Commentaria in Tobiam
Chapter 5
1. Then Tobias answered his father, and said: I will do all things, father, which thou hast commanded me. 2. 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. 3. Then his father answered him, and said: I have his note of hand with me: which when thou shalt shew him, he will presently pay it. 4. But go now, and seek thee out some faithful man, to go with thee for his hire: that thou mayest receive it while I yet live. 5. Then Tobias going forth, found a goodly young man, standing girded up, and as it were ready to walk.
6. And not knowing that he was an angel of God, he saluted him, and said: From whence do we have you, good young man? 7. And he answered: Of the children of Israel. And Tobias said to him: Knowest thou the way that leadeth to the country of the Medes? 8. And he answered: I know it: and I have often walked through all the ways thereof, and have abode with Gabelus our brother, who dwelleth in Rages a city of the Medes, which is situate in the mount of Ecbatana. 9. Tobias said to him: Stay for me, I beseech thee, till I tell these same things to my father. 10. Then Tobias going in told all these things to his father. Upon which the father being in admiration, desired that he would come in unto him. 11. So going in he saluted him, and said: Joy be to thee always. 12. And Tobias said: What manner of joy shall be to me, who sit in darkness, and see not the light of heaven? 13. And the young man said to him: Be of good courage, thy cure from God is at hand. 14. Tobias therefore said to him: Canst thou conduct my son to Gabelus at Rages, a city of the Medes? and when thou shalt return, I will pay thee thy hire. 15. And the angel said to him: I will conduct him thither, and bring him back to thee. 16. Tobias answered him: I pray thee, tell me, of what family or what tribe art thou? 17. Raphael the angel answered: Dost thou seek the family of him thou hirest, or the hired servant himself to go with thy son? 18. But lest I should make thee uneasy, I am Azarias the son of the great Ananias. 19. And Tobias answered: Thou art of a great family. But I pray thee be not angry that I desired to know thy family. 20. And the angel said to him: I will lead thy son safe, and bring him to thee again safe. 21. And Tobias answering, said: May you have a good journey, and God be with you in your way, and his angel accompany you. 22. Then all things being ready, that were to be carried in their journey, Tobias bade his father and his mother farewell, and they set out both together. 23. And when they were departed, his mother began to weep, and to say: Thou hast taken the staff of our old age and sent him away from us. 24. I wish the money, for which thou hast sent him, had never been. 25. For our poverty was sufficient for us, that we might account it as riches that we saw our son. 26. And Tobias said to her: Weep not, our son will arrive thither safe, and will return safe to us, and thy eyes shall see him. 27. For I believe that the good angel of God doth accompany him, and doth order all things well that are done about him, so that he shall return to us with joy. 28. At these words his mother ceased weeping, and held her peace.
5. “THEN TOBIAS GOING FORTH, FOUND A GOODLY YOUNG MAN, STANDING GIRDED UP, AND AS IT WERE READY TO WALK.”—This was the Angel Raphael, who in vigour, as immortal, eternal, unchangeable, and therefore never growing old or failing, was “goodly,” on account of splendour, both of the angelic nature, which is a pure and most lucid spirit, and of beatific glory; “standing girded up,” as guide of the way; for Raphael is president of ways and of travellers. Wherefore Vasco da Gama himself, sent by Emmanuel king of Portugal to open the way to eastern India, opened it for himself and for the Christian faith in the year of the Lord 1496. Hear our Maffei, book 1 of the Indian History: “To the leading ship was given the name of St. Gabriel, that she who was making for the Gospel a way from our world to the antipodes might lie under the tutelage and protection of that Archangel above all who first brought the Gospel from heaven to earth: the second they dedicated to the Archangel Raphael, guide and protector of travellers.” Then, having passed the Cape of Good Hope, they put in at a place, to which, as Maffei says, “the name Good Signs was given, and friendship being made with the barbarians, the ships were drawn up and refitted in many places: there a pillar with the inscription of the Archangel Raphael was set up according to custom.” So the army of the Emperor Theodosius, led by an Angel (Raphael, or his attendant, in the person of a shepherd) through marshes and pathless ways, betook itself to Ravenna and routed the tyrant John, in the year of the Lord 425, as Socrates relates, book 7, chapter 23, and from him Baronius, tome 5.
In altogether like form of a traveller, the Angel Raphael offered himself as guide of the way to St. Macarius the Roman, and in almost the same words in which here he addressed Tobias; indeed he led him to the places of torment in which the wicked are tormented, and of the joys in which the just exult. So has the life of St. Macarius in the Lives of the Fathers, in our Fr. Heribert Rosweyde.
7. “OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL.”—Raphael speaks truly, both because he came from the cities of the children of Israel, as of the faithful, to whose health and salvation he had been assigned by God. Whence Lyranus and Dionysius the Carthusian say: “What is said and done by Angels among men is figurative: and the speech by which Raphael says he is of the sons of Israel signifies the union of charity by which the holy Angels are joined to devout believers;” and because “Israel” in Hebrew is the same as God ruling, or ruling God, of whom he, like the other Angels, is a creature and as it were a son, according to that of Job, chapter 38: “Where wast thou when the morning stars praised me together, and all the sons of God made a joyful melody?” namely the holy Angels. Otherwise Sanchez: Israel, he says, in Hebrew is the same as a man seeing God. Raphael is therefore Israel and an Israelite, because he sees God face to face, and by this vision is blessed.
8. “WHICH (the city of Rages) IS SITUATE IN THE MOUNT OF ECBATANA.”—Ecbatana, or Ecbatanis, is the indeclinable name of a city of the Medes, which then gave its name to the whole mountain and adjacent plain where Rages was situated. Whence the Hebrews have: It is a journey of two days from Ecbatana to Rages; and Rages is in the mountains, but Ecbatana in the plain of the field.
12. “AND TOBIAS SAID: WHAT MANNER OF JOY SHALL BE TO ME, WHO SIT IN DARKNESS, AND SEE NOT THE LIGHT OF HEAVEN?”—First, Hugh explains thus, as if to say: Thou hast wished me joy: thou seemest therefore to know the way by which I may recover sight, and so be able to rejoice; tell it, if thou knowest. Secondly, Dionysius, as if to say: I do not desire joy in this life, since I now live blind and shall soon die; I long for future joys. Thirdly and genuinely, as if to say: Alas, by what means can I rejoice, who, deprived of all light, lead in the darkness of blindness a dim, wretched and sad life?
17. “DOST THOU SEEK THE FAMILY OF HIM THOU HIREST,”—See here the wonderful condescension and lowliness of the great St. Raphael, who calls himself and makes himself as it were a hired servant of Tobias; whence he had also put on the form and appearance of a servant. St. Augustine gives the reason, sermon 226 On the Season, which is on Tobias: “What have you deserved, father Tobit (for so the Greek calls the father Tobit) and son Tobias, to have a heavenly hireling, and to engage as a workman an inhabitant of heaven? The Angel hid his name from you: I am Azarias, he said, son of the great Ananias: and he did not say: I am the Angel Raphael. He hid in the first name the dignity, lest he should cause terror to him who hired him. For if he had said: I am an Angel, he would not have been Tobias’s hireling. The dignity of the name was kept, that at last the greatness of the dignity might shine forth. Whence he rightly gathers and adds this moral lesson: See, dearly beloved, how great is the merit of alms. It deserved to have an Angel as workman. You see how much it profits to bury the dead, that his offering by the Angel Raphael might ascend to the heavenly majesty. You see that alms deliver from death, and themselves purge sins, and bring purgation of the eyes, and free from the darkness of sins.”
Learn therefore here that the alms and piety of both Tobiases, father and son, deserved so great a guide of the way, namely St. Raphael.
18. “I AM AZARIAS THE SON OF THE GREAT ANANIAS.”—Whitaker, writing against Fr. Edmund Campion, page 77, says that Raphael here lies: but away with the impudent blasphemy. I say then that the Angel speaks truth: first, because, as St. Athanasius says in the Synopsis, Raphael accompanying Tobias assumed the likeness of Azarias, and bore his person before him: so by metonymy we truly call the image of St. Peter St. Peter. So in Genesis 31:13 the Angel truly says: “I am the God of Bethel,” because he spoke in the person of God, as his ambassador. So in Exodus 20 the Angel, promulgating the Decalogue in the place of God, says: “I am God,” because he speaks in the person of God. Some add from St. Thomas, part 1, question 51, article 2, that Raphael is called Azarias because he had taken from the tomb the body of Azarias, already dead, and put it on. But this would have been indecent, nor would it suffice, because the body of Azarias is not Azarias. Finally, they wrongly gather this from St. Thomas, who attributes an aerial body to Angels.
Secondly, because, as St. Gregory says, homily 34, Angels in themselves have no names, since they see and converse with one another face to face, but they receive and assume them by reason of the ministry which they perform among men. So Michael, fighting for the faithful against the proud dragon, assumes a name of humility, and calls himself Michael, that is, “who is like God?” Apocalypse 12. Gabriel is the same as “strength of God,” because he presides over the battles of God. Raphael is the same as “cure of God,” because he cured the blindness of Tobias. Here he calls himself “Azarias,” that is, help or helper of God, since he, like all the Angels, is a “ministering spirit,” as the Apostle says, Hebrews chapter 1, last verse, that is, a minister and helper of God. Moreover the Greek has: I am of the race of Azarias and Ananias the great, and thy brother, as if to say: I am the younger, or lesser, Azarias, son of the elder Azarias, who was the son of the great Ananias, or the parent Ananias, as the Hebrew has. For Raphael and the other Angels are sons of the elder Azarias, that is, sons of God, who is the equal and helper of the great Ananias, that is, God the Father.
Azarias might also signify prohibition, or restraint of God, from the root atsar, that is, he forbade, restrained, shut up, because Raphael restrained Asmodeus and shut him up in the desert.
Again, “Azarias” might signify rich, or riches of God, from the root ashar, that is, he was rich: or treasure of God, from the root otsar, that is, treasure: for he contains in himself the treasures of the wisdom and beneficence of God, and is their minister and dispenser.
Finally “Azarias” might be rendered blessed, or blessedness of God, from the root ashar, that is, blessedness.
“SON OF THE GREAT ANANIAS.”—Ananias, if written with chet, so that in Hebrew it is said Chananias, is the same as grace of God, says Bede, or as Pagninus, gift, mercy and favour of God, or God giving, pitying and favouring; of him the Angels are sons, and Raphael himself, because freely from him they have received their angelic nature, grace and glory, and that, as Francis Suarez and others hold, through the merits of Christ, who therefore can here be understood by Ananias, as being himself the father, prince and Lord of Raphael and of all the Angels, as the Apocalypse teaches. But if Ananias is written with ayin, it is the same as anan-yah, that is, cloud of God, namely because Raphael and the Angels are sons of him who is God, invisible, and by glory incomprehensible, of which a cloud is the symbol. Whence a cloud in Scripture is called the hiding place and as it were the garment of God, because God hid himself in a cloud and spoke, giving answers from the propitiatory, Leviticus 16:2, and by a cloud appeared everywhere to Moses and the children of Israel. The same, in imitation of God, did Raphael here, who by his nature was invisible to Tobias, and therefore covered himself with a body as with a cloud, and for that reason was unknown to Tobias on the way. Hence it is clear that the names Azarias and Ananias here are appellative rather than proper, of which presently more.
Allegorically, Raphael was here a type of Christ. He is “Azarias,” that is, helper of God, to enlighten, redeem and save blind men, and son of the great Ananias, that is, God the Father, and of his grace and mercy, because in him are all the treasures of the wisdom and grace of God hidden, and in him “dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead corporeally,” Colossians 2:9, and therefore he is rightly called the son of Ananias, that is, of favours and graces. This is what Christ says in Isaias chapter 50, verse 7: “The Lord God is my helper;” and chapter 63, verse 7: “I will remember the tender mercies of the Lord.” Tropologically, Azarias was St. Paul and the Apostles, and apostolic men; for these are the helpers of God in procuring the salvation of men. Whence he himself says in 2 Corinthians 5:18, 20: “He hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation: for Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God as it were exhorting by us. For Christ we beseech you, be reconciled to God.”
Moreover the name of Azarias was illustrious among the Hebrews, and therefore borne by great Kings, Princes, Pontiffs, Prophets, singers. For King Ozias son of Amasias was called Azarias; and the Pontiff who courageously resisted King Ozias when he wished to offer incense was likewise called Azarias, as is clear from 2 Paralipomenon 26, and was the son of the Pontiff Johanan, as is clear from 1 Paralipomenon 6:10. Now Johanan is the same as Ananias: his contemporary was Tobias. There was again another Azarias, Pontiff, son of the Pontiff Sadoc, in the time of There was also a third Azarias, son of Helcias and father of Saraias the pontiff, and grandfather of Esdras, who helped the piety of King Ezechias, 2 Paralipomenon 31:10, and 1 Esdras 7:4. There was moreover Azarias son of Nathan, prefect of Solomon’s officers, 3 Kings 4:5. There was Azarias son of Ethan, grandson of Phares and great-grandson of the Patriarch Juda, 1 Paralipomenon 2:8, 38; another is named Azarias son of Jesus. Besides these there was the prophet Azarias, who by prophesying encouraged Asa king of Juda to destroy the idols, 2 Paralipomenon 15:1 ff. Again a son of Josaphat king of Juda was called Azarias, 2 Paralipomenon 21:2. There was also Azarias, prince of Israel, who generously compelled the Israelites to restore the prey driven off from Juda, 2 Paralipomenon 28:12, in the time of Achaz king of Juda, who likewise was a contemporary of Tobias.
to say nothing of others, Ananias, Azarias and Misael were the three royal youths, companions of the prophet Daniel, who for the worship of God were cast into the burning furnace and remained unhurt in it, Daniel 3; and from Azarias the Levite was descended the prophet Samuel, and his grandson Heman, the singer in the temple, in the time of David, 1 Paralipomenon 6:33. To all these Raphael here alludes, but especially to Azarias the Pontiff, son of Johanan, or Ananias. For Raphael is the king of the Angels, as Asmodeus of the demons, as I have said. The same, as a Pontiff, offered incense to God, namely the prayers of Tobias, chapter 12, verse 12; the same as a singer continually sings to God: “Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of Sabaoth,” Isaias 6:3. For he is of the Seraphim. The same is a Prophet, because here he foretells the cure of Tobias’s blindness, indeed accomplished it. Wherefore Salianus rightly notes, tome 4, year of the world 3226, number 3, that the name Azarias is not so much proper as appellative, since many Pontiffs took it to themselves for honour as a surname, as asking and hoping thereby for the help of God (for this Azarias signifies). For the Septuagint call the son of Joiada, not Zacharias, but Azarias, 2 Paralipomenon 24. And King Ozias himself is called Azarias in the books of Kings, and that by surname, as St. Jerome says on Amos chapter 1. And the Pontiff who flourished in the time of Ezechias is called by Josephus and the Hebrew chronologers Nerias, 2 Paralipomenon.
19. “AND TOBIAS ANSWERED: THOU ART OF A GREAT FAMILY.”—The Greek adds that he subjoined: I knew Ananias and Jonathan, sons of that great Samias (Hebrew, Semolth, that is, peaceable, or rewarding), already then, when we went together to Jerusalem to adore and to consecrate the firstborn and the tithes of fruits; for they were not led into the error of our kinsmen, to adore the golden calves erected by Jeroboam in Israel. From these words it is clear: first, that Azarias was truly a son of Ananias, a kinsman of Tobias; secondly, that Ananias was an Israelite, not a Jew; thirdly, that he was a faithful and pious man; fourthly, known to Tobias and a friend, and therefore Raphael assumed the likeness and name of Azarias his son.
21. “AND HIS ANGEL ACCOMPANY YOU.”—Hence it is clear that in that age Tobias and the faithful believed that guardian Angels were assigned by God to individual men, to accompany, direct, instruct, defend them, etc. The Greek adds that Tobias promised the Angel for the wages of his guidance a drachma a day, and what was necessary for life and food, and that if they returned safe he would add a gratuity above the wages. A gold drachma is a French crown, which was too great a price for poor Tobias; wherefore a silver drachma, which is worth a Spanish real of five stivers, or ten bajocchi, seems to be understood here.
23. “AND WHEN THEY WERE DEPARTED,”—the Greek adds, and the dog of the boy with them, which it has in the following chapter, verse 1.
21. “ACCOMPANY”—that is, him or with him.
Nor think it a solecism, for so Cicero speaks, Tusculan Disputations, chapter 5, and so we say: he is my companion; for to accompany is to be a companion,