Commentaria in Tobiam
For as to what they first object, chapter 4, verse 35; 36, 44, that the souls of the saints are held in hell in storehouses until the number of the elect of God is fulfilled, which is the error of Vigilantius and Calvin: I answer that this is falsely imputed to him; for in verses 35 and 36 he says only that the souls are in storehouses and await their reward, namely the full and perfect reward, which will fall to them at the common resurrection, when the number of the elect is complete. Again, in verse 44, he says that they are in storehouses in hell, namely in the limbo of the fathers or in purgatory; both of which are true: for he does not say that they are to be held in hell until the number of the elect is completed. Wherefore this place is cited and approved by St. Ambrose, in his book On the Good of Death, chapter 10, and has no greater difficulty than that of Apocalypse 6 about the souls under the altar; indeed St. John there hither and to chapter 15, verse …
The second and chief objection is that in chapter 6, verses 49 ff., God is said on the fifth day of the world’s creation to have preserved two souls, one named Henoch, the other Leviathan; and because the waters could not hold both, God gave Henoch the dry land, which seems a Talmudic fable. I answer that the Talmudists indeed could take from this occasion for their fable about the fishes, male and female, and the ox of immense size to be slain at the coming of the Messias for a banquet for all the Jews, and twist it so; but that text has nothing of the kind; and by the same reasoning Psalm 103 would have to be rejected, for they abuse its verse 26 for the same little tale, as they contaminate other Scriptures everywhere with their trifles. And the place can truly be explained thus: that God on the fifth day of the world preserved two souls which he had created on that day, generic ones, that is, two kinds of souls or animals, namely birds and fishes; or, if you prefer a determinate species, the ostrich or griffin, greatest of birds, and the whale, greatest of fishes: to one, namely the birds, he gave the name Henoch, that is, dedicated or initiated, because birds were the first living animal created by God, and by their creation out of the waters the waters were as it were dedicated; and because water, the mother of fishes and birds, could not hold both, on account of the unlike constitution of each, God assigned the earth to Henoch, that is, to the birds and the griffin. Next it may be answered that some other secret or mystery hidden from us lies here. For many similar things are symbolic in Daniel and the Apocalypse, and a similar dispute could be raised about Behemoth and Leviathan, Job 40.
You will object thirdly: Chapter 7, verse 28, seems to say that after 400 years Christ will come and be put to death, whereas from Esdras to Christ there are nearly 500 years. I answer that he speaks truly who says something will be after 400 years, though it will be after 500; for we often do not wish to determine the time precisely; and perhaps he alludes to the 70 weeks of Daniel (which began under Artaxerxes, who sent Esdras back to Judea), that is, 490 years, and wished to express only the hundreds, as full and perfect.
You will object fourthly: Chapter 13, verses 40 ff., he seems to tell fables about the ten tribes shut up by God among the Caspian mountains, and their inaccessible places.
I answer that he has not a word about the Caspian mountains, but says only that those tribes were led by God dry-shod across the Euphrates: “He shall stay,” he says, “the veins of the river” (that is, he will make it stand, so that it is crossed dry-shod), “that they might go over into a farther country, where never mankind dwelt, that there they might keep their statutes.”
Which could have been true before the times of Esdras; and that thence he will bring them back by a miracle, which perhaps was done after the times of Esdras, when some returned to Judea, or is to be at the end of the world.
Certainly it is gathered from Isaias, chapter 9, that many of the tribe of Zabulon and Nephthali were in Judea, namely the Apostles and others in the time of Christ. A similar difficulty could be raised about the place of paradise, and the passage of the Jordan and of the Red Sea …
You will object fifthly: Chapter 14 divides the whole age of the world into twelve parts, and says that ten and a half have passed and only one and a half remain; but this is false, for the world before Esdras had not stood 4000 years, and yet after him it has now stood twice a thousand years, which is half of the former age. I answer that these parts are not to be measured by equal time, but are divided by him with another respect, as we divide the ages of the world into six or seven; but what he has in view is hidden from us, perhaps the 12 kings of whom chapter 12, verse 14, and also Apocalypse 17:10.
A similar question and dispute could be raised about the 70 weeks of Daniel and the thousand years assigned after the resurrection in Apocalypse 20:4, for which reason the Apocalypse was once suspect even to some orthodox; yet it is now established that it is canonical Scripture.
You will object sixthly: Chapter 4, verses 1 and 36, it has strange names of angels, Uriel and Jeremiel; whereas the Roman Council under Zachary, as Surius relates in the life of St. Boniface, June, page 494, says that it acknowledges only three names of angels, namely Michael, Gabriel, Raphael; the rest, such as Uriel, are rather names of demons than of angels. I answer that the Church acknowledges from divine Scripture only these three names of angels, as the Council adds, and publicly celebrates and invokes only these, yet does not condemn others, unless they are invented by heretics or inserted in inventions, such as those and such persons as the Council there deals with. For who would deny that angels, as they are very many, have also very many names, just as demons have? And Uriel is aptly said, that is, fire or light of God; Jeremiel, that is, greatness of God; and that the ancients used them is clear from Aretha on Apocalypse chapter 9.
You will object lastly that this book brings forth strange visions and dreams, which seem ludicrous and fabulous. I answer that, since their meaning is not established, they seem strange to us, and therefore St. Jerome too, in his prologue to Esdras, says these are to be rejected, namely outside the canon of holy Scripture; yet they are very like those shown at the same time to Ezechiel and afterwards to St. John in the Apocalypse, indeed much more astonishing; nay the Apocalypse often seems to allude to them, as will presently be clear; and yet it is established that these are not ludicrous. This book indeed contains certain prophecies and histories which no one else mentions: but in these, if anyone is unwilling to believe them, let him at least suspend his judgment with the Church. For it does not follow: No one else writes this, therefore it is not true. For thus in many things faith would have to be denied to sacred Scripture, Josephus, Livy and other historians.
I say therefore that this book is not an invention of the Talmudists. This is clear, first, because it does not exist in Hebrew, nor indeed in Greek, nor does Josephus mention it, nor Philo, nor the Rabbis and Talmudists. Secondly, because this book long preceded the age of the Talmudists, who followed St. Jerome, as is clear from the Chronology. For it is cited both in the book On the Good of Death, chapter 10, and in epistle 91 to Horontianus, where from this book he proves the immortality of the soul. Likewise by St. Cyprian, epistle to Demetrian. Moreover from this book, chapter 14, verses 20 ff., St. Basil, epistle to Chilo; St. Jerome, Against Helvidius; Irenaeus, book 3, chapter 25; Tertullian, On the Dress of Women; Isidore, Etymologies book 6; and others teach that Esdras, inspired by the Spirit of God, restored the Old Testament burnt by the Chaldeans, just as it was before, and dictated it anew, for of this opinion no indication is to be found elsewhere. Which opinion is probable; nor does it follow from it that all the sacred books throughout the whole world perished in the burning of the city and the temple, but only that they perished in Judea and Jerusalem. For Esdras wrote this in captivity, where he thought it difficult to obtain remaining copies from the other fathers of the world; therefore, for the consolation of the Jews in captivity, filled with the Spirit of God, he dictated the same word for word, as the Fathers already cited think. Yet nothing compels us to take that place as speaking of the sacred books; indeed the abundance of books and the distinction sufficiently show that he speaks of others. Again, from chapter 4, verse 28, and elsewhere throughout, it is clear that this book was written long before Christ, namely in the Babylonian captivity. Thirdly, because St. John in the Apocalypse often seems to allude to this book, as is clear to one comparing Apocalypse 8 with this book, verse 8 ff. The same, Apocalypse 12 with chapter 9 here. Furthermore, Apocalypse 7 with chapter 2, verses 38 and 42 here. Finally, Apocalypse 17 with chapters 5 and 16 here.