife”. Blimey! Slow down there, Raph.
This daughter is Sara, as mentioned earlier, so at this point we jump back in the narrative. And Tobias has heard of her and her seven dead husbands, and is rightly concerned about marrying the Black Widow, even if he does seem to think that she has a deadly magic vagina – “And now I am the only son of my father, and I am afraid, lest if I go in unto her, I die, as the other before: for a wicked spirit loveth her, which hurteth no body, but those which come unto her”. Wasn’t it mentioned thought that all previous marriages were unconsummated, so Tobias’ Freudian fear is unfounded.
Ah, but wait! Raph explains that Tobias is the only person left who may lawfully marry Sara, but not to worry, because he has his magic fish viscera. “And when thou shalt come into the marriage chamber, thou shalt take the ashes of perfume, and shalt lay upon them some of the heart and liver of the fish, and shalt make a smoke with it: And the devil shall smell it, and flee away, and never come again any more”.
See, I knew they’d come in handy!
Tobit 7
“And when they were come to Ecbatane, they came to the house of Raguel, and Sara met them: and after they had saluted one another, she brought them into the house.”
Of course, having done all the planning and discussion last chapter, now we have to go over the implementation. Our intrepid duo arrive at the house of Ragual, and there are several verses of social niceties – “Then he said to them, Do ye know Tobit our kinsman? And they said, We know him. Then said he, Is he in good health?” Raguel slaughters a ram for food, and they sit down to “eat and drink and be merry”, and Raguel considers it “meet” that Tobias and Sara would marry. He takes Tobias aside to warn him “I have given my daughter in marriage to seven men, who died that night they came in unto her”. I’m wondering here if the euphemism “came in unto her” is not actual sex, but “going into” the bedchamber. Or perhaps consummation involves not dying in the act? I’m not sure I really want to know, to be honest.
That’s really about it. Raguel and his wife Edna draw up a covenant of marriage, and then Edna goes to prepare her daughter for (yet another) wedding night.
Tobit 8
“And as he went, he remembered the words of Raphael, and took the ashes of the perfumes, and put the heart and the liver of the fish thereupon, and made a smoke therewith.”
See, I knew the fish guts would be used later in the story. Here, Tobias makes good use of them on his wedding night (I’m not sure I want to follow that thought through. It implies an abuse of fish guts on a wedding night), burning them in incense. He and Sara then pray before getting down to business.
Raguel, meanwhile, has already dug a grave. When Edna sends in a maid to check on the newlyweds, and discovers a distinctly non-dead bridegroom, Raguel offers thanks to God. Really, though, it’s down to some weird kind of old superstition/magic imparted by Raphael. Tobias doesn’t survive because he’s pious or blessed by God, it’s because he casts a fish gut spell (even if it’s an angel that teaches him).
Still, Raguel commands that Tobias stay for a fortnight for the wedding feast. And probably to make sure the young man doesn’t snuff it in a day or so, but this bit is left unspoken.
Tobit 9
“So Raphael went out, and lodged with Gabael, and gave him the handwriting: who brought forth bags which were sealed up, and gave them to him.”
This is a really short chapter, only six verses long, wherein Tobias asks Raphael to go and collect the debt from Gabeal, because he’s tied up with this whole wedding thing. And Raphael does.
It’s a bit weird, an angel running debt-collecting errands. Sounds like something Neil Gaiman would come up with. Raphael, guardian angel of bailiffs.
Tobit 10
“Now Tobit his father counted every day: and when the days of the journey were expired, and they came not, Then Tobit said, Are they detained? or is Gabael dead, and there is no man to give him the money?”
This is another small chapter, but it’s actually quite full of touching familial affection. Tobit worries that his son has not yet come back (although it reads a bit like he’s more worried about not getting his money back), but Anna rapidly comes to the conclusion that Tobias is dead, and goes into a whole disturbed set of actions where she watches for his return constantly and wails all night and refuses food. Tobit is suitably understanding – “Hold thy peace, take no care, for he is safe”.
Meanwhile, Tobias yearns to return home once his fourteen days are up so that his parents don’t get worried (too late). Raguel tries to persuade him to stay, but in the end they send the newlyweds away “And he said to his daughter, Honour thy father and thy mother in law, which are now thy parents, that I may hear good report of thee. And he kissed her.”
Then Edna tells her daughter that she wants some grandchildren, and tells Tobias to look after her – “grant that I may see thy children of my daughter Sara before I die, that I may rejoice before the Lord: behold, I commit my daughter unto thee of special trust; where are do not entreat her evil.”
It’s all quite cosy and warm for the Bible.
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