Глава 2

1–5. On the feast of Pentecost, Tobit sends his son to invite one of his poor fellow believers to the table. 3–8. Tobias brings the news that a strangled Jew has been abandoned in the square, and Tobit buries him. 9–14. The loss of sight that befell Tobit, the poverty of the family and the reproaches of his wife. Tob.2:1 When I returned to my house, and Anna my wife and Tobiah my son were given to me, on the feast of Pentecost, the Holy Week of Weeks, a good dinner was prepared for me, and I lay down to eat. Comrade 2:2 When I saw a lot of food, I said to my son: go and bring whomever you find, a poor one from our brothers who remembers the Lord, and I will wait for you. 1–2. Upon returning to Nineveh, at the intercession of Ahikar (I: 22), Tobit not only received the opportunity to live again with his wife and son, but apparently received possession of his house and had such sufficient means of subsistence that he could arrange a festive dinner on the feast of Pentecost (Deut. XVI: 11, 14) (LXX: αριστον καλόν, Vulg.: prandium bonum, slav.: dinner is good). “Pentecost” – Πεντηκοστή – the later name of the “Feast of Weeks” (Deut. XVI:10, 16); This name appears for the first time in 2Mac. XII:32 and then in the New Testament (Acts II:1, XX:16; 1 Cor. XVI:8), in most of the ancient texts of the book of Tobit the name “Pentecost” does not appear: in Sinai. code. the holiday is called “the fiftieth day of our holiday,” i.e. Easter (' εν τή Πεντηκοστή τής εορτής ημών, ή εστίν αγία εβδομάδων), in Chald and Hebr. M. - according to the biblical text, “the festival of weeks.” – No mention of sacrifice, worship, etc. in the story about the strict piety of Tobit in captivity, it is explained by the lack of all the accessories of a legal cult according to the instructions of Moses among the Israelites in Assyrian captivity. All the more unforgivingly does Tobit fulfill (v. 2, fn. I: 16–17) the commandment of the law about charity to needy fellow tribesmen during festive feasts (Deut. XII: 18–19, XIV: 28, 29, etc.). Comrade 2:3 And he came and said: My father, one of our tribe was thrown strangled in the market place. Comrade 2:4 Then, before I began to eat, I hastily went out and put him in one dwelling before the sun went down. Comrade 2:5 When he returned, he washed himself and ate my bread in sorrow. Tob.2:6 And I remembered the prophecy of Amos, how he said: Your festivals will be turned into sorrow, and all your pleasures into mourning. Comrade 2:7 And I wept. When the sun set, I went and dug a grave and buried him. Comrade 2:8 The neighbors mocked me and said: he is not yet afraid of being killed for this matter; He’s already been running, and now he’s burying the dead again. 3–8. From the fact that when Tobias accidentally went out into the street, a case of execution of a Jew was immediately discovered (v. 3), it is not without reason to conclude (for example, Calmet) that the persecution of the Israelis, begun by Sennacherib, did not completely cease under Esargaddon, despite the relative gentleness of this king and the closeness to him of Ahikar, Tobit’s relative and patron, who was probably generally disposed towards the captive Israelites. Tobit's mode of action in this case, and in many others, reveals in him a true zealot of the law: having fulfilled the demands of love for a deceased fellow tribesman - by burying his body - which Tobit did very often during a difficult time for the captive Jews (I: 18; XII: 12), - he hastens to fulfill the decree of the law on ritual purity (Num. XIX d.), although, in the absence of a sacrificial cult in captivity and, of course, a cleansing ashes of a red heifer, purifies himself by simple ablution (LXX: ' ελουσάμην). The fact that the book of Tobit more than once speaks of Tobit burying the dead who were left without burial - as the predominant form of charity of this husband (I: 17-18; II: 3-4, 7-9; IV: 17; XII: 12) - gave rise to some researchers (for example, Zimrok, Koehler, Kosken) to see the similarity of the book. Tobit with the legend of the grateful dead, widespread in many countries (Armenia, Italy, Turkey, Serbia, Russia), where the burial of an unburied corpse is a source of well-being for the one who performed the burial, an analogy to which in the book of Tobit is supposedly the Angel’s beneficence to Tobit’s family. But the indicated similarities are of a purely external and accidental nature and do not at all give reason to talk about the mutual dependence of the book of Tobit and the above-mentioned legend (see Prof. Drozdov, pp. 312–318). The disasters of captivity, the severity of which was vividly felt on the great holidays, which were a source of great joy for the theocratic consciousness of the people of God, naturally brought to mind Tobit, who, no doubt, knew the law and the prophets well, - the corresponding prophecy of Amos (Am. VIII: 10 v., similarly the writer of 1 Maccabees recalls this prophecy, 1 Mac. I: 39-41, when depicting the disasters of the Jews under Syrian rule), this is one of the few direct quotes in the biblical books. Comrade 2:9 That very night, having returned from the burial and being unclean, I lay down to sleep outside the wall of the courtyard, and my face was not covered. Comrade 2:10 And I did not notice that there were sparrows on the wall. When my eyes were open, the sparrows sent forth warmth into my eyes, and they became a thorn in my eyes. And I went to doctors, but they didn’t help me. Ahiachar provided me with food until he went to Elymaida. 9–10. To top off Tobit’s grief and sadness, a great misfortune befell him - loss of vision: when, after burial, Tobit lay in the courtyard at night with an “open face” (πρόσωπον μου ακάλυπιον ην, v. 9), bird excrement got into his eyes ( στρουθία, Slav.-Russian: sparrows; the corresponding Hebrew word is “zipporim”, cf. Ps. XV:10; here are birds close to human habitation: sparrows or Vulg.: swallows, as a result of which a cataract formed on both eyes (λευκώματα), and then, due to unsuccessful treatment by inexperienced, perhaps, doctors (medicine in ancient Assyria and Babylonia stood low, bordering on magic), complete blindness occurred (v. 10). This fact for an unbiased thought does not represent anything incredible, physically impossible, contrary to the objections of negative criticism (see Prof. Drozdov, pp. 344–348, 480–481). Having lost, as a result of illness and treatment, all property and all means of food, Tobit for some time received food from Ahikar, mentioned above (I: 21–22), until the latter retired to Elimaida (it was Ahikar who retired to Elimaida, as it stands in the code. Sinai. LXX and in Vet. Latin, and not Tobit, as (επορεύθην) stands in the accepted Greek t. and slav. translation Elymaida - biblical-Jewish Elam, Greek Suzianna (Gen. X:22, XIV:1, 9; Isa. XI:11, etc.). Comrade 2:11 And then my wife Anna spun wool in the women's departments Comrade 2:12 and sent it to rich people, who gave her payment and once gave her a kid in addition. Comrade 2:13 When they brought him to me, he began to bleat; and I asked my wife: where is this kid from? isn't it stolen? give it to whoever it belongs to! for it is unlawful to eat stolen goods. Comrade 2:14 She answered: this was given to me in addition to the price. But I didn’t believe her and insisted that she give it to whomever it belonged to, and I became angry with her. And she answered me: where are your alms and righteous deeds? that's how they all showed up on you! 11–14. When, with the removal of Ahikar to Elymaida (v. 10), Tobit's last source of funds dried up, his wife began to earn food through ordinary women's work (' εν τοις γυναικείοις, i.e. έργοις, in the Sinai code; next. - women's work, and not women's rooms, or departments, as in Slavic Russian) - spinning wool and weaving (Cf. Proverbs XXXI: 13, 19, 22, 24), receiving payment for their labors from customers (vv. 11-12a). In addition to the usual payment, Tobit's wife was once given a kid (according to the text of Vet. Lat., as well as the Sinai code. LXX, this happened on the 7th day of the month of Distra, which some researchers (Graetz, Ant. Scholz, etc.) identify with the Syro-Macedonian Distro (Heb. Adaru), but it is possible that “Distr" - δύστρος, here represents the Greek transcription of the Hebrew tishra - the name of the 7th month, the kid was given to Anna, the wife of Tobit, shortly, a week before the Feast of Tabernacles (cf. Lev. XXIII:34), precisely to provide the poor family with the opportunity to have a better table on the upcoming holiday (see Prof. Drozdov, p. 483–486). In Hannah's reproachful response (v. 14) to Tobit's suspicions (v. 13) there is a similarity to Job's wife's speech to him. II:9 (especially in the text of the LXX book of Job): this circumstance, as well as the general similarity of suffering and deliverance from suffering of Tobit and Job, gave reason to some researchers (Eichhorn, Bertholdt, Weiginger, etc.) to see in the book of Tobit a free imitation of the book of Job. But the similarity (deliberately, however, emphasized in the text of the Vulgate, v. 15) of this kind between the two works does not represent anything artificial, and the conclusion of some researchers just mentioned is completely arbitrary.