Tobiah

the one who traveled with the angel

Who was Tobiah?

Son of Tobit and Anna, Israelites in exile in Nineveh. Tobit 1:9
He traveled to Media with a companion who was the angel Raphael, without knowing it. Tobit 5:4
He married Sarah, prayed with her on their wedding night, and healed his father’s eyes. Tobit 8:4-5; Tobit 11:11-13

He is not Tobiah the Ammonite, the man who mocked Nehemiah and the wall of Jerusalem.

The name: It means “the Lord is good.” NAB note on Tob 1, 1
From: From a family of the tribe of Naphtali, exiled in Nineveh Tobit 1:1, 9

What the Bible says

Tobit 1:9

But when he was a man, he took to wife Anna of his own tribe, and had a son by her, whom he called after his own name,

Tobit 5:4

Then Tobias going forth, found a beautiful young man, standing girded, and as it were ready to walk. And not knowing that he was an angel of God, he saluted him, and said: From whence art thou, good young man?

Tobit 8:4-5; Tobit 11:11-13

⁴Then Tobias exhorted the virgin, and said to her: Sara, arise, and let us pray to God today, and tomorrow, and the next day: because for these three nights we are joined to God: and when the third night is over, we will be in our own wedlock. ⁵So they both arose, and prayed earnestly both together that health might be given them, And Tobias said: Lord God of our father, may the heavens and the earth, and the sea, and the fountains, and the rivers, and all thy creatures that are in them, bless thee.

Douay-Rheims Bible (Challoner revision), public domain.

The path of Tobiah

Before Jesus. Before the journey, his father asked him to honor his mother, to remember God and to give alms. Tobit 4:3-7
Before Jesus. Tobit sent him to Media, to collect some money he had left in safekeeping there. Tobit 4:20; Tobit 5:3
With Jesus. Tobiah looked for a guide and found the angel Raphael, but he did not know he was an angel. Tobit 5:4
With Jesus. At the Tigris River a huge fish leaped up. The angel told him to keep its gall, heart and liver. Tobit 6:3-5
With Jesus. In Ecbatana he married Sarah, the daughter of his kinsman Raguel. Tobit 7:11-13
With Jesus. On their wedding night, Tobiah and Sarah got up to pray together. Tobit 8:4-5
Afterward. He went back to Nineveh and rubbed the gall on his father's eyes. Tobit could see again. Tobit 11:11-13
Afterward. Raphael told them who he was. Years later, Tobiah cared for his parents-in-law in their old age. Tobit 12:15; Tobit 14:13

Words of Tobiah

“But how I shall get this money, I cannot tell: he knoweth not me, and I know not him: what token shall I give him? nor did I ever know the way which leadeth thither.” Tobit 5:2

When his father asked him to make the journey.

“Thou madest Adam of the slime of the earth, and gavest him Eve for a helper. And now, Lord, thou knowest, that not for fleshly lust do I take my sister to wife, but only for the love of posterity, in which thy name may be blessed for ever and ever.” Tobit 8:6-7

On the wedding night, praying with Sarah. “Sister” here means kinswoman and wife.

“He conducted me and brought me safe again, he received the money of Gabelus, he caused me to have my wife, and he chased from her the evil spirit, he gave joy to her parents, myself he delivered from being devoured by the fish, thee also he hath made to see the light of heaven, and we are filled with all good things through him.” Tobit 12:3

To his father, when they were thinking about how to pay his traveling companion.

What they were like

Obedient: he made the journey his father asked of him. Tobit 5:1
He was afraid of dying like Sarah's husbands, and he said so. Tobit 6:14-15
Grateful: he wanted to give his companion half of everything they brought back. Tobit 12:2-4

The greatest thing they did

He began his marriage by praying with Sarah. Tobit 8:4-8
He healed his father's eyes, as the angel had taught him. Tobit 11:7-13

Not to be confused with

Tobit: Tobit is his father, the one who became blind. The 1836 Spanish Bible calls them both Tobias. Tobit 1:9
He is a different man, centuries later, who mocked Nehemiah and the wall of Jerusalem. Nehemiah 3:35

In the Church today

In art, recognized by: The fish, and the angel who goes with him From Tob 6, 3-5; this is how Christian art depicts him

What people ask

Did Tobiah know he was traveling with an angel?

No. Raphael told him who he was only at the end of the journey. Tobit 5:4; Tobit 12:15

Why was he afraid to marry Sarah?

He had heard that her seven husbands had died, and that a demon was killing them. Tobit 6:14-15

What did Tobiah and Sarah pray?

They blessed God, remembered Adam and Eve, and asked to grow old together. The Catechism cites this prayer. Tobit 8:5-7; Catechism 2361

Is Tobiah's dog in the Bible?

Yes. The family dog went along with Tobiah and the angel. Tobit 6:2

Who is the angel Raphael?

He said himself that he is one of the seven angels who stand before the Lord. The Church celebrates him together with Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel. Tobit 12:15; Catechism 335

Little known His mother Anna waited for him, sitting by the road. Tobit 11:5 Raguel, his father-in-law, held the wedding feast for fourteen days. Tobit 8:20 He had seven sons.…

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Who Tobiah is connected to

Tobit · father and son

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All the people of the Bible · The Twelve Apostles · Women of the Bible

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