Context No. 4006 of 4322 · Tobit

Tobit 14:1-15: in context

1Then Tobit finished giving thanks. 2He was fifty-eight years old when he lost his sight. After eight years, he received it again. He gave alms and he feared the Lord God more and more, and gave thanks to him. 3Now he grew very old; and he called his son with the six sons of his son, and said to him, “My child, take your sons. Behold, I have grown old, and am ready to depart out of this life. 4Go into Media, my child, for I surely believe all the things which Jonah the prophet spoke of Nineveh, that it will be overthrown, but in Media there will rather be peace for a season. Our kindred will be scattered on the earth from the good land. Jerusalem will be desolate, and the house of God in it will be burned up, and will be desolate for a time. 5God will again have mercy on them, and bring them back into the land, and they will build the house, but not like to the former house, until the times of that age are fulfilled. Afterward they will return from the places of their captivity, and build up Jerusalem with honor. The house of God will be built in it forever with a glorious building, even as the prophets spoke concerning it. 6And all the nations will turn to fear the Lord God truly, and will bury their idols. 7All the nations will bless the Lord, and his people will give thanks to God, and the Lord will exalt his people; and all those who love the Lord God in truth and righteousness will rejoice, showing mercy to our kindred. 8And now, my child, depart from Nineveh, because those things which the prophet Jonah spoke will surely come to pass. 9But you must keep the law and the ordinances, and show yourself merciful and righteous, that it may be well with you. 10Bury me decently, and your mother with me. Don’t stay at Nineveh. See, my child, what Aman did to Achiacharus who nourished him, how out of light he brought him into darkness, and all the recompense that he made him. Achiacharus was saved, but the other had his recompense, and he went down into darkness. Manasses gave alms, and escaped the snare of death which he set for him; but Aman fell into the snare, and perished. 11And now, my children, consider what alms does, and how righteousness delivers.” While he was saying these things, he gave up the ghost in the bed; but he was one hundred fifty eight years old. Tobias buried him magnificently. 12When Anna died, he buried her with his father. But Tobias departed with his wife and his sons to Ecbatana to Raguel his father-in-law, 13and he grew old in honor, and he buried his father-in-law and mother-in-law magnificently, and he inherited their possessions, and his father Tobit’s. 14He died at Ecbatana of Media, being one hundred twenty seven years old. 15Before he died, he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus took captive. Before his death, he rejoiced over Nineveh.

The book of Tobit closes with the death of Tobit, a man who had lived a long life marked by faithfulness to God and mercy to others. As he grows old and prepares to die, he gathers his son and grandsons and gives them his final counsel, a summary of the wisdom by which he had lived: keep the law and its commandments, be merciful and righteous, and consider what almsgiving accomplishes, and how righteousness delivers.

He points them beyond his own death to God's future faithfulness, that God would restore Jerusalem and the nations would turn to him, and he dies in peace and honor. There is something beautiful in the legacy Tobit leaves. His parting words are not about wealth or worldly success but about the things that had shaped his own life: faithfulness to God, mercy toward others, and confidence in God's future. He commends to the next generation the very righteousness and mercy he had practiced, sure that these are what truly matter. There is a question here about the legacy we are building and will leave.

What legacy am I building for those who come after me, and would my parting counsel, like Tobit's, commend a life of mercy, righteousness, and trust in God as the things that truly matter?

Sources

Tobit 14:9: "But you must keep the law and the ordinances, and show yourself merciful and righteous, that it may be well with you."
Tobit 14:11: "Consider what alms does, and how righteousness delivers. While he was saying these things, he gave up the ghost in the bed."
Tobit 14:2: "He gave alms and he feared the Lord God more and more, and gave thanks to him."