Scripture Daily

Context No. 1644 of 4322 · Tobit

Context · Reflection

Tobit 4:1-16: in context

1In that day Tobit remembered the money which he had left in trust with Gabael in Rages of Media, 2and he said to himself, I have asked for death; why do I not call my son Tobias, that I may explain to him about the money before I die? 3And he called him, and said, “My child, if I die, bury me. Don’t despise your mother. Honor her all the days of your life, and do that which is pleasing to her, and don’t grieve her. 4Remember, my child, that she has seen many dangers for you, when you were in her womb. When she is dead, bury her by me in one grave. 5My child, be mindful of the Lord our God all your days, and don’t let your will be set to sin and to transgress his commandments: do righteousness all the days of your life, and don’t follow the ways of unrighteousness. 6For if you do what is true, your deeds will prosperously succeed for you, and for all those who do righteousness. 7Give alms from your possessions. When you give alms, don’t let your eye be envious. Don’t turn away your face from any poor man, and the face of God won’t be turned away from you. 8As your possessions are, give alms of it according to your abundance. If you have little, don’t be afraid to give alms according to that little; 9for you lay up a good treasure for yourself against the day of necessity; 10because alms-giving delivers from death, and doesn’t allow you to come into darkness. 11Alms is a good gift in the sight of the Most High for all that give it. 12Beware, my child, of all fornication, and take first a wife of the seed of your fathers. Don’t take a strange wife, who is not of your father’s tribe; for we are the descendants of the prophets. Remember, my child, that Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, our fathers of old time, all took wives of their kindred, and were blessed in their children, and their seed will inherit the land. 13And now, my child, love your kindred, and don’t scorn your kindred and the sons and the daughters of your people in your heart, to take a wife of them; for in scornfulness is destruction and much trouble, and in idleness is decay and great lack; for idleness is the mother of famine. 14Don’t let the wages of any man who works for you wait with you, but give it to him out of hand. If you serve God, you will be rewarded. Take heed to yourself, my child, in all your works, and be discreet in all your behavior. 15And what you yourself hate, do to no man. Don’t drink wine to drunkenness, and don’t let drunkenness go with you on your way. 16Give of your bread to the hungry, and of your garments to those who are naked. Give alms from all your abundance. Don’t let your eye be envious when you give alms.

Tobit, believing he is near death, gathers his son Tobias to pass on a father's wisdom for living well. Bury me, he says, and honor your mother all her days; remember she bore many dangers for you. Above all, be mindful of God all your days, do righteousness, and do not turn to unrighteousness. He counsels generosity: give alms from what you have, whether much or little, for almsgiving is a treasure laid up. He warns against immorality and pride, urges paying a worker's wages promptly, and gives a rule to live by: what you yourself hate, do to no one.

The chapter is a father's accumulated wisdom handed to his son, and its counsel is concrete and practical: honor your mother, remember God, be generous to the poor, be honest, pay your workers on time, do not let envy poison your giving, and, as a summary, what you hate, do to no one. This last is the golden rule in its plain, negative form, a simple test for how to treat others: do not do to anyone what you would not want done to yourself. It is a rule a child can grasp and a lifetime cannot exhaust, and Tobit hands it to his son as part of a whole way of living well. There is something worth honoring in the passing on of such wisdom from one generation to the next. Tobit did not leave Tobias only money, though he did that too; he left him the accumulated wisdom of a life, the practical guidance for living rightly, generously, and honestly before God and others. This is one of the truest inheritances a parent can give, not just provision but the handed-down wisdom for a good life, distilled into counsel a son can carry. And the counsel itself is worth taking to heart whatever our age: be mindful of God, be generous to the poor whether we have much or little, deal honestly, pay what we owe, and treat others by the simple measure of not doing to them what we would hate done to us. Tobit's wisdom to his son is a small treasury of the good life, and its center, what you hate, do to no one, is a rule that would order any life well.

Do I live by the simple, searching rule Tobit gave his son, doing to no one what I would hate done to myself, and, if I have those coming after me, am I passing on not only provision but the accumulated wisdom for a good life, mindful of God, generous, and honest?

Sources