Tobias 12:7-15
In those days, the Angel Raphael said to Tobias: It is good to hide the secret of a king: but honourable to reveal and confess the works of God. Prayer is good with fasting and alms, more than to lay up treasures of gold: for alms delivereth from death, and the same is that which purgeth away sins, and maketh to find mercy and life everlasting. But they that commit sin and iniquity are enemies to their own soul. I discover then the truth unto you, and I will not hide the secret from you. When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead, and didst leave thy dinner, and hide the dead by day in thy house, and bury them by night, I offered thy prayer to the Lord. And because thou wert acceptable to God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee. And now the Lord hath sent me to heal thee, and to deliver Sara thy son’s wife from the devil. For I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord.
Haydock
Verse 7. Hide. Gr. “To bless God, and to extol his name, exposing with honour the words of God, and delay not to confess unto him. For,” &c. H. — The Old Vulg. greatly abridges the remainder of this book, having only, “Then Raphael having called the two Tobies, said to them, Since thou hast not delayed to arise, and to leave thy meals to bury the dead, I have been sent to try thee to heal thee, and to deliver thy daughter-in-law. I am Raphael, one of the angels who assist and appear before the brightness of God. Hereupon the two Tobies were startled, and fell prostrate on the ground, and were seized with fear. And Raphael said, Fear not, Peace be with you. Bless the Lord all the days of your life, and sing his praises. You thought that I eat when I was at table with you. But you saw with your eyes; (H. only a vision. C.) wherefore bless the Lord upon the earth, and praise his goodness. As for me, I return to him who sent me. Write down all that has happened. The angel having spoken thus to Tobias, the latter wrote this prayer as a monument of his joy, and said, Blessed be the Lord, who is great in eternity, because his reign endures for ever. It is He who strikes, and who shews I mercy, who conducts to the grave, and who, by his majesty, rescues from the greatest miseries; and no one can withdraw himself from his hands. End of Tobias the just.” H. — King. Secrecy is the soul of human councils, to prevent an enemy from thwarting our designs: but nothing can withstand the divine power. It is therefore proper to testify our gratitude for favours received, as the ancient saints have done by their canticles. C.
Verse 8. Alms. Gr. adds, “and justice. Better is a little with justice, than much with iniquity.” H. — Fasting and alms are like the wings of prayer. W. See C. iv. 11.
Verse 9. Everlasting. This word is not found in Greek, though sufficiently implied; as liberality does not always secure a person’s life, or temporal happiness. C. — Gr. “Those who perform alms-deeds and justice, shall be filled with life. But sinners are enemies,” &c.
Verse 10. Soul. If this were understood of the present life, nothing could be less accurate, as the wicked often prosper. See Ps. x. 6. Jo. xii. 25. C.
Verse 11. I. Gr. “I will not hide from you any word or thing. I said then, It is good to conceal the mystery of the king, but glorious to manifest the works of God. And now, when thou and thy daughter-in-law, Sarra, did pray, I brought forward the memorial of your prayer before the holy one.” H. — The angels are represented as God’s ministers, offering our prayers to him. Apoc. viii. 3. C. S. Aug. W. — Philo styles them ambassadors. Socrates says, “every demon (or good spirit) is between God and mortals.” Plutarch. — Inter homines cælicolasque, vectores hinc precum, inde donorum. Apuleius de Deo Socrat. C. — Gr. continues, “and when thou didst bury the dead, in like manner, I was present with thee; when thou didst not delay to rise and leave thy dinner, that going thou mightest cover the dead; in thy good work, thou wast not hidden from me: but I was with thee. And,” &c. v. 14. H.
Verse 13. Thee. This rule is invariable, that the good may advance in virtue, and set a pattern to the world, (Heb. ii. 18. and xii. 6. Acts xiv. 21. C.) and cancel their smallest faults.
Verse 14. From the devil, is not in Greek. H. — In this history, as well as in other parts of Scripture, we have convincing proofs of the good which each one receives from his angel guardian, and from the other blessed spirits. See S. Luke xv. and xvi. S. Chrys. in col. hom. 3. S. Aug. de Civ. Dei. xi. 31. &c. W.
Verse 15. Raphael. We know also the names of Michael and Gabriel. All others are apocryphal; such as Uriel, Saltiel, Jeadriel Barachiel, &c. — Seven. This number is clearly specified by S. John, Apoc. i. 4. A mass in their honour was approved by Pius IV. It is supposed that the seven deacons in the Church of Rome, and of Jerusalem, were instituted in imitation of them. The kings, Assuerus, &c. had seven chief officers. Est. i. 10. C. — Lord, ready to fulfil his orders, as innumerable other angels, of inferior degree, are likewise. M. Dan. vii. 10. — These were the princes of the heavenly court. S. Jerom (con. Jovin.) admits only seven orders of angels. C. — Gr. “I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who offer up the prayers of the saints, and go out before the glory of the Holy One. And they were both troubled,” &c. (H.) at so unusual a thing, (M.) and filled with reverential awe. H. — They might also suspect that death would shortly follow. C. Gen. xvi. 13.