Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Tobias asks for Sarah as wife from her father Raguel, and obtains her; the marriage contract is written, and the wedding is celebrated.
Vulgate Text: Tobias 7:1-20
1. And they went in to Raguel, and Raguel received them with joy. 2. And looking at Tobias, Raguel said to his wife Anna: How like this young man is to my cousin! 3. And when he had said this, he said: Where are you from, our young men? And they said: We are from the tribe of Naphtali, from the captivity of Nineveh. 4. And Raguel said to them: Do you know our brother Tobias? And they said: We know him. 5. And when he spoke many good things about him, the Angel said to Raguel: Tobias, about whom you ask, is this one's father. 6. And Raguel threw himself upon him, and kissed him with tears, and weeping upon his neck, said: A blessing be upon you, my son, for you are the son of a good and excellent man. 8. And Anna his wife, and Sarah their daughter, wept. 9. And after they had spoken, Raguel ordered a ram to be killed, and a banquet to be prepared. And when he urged them to recline for the meal; 10. Tobias said: Here I will not eat or drink today, unless you first confirm my request, and promise to give me your daughter Sarah. 11. When Raguel heard these words he was frightened, knowing what had happened to those seven men who had gone in to her: and he began to fear lest the same thing should happen to this one too; and while he hesitated and gave the petitioner no answer, 12. The Angel said to him: Do not fear to give her to this man, for to this man who fears God your daughter is owed as wife; therefore no other could have her. 13. Then Raguel said: I do not doubt that God has admitted my prayers and tears into His sight, 14. And I believe that He therefore made you come to me, so that she might be joined to her kindred according to the law of Moses: and now do not have any doubt that I will give her to you. 15. And taking the right hand of his daughter, he placed it in the right hand of Tobias, saying: The God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you, and may He join you together, and fulfill His blessing in you. 16. And taking paper, they wrote the marriage contract. 17. And after this they feasted, blessing God. 18. And Raguel called his wife Anna to him, and commanded her to prepare another bedchamber. 19. And she brought Sarah her daughter there, and she wept. 20. And she said to her: Be of good courage, my daughter, may the Lord of heaven give you joy for the sorrow you have endured.
Verse 2: How Like This Young Man Is to My Cousin
2. How like this young man is to my cousin! — namely to the elder Tobias, who was Raguel's cousin. For the younger Tobias was like his father, as often happens.
Verse 3: We Are from the Tribe of Naphtali
3. We are from the tribe of Naphtali. — Note that Tobias said this, not the Angel Raphael. But Tobias thought Raphael was not an Angel, but a fellow tribesman: "they said" therefore means one person, Tobias, answering for both, namely for his angelic companion as well as for himself: if however anyone maintains that these are the words of both, and that Raphael asserts he is of the tribe of Naphtali not as a son, but as a guardian or tutelary Angel — as in Daniel X, the Angel of the Persians, Greeks, and Hebrews is named — and in this sense Angels can be called our fellow citizens and fellow tribesmen. So the Angel of John the Apostle calls himself a fellow servant, Apocalypse XIX, 10. Finally, Raphael had here assumed the form, person, and name of Azarias, and therefore could rightly call himself a Naphtalite; for such was Azarias. See what was said, chapter V, verse 18.
Verse 4: Do You Know Our Brother Tobias?
4. Do you know our brother Tobias? — "Brother," that is, cousin and kinsman, as I already said.
Verse 6: Raguel Threw Himself upon Him
6. And Raguel threw himself — upon the neck of Tobias, embracing and kissing him. In Greek it is: Raguel leapt for joy.
Verse 8: They Wept
8. They wept. — The Greek adds that they did this after they heard that Tobias had lost the sight of his eyes.
Verse 11: What Happened to the Seven Men
11. What happened to the seven men who went in to her — namely into the bridal chamber before marital union. For the Greek and Hebrew add: "The demon killed them, before they had been with her as husbands," that is, before they had had conjugal union with her.
You ask: Why did so many suitors court Sarah, especially since the later ones had seen the death of the earlier ones? I answer: The first allurement was Sarah's singular beauty and comeliness; the second, that she was the sole heir of the vast wealth of her father Raguel; the third, that they perhaps thought she was owed to them by the right of kinship, since Tobias was not present, to whom, as verse 14 states, she was owed as the nearest kinsman. Fourth, because love maddened them. For, as St. Augustine says, "he is exceedingly reckless who has tried to cross where he has seen another fall."
Fortunate is he whom the perils of others make cautious.
He began to fear lest the same should happen to this one too. — St. Ambrose praises Raguel, book III of the Offices, chapter XIV: "Raguel," he says, "especially expressed the model of honesty, who, out of consideration for honesty, when he was asked to give his daughter in marriage, did not conceal the misfortunes of his daughter either, lest he seem to deceive the petitioner by his silence." And shortly after: "The just man feared more for strangers, and preferred his daughter to remain unmarried rather than that strangers should be put in danger on account of her marriage."
Verse 16: They Wrote the Marriage Contract
16. They wrote the marriage contract. — They made an authentic document, in which they wrote down the conditions and agreements of the marriage, namely the promises of both the bridegroom and the bride and her parents. The parents did not hesitate, although terrified by the death of the seven bridegrooms, to give their daughter Sarah to Tobias; both because Raphael by the gravity, indeed majesty, of his face and words urged it and promised safety, and because God internally moved them to carry out this marriage; so Dionysius, Serarius, and others.
Verses 18-20: Be of Good Courage, My Daughter
And, as Pliny says, book XXVIII, chapter V: "It is best to profit from another's madness."
Again learn here how all pleasure, even of marriage, is uncertain and unstable. Behold these bridegrooms are killed at the very wedding of their bride, as has happened and often happens to many similar cases; hence the proverb of Ben Sira: "The bride ascends to the bridal chamber, and does not know what will happen to her." For as Seneca says, epistle 26: "It is uncertain in what place death awaits you. Therefore await it in every place."
Again let spouses learn here to use marriage chastely, and all others to live chastely, lest they be killed by Asmodaeus, just as these impure bridegrooms were. A few years ago, when I was in Belgium, a serious priest from our Society told me that in a military mission he had repeatedly warned a certain soldier about his infamous concubinage to correct his life, but in vain: wherefore at last, moved by zeal and fervor, he had threatened him, and declared that unless he quickly amended himself, he would experience the severe vengeance of God. So it happened, for shortly afterwards, God sent a storm, thunder, and lightning with horrible crashing and universal terror, and struck that man alone with lightning while in the shameful embrace of his concubine, together with her, and laid them dead; and so in the very act of sin he surrendered his body to the lightning and his soul to hell, while all exclaimed: "You are just, O Lord, and Your judgment is right!"