Library/Deuterocanon
Tobit
A pious Israelite, a demon (Asmodeus) who kills seven husbands, the archangel Raphael in disguise, and a fish whose organs heal. The friendliest angelology in the deuterocanon, and a quiet counterpart to Enoch’s terrible angels.
- Status
- Catholic & Orthodox deuterocanon
- Date
- c. 225–175 BCE
- Languages
- Aramaic / Hebrew (Qumran) · Greek
- Setting
- Assyrian diaspora; Ecbatana and Nineveh
What it contains
- Tobit’s blindness
- Sarah’s demon
- The road with Azariah/Raphael
- Marriage and healing
Why it sits outside most canons
Protestant Bibles follow the rabbinic Tanakh, which did not include it. Catholics and Orthodox kept it.
Themes
- Raphael
- Demons
- Alms
- Marriage
- Diaspora
Passages
Tobit 12:15
I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand ready and enter before the glory of the Lord.