Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Tobias, about to die, predicts the destruction of Nineveh as well as of Jerusalem, and its restoration and glory through the calling of the nations to Christ and to heavenly happiness. The younger Tobias therefore departs from Nineveh to Ecbatana, and there dies and is buried.
Vulgate Text: Tobias 14:1-17
1. And the words of Tobias were finished. And after Tobias was given light, he lived forty-two years, and saw the children of his grandchildren. 2. And when he had completed a hundred and two years, he was buried honorably in Nineveh. 3. For at fifty-six years of age he lost the light of his eyes, and at sixty he recovered it. 4. And the rest of his life was in joy, and with good progress in the fear of God he departed in peace. 5. And in the hour of his death he called to him Tobias his son, and seven young sons of his, his grandsons, and said to them: 6. The destruction of Nineveh will be near: for the word of the Lord has not failed: and our brethren who have been scattered from the land of Israel shall return to it. 7. And all her deserted land shall be filled, and the house of God, which was burned in it, shall be rebuilt again: and there all who fear God shall return, 8. and the nations shall leave their idols, and shall come to Jerusalem, and shall dwell in it, 9. and all the kings of the earth shall rejoice in it, worshipping the King of Israel. 10. Hear therefore, my sons, your father: Serve the Lord in truth, and seek to do what is pleasing to Him: 11. and command your children to do justice and almsgiving, that they may be mindful of God and bless Him at all times in truth and with all their strength. 12. Now therefore, my sons, hear me, and do not remain here: but on whatever day you shall bury your mother near me in the same tomb, from that day direct your steps to depart from here: 13. for I see that its iniquity will bring it to its end. 14. Now after the death of his mother, Tobias departed from Nineveh with his wife, and children, and children's children, and returned to his parents-in-law. 15. And he found them well in a good old age: and he took care of them, and he himself closed their eyes: and he received the whole inheritance of the house of Raguel: and he saw the fifth generation, the children of his children's children. 16. And when he had completed ninety-nine years in the fear of the Lord, they buried him with joy. 17. And all his kindred, and all his generation, continued in good life and in holy conduct, so that they were acceptable both to God and to men, and to all the inhabitants of the land.
Verse 1: After Tobias Was Given Light
1. AND AFTER TOBIAS WAS GIVEN LIGHT, HE LIVED 42 YEARS, — namely from the age of 60 to 102, as follows.
Verse 2: He Was Buried Honorably in Nineveh
2. And when he had completed a hundred and two years HE WAS BURIED HONORABLY IN NINEVEH, — namely in the place of exile. For he had been carried thither by Shalmaneser king of the Assyrians, whose capital was Nineveh. Let the saints say here that they live and die in the world as in exile, and accordingly let them not care about dying and being buried in their homeland among their own people. For:
Every land is a homeland to the brave, as the sea to fish:
and as Thomas More says in his Utopia: "From everywhere the distance to heaven is the same."
Tobias, as I said in the introduction, was 39 years old in the sixth year of Hezekiah, when with the other Israelites he was led into Assyria; therefore in the 25th year of Hezekiah, at the age of 46, he was blinded; but in the 27th year of Hezekiah, at the age of 60, he recovered his sight, and afterwards he lived two more years under Hezekiah (for he reigned 29 years), then under Manasseh for 40 years, and died in the 40th year of Manasseh, 70 years before the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans.
Moreover, the Greek attributes more years to Tobias. For it asserts that he was blinded at the age of 158. But by the decree of the Council of Trent, Session 4, the Latin Vulgate is to be followed by us as canonical Scripture, not the Greek.
Verse 3: At Fifty-Six He Lost the Light of His Eyes
3. FOR AT FIFTY-SIX YEARS OF AGE HE LOST THE LIGHT OF HIS EYES (in Nineveh) AND AT SIXTY HE RECOVERED IT.
Verse 5: In the Hour of His Death He Called His Son
5. AND IN THE HOUR OF HIS DEATH HE CALLED TO HIM TOBIAS HIS SON, — to give him his final admonitions and also oracles about the destruction of Nineveh and the glory of Jerusalem. The patriarch Isaac did the same when about to die, Gen. 27:27, and Jacob, Gen. 49, and Moses, Deut. 33. Plato held that the soul in death is as it were elevated from the body of the dying person to divine things, so that it foresees and foretells the future by a certain hidden instinct of nature and by prognostic signs; just as birds, sheep, and cattle sense from signs of changed weather the coming of rains and storms. Whence Cicero, book 1 of On Divination: "As death approaches, he says, the soul is much more divine. For those who are afflicted with grave and fatal illness also see this very thing, that death is at hand. And so images of the dead frequently appear to them; and then especially they are eager for praise; and those who have lived otherwise than was fitting are then most of all repentant of their sins. Possidonius also confirms that the dying prophesy, by the example he cites: that a certain Rhodian named six of his contemporaries and stated which would be the first to die, which the second, and which next in order." And from our own writers Arnobius, book 2 Against the Pagans: "Those nearest to death, he says, are most powerful in knowledge, so that we prophesy about the future, as Plato records that Socrates said in the Apology of Socrates." St. Gregory, book 4 of the Dialogues, chapter 25, approves this natural cause and adds another supernatural one. "Sometimes, he says, the force of souls itself, by its subtlety, foresees something. But sometimes souls about to depart from the body know the future through revelation. And sometimes indeed, just as they are about to leave the body, divinely inspired they cast the incorporeal eye of the mind into the heavenly secrets."
Moreover, it is certain that Tobias here predicted the destruction of Nineveh as well as of Jerusalem, and the restoration and glory of it and its temple, not by natural force but by divine inspiration; for he had no prognostic signs from which he could gather or conjecture this: whence he is called a Prophet by St. Ambrose in his book On Tobit. See what was said in the introduction to the Minor Prophets, chapter 21.
Verse 6: The Destruction of Nineveh Shall Be Near
6. THE DESTRUCTION OF NINEVEH SHALL BE NEAR. — Nineveh was captured and devastated several times; first, by Arbaces the Mede, who besieged Sardanapalus reigning in Nineveh, and drove him to set fire to himself and his city: this happened before Tobias under Uzziah king of Judah, grandfather of Hezekiah, as Eusebius and others attest; second, toward the end of the reign of Hezekiah; for about the 14th year of Hezekiah, Sennacherib was slain by an Angel in Judea, and his son Esarhaddon soon succeeded him, who reigned ten years, and with him the kings of Nineveh came to an end. For Merodach-Baladan succeeded him, who having subdued Nineveh (as it seems), transferred the empire to Babylon, and therefore in Scripture after Esarhaddon no kings of the Assyrians are named, but only of the Babylonians. This destruction of Nineveh also preceded the death of Tobias, and consequently this oracle of his about the overthrow of Nineveh, which he uttered when dying in the 4th year of Manasseh, who succeeded his father Hezekiah in the kingdom. Third, many think that Nineveh, having flourished again, was once more overthrown by Cyaxares the Mede and Nebuchadnezzar the elder, who was the father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, about the 13th year of Josiah king of Judah; and that Tobias speaks here of this destruction. So St. Jerome, Eusebius and others. But Nahum, chapter 2, verse 1, shows that Nineveh was overthrown by the younger Nebuchadnezzar in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem.
Moreover the Greek adds here: Go into Media, my son, because I have believed whatever Jonas the prophet spoke about Nineveh, that it will be overthrown. But in Media there will be more peace for a time.
FOR THE WORD OF THE LORD HAS NOT FAILED, — uttered by the prophet Jonah, as the Greek has, about the destruction of Nineveh; for although the Ninevites, repenting at the preaching of Jonah, escaped the destruction threatened against them by him, yet soon relapsing into their former crimes, they incurred the same fate, as Nahum predicted to them after Jonah in chapter 2; but Tobias does not speak here of the oracle of Nahum, because he had died long before him.
AND OUR BRETHREN WHO HAVE BEEN SCATTERED FROM THE LAND OF ISRAEL SHALL RETURN TO IT. — For many from the ten tribes, foreseeing or already sensing the destruction of Nineveh, fled from it, and not a few of them returned to the land of Israel. Others zealous for the true worship of God joined themselves to the tribe of Judah, and with it were united into the one kingdom of Judah, as I said in Ezra and Chronicles.
Verse 7: All the Deserted Land Shall Be Filled
7. AND ALL THE DESERTED LAND OF IT (ISRAEL) SHALL BE FILLED (with inhabitants returning to it by right of return) AND THE HOUSE OF GOD WHICH WAS BURNED IN IT SHALL BE REBUILT AGAIN. — "Was burned," that is, will be burned by the Chaldeans: he speaks prophetically of the future as if of the past because of the certainty of what is to come. Whence the Greek has in the future tense: Our brethren shall be scattered, and Jerusalem shall be desolate, and the house of God in it shall be burned, and it shall be desolate until a time: and again God will have mercy on them and will bring them back into the land. And they shall build a house, not like the first, until the times of the age are fulfilled. And after these things they shall return from the captivities and shall build Jerusalem honorably, and the house of God shall be built in it. And in all the generations of the age, the building shall be glorious, as the prophets have spoken of it. And all nations shall be truly converted to fear the Lord God, and shall bury their idols.
Verse 9: All the Kings of the Earth Shall Rejoice
9. AND ALL THE KINGS OF THE EARTH SHALL REJOICE IN IT, WORSHIPPING THE KING OF ISRAEL, — that is, worshipping Christ; for after the return from captivity there was no other king of Israel whom all the kings of the earth worshipped; but all nations and kings served Christ.
Verse 10: Serve the Lord in Truth
10. SERVE THE LORD IN TRUTH, — that is, truly, sincerely, namely with a true, sincere, upright, whole, and complete heart, not feigned, not false, not halved, not divided, so as to give half of your heart and soul to God and the other half to the devil, that is, to idols and lusts. Truth here therefore is opposed to falsehood, superstition, hypocrisy, pretense, and simulation. So Serarius.
Verse 11: That They May Do Justice
11. THAT THEY MAY DO JUSTICE, — that is, just, pious, and holy works. In the Greek there is added the notable example of Achiachar, who was Tobias's nephew through his brother, as I said in chapter 1, and of a certain Manasseh, namely that both were thrown into danger of their reputation and life by the impious and ungrateful Aman, but escaped through their piety and almsgiving; while Aman, nourished by Achiachar, fell into the same fate; for the text reads thus: And now, my son, depart from Nineveh, because everything that the prophet Jonah spoke will certainly come to pass. But keep the law and the commandments, and be a lover of almsgiving and just, that it may be well with you; and bury me well, and your mother with me; and do not remain any longer in Nineveh. My son, see what Aman did to Achiachar, who had raised him: how he brought him from light into darkness, and what he repaid him. And Achiachar indeed was saved, but to Aman retribution was given, and he himself descended into darkness. Manasseh gave alms, and was saved from the snare of death which they had set for him; but Aman fell into the snare and perished. And now, my son, see what almsgiving does, and how justice delivers.
Who this Aman was is uncertain; it is certain that he was not the Aman who was the enemy of Mordecai and Esther: for that one lived long after Tobias. Who this Manasseh was is also unknown. Some think he was the husband of Judith; for the time agrees, but the place disagrees, says Salianus; for Judith lived in the time of Tobias, he says, but in Bethulia of Judea, not in Nineveh and Assyria, where this Manasseh lived, of whom Tobias speaks.
Verse 14: Tobias Departed from Nineveh
14. TOBIAS DEPARTED FROM NINEVEH, — fleeing its destruction. From Nineveh he set out for Media to his father-in-law Raguel living in Ecbatana. Here note God's wonderful providence toward Tobias, who first, about the 27th year of Hezekiah, directed Tobias through Raphael to Media and Ecbatana, so that he might bring out Sara from there and receive the money from Gabelus, before Ecbatana was laid waste, and thus having rescued both from danger, placed them in safety. For shortly after, Ecbatana was devastated under Manasseh the son of Hezekiah, say Bellarmine and Salianus, about which more in the introduction to Judith.
Second, when afterwards, with Ecbatana flourishing again, destruction threatened Nineveh and Assyria, He bade Tobias depart thence and make for Ecbatana to his father-in-law, so that he might be present with him in his old age, close his eyes when dying, and receive the entire inheritance. If God provided for His friends with such care regarding bodily goods, how much more will He provide regarding spiritual, heavenly, and eternal goods?
The Greek adds: And he himself died at the age of a hundred and twenty-seven, in Ecbatana of Media. And before he died he heard of the destruction of Nineveh, which Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus took captive, and he rejoiced before he died over Nineveh.
This Ahasuerus is held by many to be Cyaxares, father of Astyages, because he was the maternal grandfather of Cyrus, the first monarch of the Persians. For he who in Hebrew or Chaldean is called Ahasuerus, in Greek is called Axuares, Oxyares, and Axares, to which is prefixed Cy or Cu, which in Persian signifies prince. But Salianus takes Ahasuerus to mean Phraortes, the father of Cyaxares, who succeeded Deioces in the kingdom of the Medes. For Ahasuerus was a common name of the Median kings.
You will say: How could the younger Tobias have seen the destruction of Nineveh before his death, since according to the Latin text he died at the age of 99, which falls in the 16th year of Josiah; and according to the Greek he died at the age of 127, which falls in the second year, the eleventh year after which Jerusalem was devastated by the Chaldeans, and Nineveh five years after that, as I said on Nahum 2:5. I answer first that these words, that Tobias saw the destruction of Nineveh, are not in the Latin Vulgate, which the Council of Trent approved, but in the Greek text, in which many things have been added that disagree with and indeed contradict the Latin Vulgate, and therefore do not appear certain, but seem inserted by someone, such as what in verses 4 and 8 says that the elder Tobias was blind for eight years and lived 158 years, whereas the Vulgate asserts he was blind for only four years and lived 102 years. To the younger Tobias it gives here 127 years, whereas the Vulgate gives only 99. Therefore we must follow the Vulgate, not the Greek. And accordingly it seems more true that Tobias did not see the destruction of Nineveh, especially since the Greek texts vary here. For the Complutensian gives Tobias 127 years; but St. Athanasius in his Synopsis only 107; according to the Vulgate, the death of Tobias preceded the destruction of Nineveh by 47 years; according to the Greek, by 14 years.
Second, St. Jerome, Eusebius, and others hold that Nineveh was destroyed in the 13th year of Josiah, and thus Tobias could have seen it: for he died in the 16th year of Josiah.
Third, although it is more true that Nineveh was destroyed in the fifth year after Jerusalem was destroyed by the Chaldeans, nevertheless about the 13th year of Josiah it began to be besieged and devastated. For, as Herodotus says in book 1, Cyaxares began to besiege Nineveh (under Josiah), but when the Scythians invaded Media, he interrupted the siege for 28 years, after which, resuming and renewing the siege with the younger Nebuchadnezzar, he took and devastated Nineveh in the fifth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, and then Nebuchadnezzar made himself monarch: wherefore this was the first year of his monarchy. Whence the Hebrews in the Seder Olam say this happened in the first year not of the reign but of the monarchy of Nebuchadnezzar, which was the 24th year of his reign; for he began to reign in the fourth year of Jehoiakim king of Judah. And this is what St. Jerome and Eusebius seem to have meant, namely that Cyaxares, with the elder Nebuchadnezzar, began to besiege and devastate the territory of Nineveh about the 13th year of Josiah, and that Tobias heard of this before his death, but after 28 years, when Cyaxares resumed the siege with the younger Nebuchadnezzar and took Nineveh by storm. Whence the Greek has that Tobias heard not the "destruction" but the apoleia, that is, the "perdition" of Nineveh, because namely he heard that it was being so besieged and devastated that it could not escape, but must necessarily be lost, that is, taken and overthrown; therefore the phrase "which he took captive" means the same as "began to take"; for the act is signified as begun, not completed.
Fourth, Serarius, Salianus, and others answer that Nineveh was taken and plundered many times, while it was contending with the Babylonians and Medes for empire, now conquering, now being conquered by them: wherefore it is uncertain which destruction of Nineveh Tobias speaks of here.
Finally, Serarius counts the 99 years of the younger Tobias from the death of his father, namely the elder Tobias, adding to which the 68 years during which Tobias lived with his father in captivity, and making him two years old when he came into captivity, he calculates that he lived altogether 164 years, so that he reached the 24th year of Nebuchadnezzar, when Nineveh was overthrown, and thus could have heard of its overthrow; but this age seems excessive and plainly paradoxical for that era.
Verse 16: When He Had Completed Ninety-Nine Years
16. AND WHEN HE HAD COMPLETED 99 YEARS IN THE FEAR OF THE LORD (dying) THEY BURIED HIM WITH JOY, — For although his sons and grandsons grieved at his death, they nevertheless rejoiced that he concluded so long, fortunate, and holy a life with a death entirely corresponding, since henceforth nothing else awaited him in this life, now nearly a centenarian, except labor and pain. For to die in full, honored, peaceful, and prosperous old age, as well as in piety and holiness, is a great, indeed the supreme good of this life.
The younger Tobias therefore died about the 16th year of Josiah king of Judah; for the 99th year of his life falls in that year, and he was buried in Ecbatana of the Medes.