Глава 6

1–9. Adventure on the way of Tobias and Raphael to Media. 10–18. Advice from the Angel Tobias about marriage with Sarah and about the means to escape from the evil of the demon Asmodeus. Comrade 6:1 And she stopped crying. 1. In the accepted Greek text, as in Slav. and Russian transl., omitted located in the Sinai code. LXX remark about the dog following travelers (καί ό κύων ᾿εξήλθεν μετ᾿ αυτού καί επορεύθη μετ αύτων Syn. code.), which remark is probably erroneous from here it was transferred (in the accepted Greek t., Slav.-Russian) to V:17 (cf. XI:3). The dog that belonged to Tobias was obviously a domestic animal and enjoyed a certain kind of attention from its owner: this was only the case in Assyro-Babylonia (still in Greece), but not at all among the Jews in Palestine, where dogs until later times were semi-wild, stray animals (Ps. 21:17, 21, 58:7, 15), considered unclean and despicable ( 1 Kings 14:11, 19:21; 2 Kings 9:35–36 and many others, see Prof. Drozdov. Tobiah and Raphael, having set out from Nineveh to Media, spent the first night on the banks of the Tigris River (v. I): there is nothing impossible in this (contrary to the opinion of Ewald and others), since, although Nineveh itself lay on the Tigris River and precisely on the left, eastern side of this river, the direction of the path of Tobiah and Raphael - to Ragam and Ekbatana - was necessarily eastern - but the Tigris in its course had many very significant deviations, and quite it is clear that travelers heading east (or southeast) could encounter the Tigris or one of its tributaries (for example, the Greater or Upper Zab) on their way. See prof. Drozdova, s. 505–508. Comrade 6:2 And the travelers came to the Tigris River in the evening and stopped there for the night. Comrade 6:3 The young man went to wash himself, but a fish appeared from the river and wanted to devour the young man. Tob.6:4 Then the angel said to him: Take this fish. And the young man grabbed the fish and pulled it to the ground. Tob.6:5 And the angel said to him: Cut the fish, take the heart, liver and gall, and save them. Comrade 6:6 The young man did as the angel told him; they baked the fish and ate it; and went further and reached Ekbatan. Tov.6:7 And the young man said to the Angel: Brother Azariah, why this liver and heart and gall from the fish? Tov.6:8 He answered: if anyone is tormented by a demon or an evil spirit, then he should smoke with his heart and liver before such a man or woman, and he will no longer be tormented; Comrade 6:9 And anoint with gall a man who has a thorn in his eyes, and he will be healed. 3–9. By the predatory fish that rushed at Tobias as he approached the river (v. 2), some understand the fish known among the Arabs as sabot, or alsabut, while others associate it with pike: in favor of the latter, the special prevalence of this fish among the Jews can be cited as satisfying the requirements of a clean fish according to the law of Moses (Lev. XI: 9-12). Regarding the healing value of the insides of the fish - the heart, liver and bile - as the Angel speaks about (v. 9), we can say the following: their benefits from the point of view of organotherapy are quite acceptable; the main thing is that the healing of the patient is made here dependent on prayer (vv. 16–17) (see A. Glagolev, op. cit., p. 694, Prof. Drozdov, pp. 352–360). Comrade 6:10 When they approached Raga, Tob.6:11 The angel said to the young man: Brother, now we will spend the night with Raguel, your relative, who has a daughter named Sarah. Tov.6:12 I will speak about her so that she may be given to you as a wife, for her inheritance is destined for you, since you are one of her family; and the girl is beautiful and smart. Comrade 6:13 So listen to me; I will talk to her father and when we return from Raga, we will consummate the marriage. I know Raguel: he will never give her to a stranger, contrary to the law of Moses; otherwise you will be guilty of death, since the inheritance should be received by you, and not by anyone else. Tov.6:14 Then the young man said to the Angel: Brother Azariah, I heard that this girl was given to seven husbands, but they all died in the bridal chamber; Comrade 6:15 But I am alone with my father and I am afraid, lest, when I go to her, I will die like the others; she is loved by a demon who harms no one except those who approach her. And therefore I am afraid that I might die and bring the lives of my father and mother to their graves with my sorrow for me; and they have no other son to bury them. Tob.6:16 The angel said to him: Have you forgotten the words that your father commanded you, that you should take a wife from your family? Listen to me, brother: she should be your wife, but don’t worry about the demon; this very night they will give her to you as a wife. Comrade 6:17 Only when you enter the wedding chamber, take an incense burner, put the hearts and livers of fish into it and smoke; Comrade 6:18 and the demon will smell it and go away and never return. When you need to approach her, stand up both, call on the merciful God, and He will save and have mercy on you. Don't be afraid; for she was destined for you from eternity, and you will save her, and she will go with you, and I know that you will have children by her. Having heard this, Tobiah fell in love with her, and his soul clung tightly to her. And they came to Ekbatany. 10–18. In the speech of the Angel, containing his advice to Tobias about marrying Sarah, as coming from the same family as him (vv. 12–13, 16), one reveals not only an attitude towards the corresponding instruction of Tobit to his son (Tob. 4:12–13), but also to the view of the legislation of Moses, according to which daughters - heirs of the father's inheritance - in the absence of sons - were supposed to marry only in within the “tribe of his father’s tribe” (Num. 36:7, 27:5–11; Interpretation of the Bible vol. I). Words of Tobiah about Sarah v. 15 (Greek v. 14) “she is loved by a demon who harms no one except those who approach her” τών προσαγογόντων αυτή, - are usually understood by interpreters in the sense of indicating that Asmodeus was inflamed with unclean love for Sarah (or even had carnal communication with her) and, as if out of a feeling of jealousy and revenge, killed her husbands before they were with her as with his wife (III:8). Against such an understanding of Art. 15 may be indicated by the fact that the words δαιμόνιον φιλεί αυτήν are not found in Sinaisk. list LXX, in Vulgate, Chald, and Hebr. M., as well as the fact that under Art. 8 dn. 18 the demon tormented Sarah (hence did not love her), and according to III:14 Sarah remained chaste and virgin. Regardless of this, however, it should be recognized that the idea that demons or angels could have carnal relations with women undoubtedly existed among the Jews as a popular belief, as the history of interpretation of the passage of Genesis shows. VI: 2, 4 (see A. Glagolev, Old History. Biblical teaching about angels, pp. 201–205), and therefore Tobias, a man not enlightened by God, could have expressed, especially as a rumor or guess, a superstitious opinion about the carnal passion of Asmodeus for Sarah (cf. Prof. Drozdov, pp. 386–389). In fact, the effect of Asmodeus on Sarah was expressed in an extremely painful, depressed state of Sarah, similar to that brought by the evil spirit to Saul (1 Sam. 16:14–15, 18:10–11, 19:9–10), prompting her to beat the maids (III:9) and even leading her to the decision to take her own life (III:10; cf. Commentary. Bibl. vol. II). 17–18. Raphael's advice to Tobias, given here, was subsequently carried out exactly by the latter (Tob. 8:2-3).