Book of Tobit: Canon, Worship, and Its Story
The Book of Tobit has different standing across Christian traditions. Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox, and Assyrian Church of the East Christians regard it as deuterocanonical. Protestant traditions generally classify it as Apocrypha rather than part of their Old Testament canon, while still finding it useful for teaching and worship. The term deuterocanon means "second canon" and refers to books present in the Septuagint but absent from the Masoretic Text. As Protestants followed the Masoretic canon, Tobit remained outside their canon. In historic Protestant Bibles that include it, its location is an intertestamental section between the Old Testament and New Testament.
Christian recognition of Tobit has a long institutional history. Councils at Rome in 382, Hippo in 393, and Carthage in 397 and 419 listed it as canonical, as did Florence in 1442 and Trent in 1546. Augustine and Pope Innocent I also affirmed its place in the Old Testament. Earlier Christian classifications were not uniform: Athanasius placed Tobit among books outside the canon that the Fathers had appointed for reading. Rufinus of Aquileia used the category of Ecclesiastical books for Tobit and other deuterocanonical works. Origen spoke of churches using Tobit, while acknowledging that Jews did not use it.
The Book of Tobit also has a place in Protestant worship. Amish wedding sermons draw on it, and the first Methodist liturgical book, The Sunday Service of the Methodists, uses verses from Tobit in the Eucharistic liturgy. The Luther Bible includes it among books considered useful to read without holding them equal to sacred Scripture. The Church of England's Thirty-Nine Articles lists it as Apocrypha. Lutheran and Anglican lectionaries include readings from the Apocrypha, with alternate Old Testament readings available. Catholic and Anglican marriage services may use Tobit, and its praise of purity in marriage contributes to its use at weddings.
The story begins with Tobit, an Israelite of the tribe of Naphtali, deported from Tishbe in Galilee to Nineveh by the Assyrians. He has kept the laws of Moses and brought offerings to the Temple in Jerusalem before the conquest. He is married to Anna, and their son is Tobias. Tobit buries dead Israelites, but sparrows damage his eyes while he sleeps; treatment with ointment leaves him fully blind. Dependent on Anna, he accuses her of stealing and prays for death. Far away in Ecbatana, his relative Sarah also seeks death after the demon Asmodeus kills her suitors on their wedding nights.
God hears the prayers and sends Raphael to help. Tobit sends Tobias to recover money, and the angel accompanies him in human disguise, with Tobias' dog joining the journey. They catch a fish in the Tigris. Raphael explains that its burnt heart and liver can expel demons, while its gall can cure blindness. In Ecbatana, the fish's organs drive away Asmodeus, and Tobias marries Sarah. They return to Nineveh, where the gall restores Tobit's sight. Before departing, Raphael urges father and son to bless God, declare his deeds, pray, fast, and give alms. Tobit then praises God and anticipates mercy for the exiled people.
Most scholars treat the Book of Tobit as a didactic folktale or novella, with storytelling elements set within a historical context. Its mix includes prayer, ethical teaching, humor, adventure, romance, comedy, and folklore. For Jews in exile, it offered guidance on retaining Jewish identity. Its central themes include divine testing, responses to prayer, and protection of the covenant community. The book contains 14 chapters, with a prologue and epilogue framing three main narrative sections. In the epilogue, Tobit urges Tobias to leave Nineveh and live righteously with his children, anticipating the city's ruin and the eventual restoration of Israel and the Temple.
The story is set in the eighth century BCE. Its place of composition remains uncertain, with arguments for Mesopotamia, Judea, and Egypt. Two Greek versions survive: the Sinaiticus version is longer than the version represented by Vaticanus and Alexandrinus. Among the Dead Sea Scrolls at Qumran, four Aramaic fragments and one Hebrew fragment tend to align with the longer Greek version, which underlies most recent English translations. The original language remains uncertain. Ancient Greek and Latin recensions survive alongside translations into Arabic, Armenian, Coptic, Ethiopic, and Syriac.
The Book of Tobit reached European art and music as well as worship. Tobias with the fish became a popular motif in art and theology, where the fish served as a symbol of Christ. Rembrandt, a member of the Dutch Reformed Church, created paintings and drawings illustrating episodes from Tobit. The story also inspired Joseph Haydn's oratorio Il ritorno di Tobia in 1775. Folklore scholars connect it with The Grateful Dead tale, with an angel helping the hero in place of a dead man's spirit.