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From: Tobit 12:1-20

The Archangel Raphael reveals himself

[1] Tobit then called his son Tobias and said to him, “My son, see to the wages
of the man who went with you; and he must also be given more.” [2] He replied,
“Father it would do me no harm to give him half of what I have brought back. [3]
For he has led me back to you safely, he cured my wife, he obtained the money
for me, and he also healed you.” [4] The old man said, “He deserves it.” [5] So
he called the angel and said to him, “Take half of all that you two have brought
back.”

[6] Then the angel called the two of them privately and said to them: “Praise God
and give thanks to him; exalt him and give thanks to him in the presence of all the
living for what he has done for you. It is good to praise God and to exalt his name,
worthily declaring the works of God. Do not be slow to give him thanks. [7] It is
good to guard the secret of a king, but gloriously to reveal the works of God. Do
good, and evil will not overtake you. [8] Prayer is good when accompanied by
fasting, almsgiving, and righteousness. A little with righteousness is better than
much with wrongdoing. It is better to give alms than to treasure up gold. [9] For
almsgiving delivers from death, and it will purse away every sin. Those who per-
form deeds of charity and of righteousness will have fullness of life; [10] but those
who commit sin are the enemies of their own lives.

[11] I will not conceal anything from you. I have said, ‘It is good to guard the se-
cret of a king, but gloriously to reveal the works of God.’ [12] And so, when you
and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed, I brought a reminder of your prayer be-
fore the Holy One; and when you buried the dead, I was likewise present with
you. [13] When you did not hesitate to rise and leave your dinner in order to go
and lay out the dead, your good deed was not hidden from your daughter-in-law
Sarah. [15] I am Raphael, one of the seven holy angels who present the prayers
of the saints and enter into the presence of the glory of the Holy One.”

[16] They were both alarmed; and they fell upon their faces, for they were afraid.
[17] But he said to them, “Do not be afraid; you will be safe. But praise God for
ever. [18] For I did not come as a favour on my part, but by the will of our God.
Therefore praise him for ever. [19] All these days I merely appeared to you and
did not eat or drink, but you were seeing a vision. [20] And now give thanks to
God, for I am ascending to him who sent me. Write in a book everything that
has happened.”

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Commentary:

12:1-22. Giving the angels half the money brought from Media shows Tobit’s
great generosity and Tobias’ appreciation of the angel’s good offices. The young
man attributes all the various favours to the angel (v. 3). But now the focus turns
to what Raphael has to say – angelic words and therefore of special significance.
Commenting on this book, St. Ambrose highlights the virtues that make Tobit a
model of righteousness and good works: “But that holy man Tobit [. . .] under-
stood that the servant too must be paid a just wage. He offered half of what he
owned, and it is no coincidence that the servant he hired was an angel. As for
you, if you deny a just man his due reward, or worse still a weak man – Woe to
him who scandalizes one of these, the least of my little ones – how do you know
that you are not defrauding an angel? From the moment that Christ became a
child, it became impossible for us to doubt that our servant could be an angel.
Give your servant his due, do not deprive him of the reward for his labour,
because you yourself are a servant of Christ, who has brought you into his vine-
yard and has prepared a place in heaven for you” (St. Ambrose, De Tobia, 24,
91-92).

Tobit and his son feel a reverential fear on finding themselves in the presence of
an angel, but Raphael puts them at ease, telling them not to be afraid and show-
ing them that it has all been by the will of God: they should praise God, and put
the whole story down in writing (vv. 17-21). Tobit and Tobias do confess the
wonderful works of God (v. 22) and the sacred author has done the writing.

Many psalms in the Bible, particularly those of thanksgiving, bear witness to what
God has done in the personal life of the psalmist, but the most splendid instance
of all is to be found in the Magnificat, the Virgin Mary’s prayer of praise after the
Annunciation (cf. Lk 1:46-55).

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.