Abstract
Tob 13:2 is found in the context of the hymn of praise of Tobit in Tobit 13. The chapter contains a Zion Song in 13:9-18 addressed to Jerusalem, similar to those found especially in Ap Zion (11QPsa XXII 1-15]) and Bar 4:30-5:9. The latter two do not have the idea of resurrection that appears in Tob 13:2, which in its immediate context (v. 1-8) is closely connected with 13:9-18. The paper aims at providing an overview of Tobit 13 in the context of the book and in relation to Ap Zion (11QPsa XXII 1-15) and Bar 4:30–5:9, while summing up the most important differences of the three Zion songs and attempting to explain the presence of the idea of resurrection in Tobit 13. The main arguments are as follows: the appearance of the concept of resurrection in relation to that of God’s kingship in proximity to a Zion song has to do – among others – with the characteristic content of Tobit’s and his family’s storyline in Tobit 1–12 and with the concern to combine notions of national and personal fate. The study refers to some of the scriptural influences on Tobit 13 and their significance, and treats the questions of the author’s view on God’s kingship, authority and on retribution at a national and individual level.
Highlights
The Unity of the BookVarious reasons gave rise to the assumption that the Book of Tobit is the result of extensive redactional activity
Tob 13:2 with its reference to Hades and to some form of resurrection raises the questions of what the author of this verse thought about resurrection, how 13:2 fits into the overall message of the book and how the idea of resurrection is connected with the notions of God’s kingship, authority and retribution
The chapter contains a Zion song in 13:9-18 addressed to Jerusalem, similar to those found especially in Ap Zion (11QPsa XXII 1-15]) and Bar 4:30-5:9
Summary
Various reasons gave rise to the assumption that the Book of Tobit is the result of extensive redactional activity. In comparison with its biblical model, the song – in its context (Tob 13:9-18) – emphasizes the praise of God emanating from the city, rather than the impression of her impregnability Another difference between them is that while Isa 54:11-12 probably refers to the Second Temple, in Tob 13:9-18 it is the eschatological Temple in which God, the king – described using divine titles – is to be praised.[30] In the Hebrew Bible the metaphor of his kingship generally refers to three relational spheres: God as a) covenantal sovereign of Israel, b) universal ruler over creation, and c) monarch of the disadvantaged or marginalized. Parts of the Pentateuch – e.g. the patriarchal stories –, it may be stated that “the narrative patterns of Israel’s sacred past continue into Israel’s exilic present, the allusion to the Song of Moses at the end of Tobit intimates that this present will culminate in a finale prescribed by the Pentateuch – with Israel soon returning to the land promised to it just as its biblical ancestors once did”.35. Suffering”.40 In Ezekiel 37, for instance, the language of death and bodily resurrection can be used as a metaphor for the exile and return of the whole nation
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