BOOK OF TOBIAS

Cap. 1 Chapter 1 Tobias, from the tribe and city of Nephthali (which is in the upper parts of Galilee above Naasson, beyond the road which leads to the west, having the city of Sephet on the left), when he was captured in the days of Salmanasar Shalmaneser, king of the Assyrians, though placed in captivity, did not desert the way of truth, so that he shared all that he could have daily with his fellow captives who were of his kin. And although he was the youngest of all in the tribe of Nephthali, he did nothing childish in his work. Finally, when all went to the golden calves which Jeroboam, king of Israel, had made, he alone fled the company of all, but traveled to Jerusalem to the temple of the Lord, and there adored the Lord God of Israel, offering all his first fruits and tithes faithfully, so that in the third year he administered all the tithing to proselytes and strangers. These things and such like the young boy observed according to the law of God. When, however, he had become a man, he took a wife, Anna, from his own tribe, and begot a son from her, imposing his own name upon him, whom he taught from infancy to fear God and to abstain from every sin.

And so, when he had come through captivity with his wife and son into the city of Nineveh with all his tribe, when all were eating of the foods of the gentiles, he guarded his soul and was never defiled by their food. And because he was mindful of the Lord with all his heart, God gave him grace in the sight of King Salmanasar, and he gave him the power to go wherever he wished, having the freedom to do whatever he had desired. Therefore, he went to all who were in captivity, and gave them the warnings of salvation.

When, however, he had come into Rages, a city of the Medes, and from those things in which he had been honored by the king, he had possessed ten talents of silver: and when in a great crowd of his kin he saw Gabelus in need, who was of his tribe, he gave him the mentioned weight of silver under a promissory note.

After much time, indeed, when King Salmanasar had died, and when Sennacherib his son reigned in his stead, and held the children of Israel hateful in his sight, Tobias traveled daily through all his kinship, and comforted them, and divided to each, as he could, from his possessions: he fed the hungry, provided clothes for the naked, and showed himself solicitous in providing burial for the dead and the slain.

Finally, when King Sennacherib had returned, fleeing from Judea the plague which God had made around him on account of his blasphemy, and being angry, he killed many...

1. This book, which Martianay had enough to express faithfully from the Vatican edition, we have continuously brought to the most ancient manuscript codex of the same Vatican library, the Palatine, noted as no. 24. But we have also consulted another, likewise Vatican, formerly the manuscript of the Queen of Sweden under no. 7, which we also found of good use in recognizing the books of the previous volume.

A ...not however by my own zeal. For the studies of the Hebrews argue against us, and impute to us that we translate these things for Latin ears against their canon. But judging it better to displease the judgment of the Pharisees and to serve the commands of the bishops, I persisted as I could. And because the language of the Chaldeans is near to the Hebrew speech, finding someone most expert in both languages, I seized upon the labor of a single day: and whatever he expressed to me in Hebrew words, this I, having called a notary, set forth in Latin speech. By your prayers I will compensate the reward of this work, when I have learned that I have completed to your pleasure what you deigned to order.

B ...he guarded his soul and was never defiled by their food. And because he was mindful of the Lord with all his heart, God gave him grace in the sight of King Salmanasar, and he gave him the power to go wherever he wished, having the freedom to do whatever he had desired. Therefore, he went to all who were in captivity, and gave them the warnings of salvation.

[... continued text ...]

C ...and those who were slain, he diligently exhibited burial.

Finally, when King Sennacherib had returned, fleeing from Judea the plague which God had made around him on account of his blasphemy, and being angry, he killed many...

Another manuscript of Saint-Germain-des-Prés bears this inscription: Book of the Acts of Tobias, son of Ananiel, son of Gabriel of the Tribe of Naphtali. But the Chaldean text from which the holy Father expressed this version of his seems to have exhibited no genealogy of Tobias; although other texts, and the Greek editions whose norm he follows, connect still more extensive genealogies, and ones that vary among themselves.