Abstract
Much academic research has been conducted on the rich and bewildering variety of sources underlying the book of Tobit. In this study, yet another literary type from the Hebrew Bible which has received little scholarly attention will be suggested. In Part 1 of the following study, “the prophetic miracle story,” found among the historical traditions of Northern Israel in 2 Kgs 1–8, will be investigated according to its characteristic features. The correspondence between these features and those of the accounts of the miraculous healings of Sarah and Tobit in the book of Tobit will then be demonstrated, and it will be suggested that this literary type forms a model for the accounts of the healing of Tobit and Sarah in the book of Tobit. In addition to this, the influence of other themes from 2 Kgs 1–8 on the book of Tobit will be proposed. In Part 2 of this study, certain attested forms of healing from the author’s Hellenistic cultural background will be investigated. It will be suggested the book of Tobit could represent the author’s response to these Hellenistic types of healing in the revival and development of the earlier prophetic miracle story from 2 Kgs 1–8.
Keywords
Introduction
At its most basic level, the book of Tobit is an account of two instances of miraculous healing—of the blind Tobit and of the demon-oppressed Sarah—through the agency of the angel Raphael. 1 These two parallel accounts have been intricately woven together and combined with other stories such as the journey of Tobias and Azariah, the marriage of Tobias and Sarah, and other literary categories such as wisdom, psalmody, and prayer. The complex interweaving of many types of literary influence on the book of Tobit, from texts now regarded as biblical 2 as well as non-Israelite, 3 has long been the subject of scholarly research. These influences are summarized by Nickelsburg who considers sources from the Hebrew Bible, folklore, tales of the courtier, themes and motifs from Homer’s Odyssey, and the Enochic tradition. 4 A significant development in scholarly research over the past decades has been the discovery of literary points of contacts between the book of Tobit and the wider Aramaic anthology to which it belongs, as well as to other Second Temple writings in shared approaches to prior traditions associated with ancient Israel. 5 Ariel Feldman has pointed out the use in Second Temple literature of material from Samuel-Kings as literary models, such as the accounts of military campaigns in Samuel as models for the description of battles in 1 Maccabees, and Elijah and Elisha as models for the two witnesses in Rev 11. 6 In the following study, a further literary model from the book of Kings is proposed for the book of Tobit.
In the aforementioned study, Nickelsburg stresses the importance of “reading . . . texts as integral parts of the broader world that constituted their authors’ environment.” 7 In accordance with this stricture, this article examines a biblical literary form which has not received sufficient attention in scholarly research. I demonstrate how the author of Tobit may have used the prophetic miracle story as a literary model for accounts of the healing of Tobit and Sarah and developed the form in response to influences from the surrounding Hellenistic environment. In Part 1 this literary type, exemplified by stories of the prophet Elisha found among the historiographical traditions of Northern Israel in 2 Kgs 1–8, will be investigated. These stories, which can be shown to comprise a literary type which I call “the prophetic miracle story,” 8 are examined according to characteristic features. The correspondence between the features of these stories and those found in the accounts of the miraculous healings of Sarah and Tobit in the book of Tobit will then be demonstrated, and influence of other themes from 2 Kgs 1–8, will be proposed. In Part 2, the relevance of these biblical miracle stories in light of certain attested forms of healing in the author’s Hellenistic cultural background will be suggested. It will be proposed that competing Hellenistic traditions may have provided impetus to the author to further address issues of healing and medicine within a Jewish framework, one rooted in scriptural precedents.
Part 1: The Elisha stories of 2 Kgs 1–8 as literary models for the accounts of the healing of Tobit and Sarah in the Book of Tobit.
Features of the Elisha prophetic miracle stories
The narratives of Elijah and Elisha found in 1 Kgs 17–2 Kgs 1–8; 13:20–21 stand out from the annalistic material in the rest of the books of 1–2 Kings with their accounts of miracles and theophanies. 9 The Elisha stories of 2 Kgs 1–8; 13:20–21, commonly referred to as “prophetic legenda,” “wonder stories,” or “prophetic stories/narratives” among other names, 10 are thought to have originated in oral tradition (cf. 2 Kgs 5:2–4; 8:4–5) and developed in written form possibly through prophetic schools. 11 While acknowledging the antiquity of many of these prophetic stories, recent scholarship has tended to place them in the later, rather than earlier stages of the book’s composition, as late as the fifth to third centuries BCE. 12 Synchronic analysis of these stories, referred to as “prophetic miracle stories,” shows that they contain the following basic substantive features: 13
a. A situation of distress/despair involves simple people.
b. The situation is made known to an agent of God.
c. The agent offers a remedy, often involving the application of organic materials or a course of action.
d. The instructions are carried out by the agent or by other people.
e. The situation is miraculously resolved.
In 2 Kgs 2:1–8 these stories appear in two main forms: (1) a simple form containing a single episode; and (2) a more complex form in which several episodes are interconnected. In both types, the similar basic features appear.
1. The simple type (2 Kgs 2:19–22; 4:1–7, 38–41, 42–44; 6:1–7) usually contain the following formal features:
a. An introduction denoting a setting in time and/or space; beginning with the waw-conjunctive combined with a proper noun followed by a verb in the perfect (2 Kgs 4:1, 38, 42; 6:8; 13:14) 14
b. Brevity (2–7 verses) comprising one episode
c. Discrete and independent story, not connected to other stories
d. Narrative style involving the use of dialogue and consisting of an introduction, a description of the situation, a course of action through prophetic intervention, and a successful outcome
They have a limited narrative development and characterization and include two main types of content—stories of restoration/healing or stories of provision. 15
The complex form, while containing the same basic features as the simple type, is longer, comprising several interconnected episodes. It shows greater narrative development and characterization and is often political with national scope, involving an interaction between a specific prophet and king with the theme of national salvation (2 Kgs 1:1–17; 3:4–27; 6:8–23, 6:24–7:20). Other examples are an extension of the simple restoration/healing account (2 Kgs 4:8–37; 5:1–27; 8:1–6), often combining themes of provision/healing with the theme of salvation. Unlike the simple prophetic miracle stories, they frequently begin with the waw-conversive and an imperfect verb.
In the complex stories, there is an emphasis on the miracle occurring as a response to prayer and/or in accordance with a prophetic utterance using the messenger formula “thus says the Lord” and “in accordance with the word of the Lord” (1 Kgs 13:26; 20:35; 2 Kgs 1:17; 5:14; 7:16; 9:26). These formulae also appear in a few of the simple stories (2 Kgs 2:21–22; 4:43–44) but, as argued by Winfried Thiel, appear to have mostly been inserted into the original story by a later hand. 16
It is proposed that miracle healings of Tobit and Sarah in the book of Tobit are modeled on this literary type, containing the same basic features as shown in the table below. While the simple form is the dominant model, features of the complex prophetic miracle story, which include greater development of narrative and character and the emphasis on the miraculous healing in response to prayer, are also found.
The simple prophetic miracle stories as a model for the accounts of the healings of Tobit and Sarah
Like the simple prophetic miracle stories, the actual miraculous healings in the book of Tobit are brief and described tersely in a few verses: the healing of Sarah (Tob 8:2–3) and the healing of Tobit (Tob 11:10–13). Together with the added detail which gives background to the healing stories, they take up only about 40 verses of the entire contents of the book and constitute two parallel plots which are skillfully combined and interwoven. Chapter 3 contains two parallel accounts of the distress of Tobit and Sarah followed by their prayers of despair. The healing of Sarah is the focus of chapters 6–8 while the healing of Tobit is concentrated in chapter 11. The two healing accounts are brought together with Raphael’s account of the miraculous working of God, as he reveals his true identity to Tobit and Tobias (Tob 12:11–22).
The narrative of the miraculous healing of Tobit and Sarah in the book of Tobit, like the simple form of the miracle stories from the book of 2 Kings 1–8, concern ordinary people who are connected to the Northern Kingdom of Israel. 17 Like the faithful remnant of the prophetic miracle stories (1 Kgs 19:18), they are distanced from Jerusalem but nevertheless retain memory of the God of their fathers and the ethical principles which underlie the Torah. 18 From the perspective of the book of Tobit, the people, though exiled, have not been forgotten by the God of Israel. Narratively, God intermittently intervenes in the problems of daily life through an agent—in the book of Tobit, an angel—much like a prophet or man of God. Like the anonymous characters in the simple miracle story, Tobit and Sarah face distressing problems: Tobit is blind and Sarah childless and widowed due to the death of seven husbands. In their distress, they make their situation known to God with an implicit appeal for mercy and divine intervention (Tob 3:2–6, 11–15).
These stories, like the prophetic miracle stories of 2 Kgs, involve folklore-like motifs, such as the great fish which springs from the Tigris and attempts to devour Tobias’ foot/person. 19 They also contain miraculous cures brought about by the application of organic substances and natural processes as instructed by the agent of God. 20 The aforementioned features common to the simple prophetic miracle story in 2 Kgs 1–8 and Tobit are summarized in Table 1 below.
Features of the simple form of prophetic miracle narrative
As shown in the table above, the basic substantial features of the simple miracle story from 2 Kgs apply also to the accounts of the miraculous healings of Tobit and Sarah. We concentrate, however, on the healing of disease. The presence of exorcism, a seemingly significant concern in Second Temple Jewish literature, does not feature in the books of Kings. 21
a. Situation of distress/despair
The stories of 2 Kgs 1–4 describe a variety of distressing situations occurring in the lives of simple people—a spring whose contaminated waters pollute the land making it unfruitful (2 Kgs 2:19); a widow, who on the death of her husband, is threatened with debt slavery of her children (2 Kgs 4:1); the sudden death of a child (2 Kgs 4:19–20); poisonous gourds having been placed unwittingly into a communal stew (2 Kgs 4:49); and a borrowed axe head which accidentally sinks into the Jordan River (2 Kgs 6:5).
Both Tobit and Sarah are also described as being in a situation of distress and despair. 22 Tobit suffers from eye disease and, despite visits to physicians, his disease becomes worse resulting in total blindness (Tob 2:10 GII). Forced to live off his wife’s earnings and reproached by her, he cries in despair to God (Tob 2:11–3:6). Sarah has been married seven times, but before the marriage can be consummated, the bridegrooms are killed by the demon Asmodeus. Childless and without a husband, she is mocked by one of her maids and contemplates suicide (Tob 3:7–15).
b. The situation is made known to an agent of God
In each of the above stories from 2 Kings, Elisha, the man of God, is informed of the distressing situation (2 Kgs 2:19; 4:1, 28, 40). In the longer GII version of the book of Tobit, Tobit tells of his distress to Azariah who, unknown to him, is the angel Raphael in the form of a man, and Azariah foretells his immanent healing (Tob 5:10). The situation of Sarah’s distress is told to Azariah by Tobias, and Azariah promises him the healing of Sarah and a successful marriage with her (Tob 6:14, 17–18 GII). Here we have irony. The reader has been informed of the real identity of Azariah as Raphael the archangel, who has already heard the prayers of Tobit and Sarah and taken them before the presence of God, where he has been commissioned to bring about their restoration (Tob 3:16–17 cf. 12:12–15). The prayer motif, which forms an important theme in Tobit, has been influenced by the complex form of the miracle story and is introduced in chapter 3 where, in parallel prayers, Tobit (Tob 3:2–6) and Sarah (3:11–15) pour out their situation to God. In addition to this, on the eve of their marriage, Tobias and Sarah pray together in accordance with the instructions of Azariah.
The fact that Azariah/Raphael is an angel and not a prophet may appear to discount the influence of the “prophetic miracle story” on the book of Tobit. But in later Jewish literature, as in Tobit, the man of God/prophet appears to take on angelic qualities becoming, like them, the messenger of God and assuming their role. 23 In the miracle stories in 1–2 Kings, the man of God is an authoritative figure whose beginning and ending remain elusive and mysterious. 24 Elijah appears suddenly in 1 Kgs 17:1 pronouncing a prophecy of judgment and, at the end of his life, mysteriously ascends to heaven in a chariot of fire in 2 Kgs 2:11. After his death, Elisha’s bones have miraculous properties, resuscitating a corpse which came into contact with them (2 Kgs 13:11).
So also, the figure of Azariah/Raphael is enigmatic. 25 He seemingly appears from nowhere at the beginning of the story where he takes on the appearance and genealogy of a man (Tob 5:4–17) and, at its end, after revealing his true angelic identity, he suddenly ascends to heaven (Tob 12:11–21). Although appearing human, he is nevertheless an authoritative figure whose every word Tobias, the son of Tobit, hears and promptly obeys. Throughout Tobit, he constantly encourages the characters with prophetic-like assurances. He assures Tobit of the safe return of his son (Tob 5:7 GII) and that he will be healed (Tob 5:10 GII), and Tobias, of the successful accomplishment of his marriage to Sarah (Tob 6:16–18). 26
c. The prophet provides a remedy/course of action, often involving natural substances
In the prophetic miracle stories of 2 Kgs Elisha utilizes natural means which include: salt applied to the brackish spring (2 Kgs 2:20); oil to be continually poured into borrowed vessels (2 Kgs 4:2–4); the prophet’s own body which he applies to the body of the dead child (2 Kgs 4:34); flour to be placed in a poisoned pot of stew (2 Kgs 4:41); and a stick thrown into the water where an axe head had sunk (2 Kgs 6:6). 27
In Tobit, at the outset of the journey, Tobias extricates himself from an attacking fish while washing his feet in the Tigris River. He is instructed by Azariah to kill the fish and preserve its liver, heart, and gall for medicine (Tob 6:5 GII). In response to Tobias’ further questioning, he explains the purpose and use of the heart and liver for exorcism and the gall for the healing of diseased eyes (Tob 6:7–9). On the eve of his marriage to Sarah, Azariah reminds Tobias of these instructions and, in addition, instructs him to pray imploring God for mercy (Tob 6:17–18). Azariah also instructs Tobias in the application of the fish’s gall. On the homeward journey, as they approach Nineveh, Tobias is reminded by Azariah to have the fish’s gall ready (Tob 11:4) in order to smear it on his father’s eyes when he encounters him (Tob 11:8). 28
d. The instructions are carried out
In the prophetic miracle stories of 2 Kgs, the instructions of the prophet are carried out either by the prophet himself, or by those concerned with the distressing situation. The people of Jericho bring a new jar and put salt in it as instructed by Elisha, who throws the salt into the contaminated spring waters (2 Kgs 2:20–21). The widow sends her children to borrow vessels, and then continually pours her remaining oil into them, as instructed by Elisha (2 Kgs 4:5). In 2 Kgs 4:34 the prophet, after praying, lays himself on the child, mouth to mouth, eyes to eyes, and hands to hands. The boy’s body becomes warm. After walking back and forth, the prophet bends over the child, who, after sneezing seven times, resuscitates (2 Kgs 4:35). This story, which is part of the more complex type, conveys more detail in the healing process. In 2 Kgs 4:4, Elisha instructs the participants in the communal meal to bring flour and throw it into the pot containing the poisonous gourds, and they do so. In 2 Kgs 6:6–7 Elisha, after inquiring about the location of the sunken axe head, cuts off a branch and throws it into the water, causing the axe head to float to the surface. He then instructs the man to lift it out of the water. In the above stories (apart from the resuscitation of the dead child), the instructions are brief, and no explanation is given as to how the application of natural substances will cause the restoration to occur.
In Tobit, the instructions of Azariah are remembered and meticulously carried out by Tobias. Taking the fish’s liver and heart from the bag where he had kept them, he put them on the embers of the incense causing the demon to flee. Azariah completes the exorcism by pursing the demon to Egypt where he binds him hand and foot (Tob 8:2–3). Tobias and Sarah obey the instructions of Azariah by praying together before they consummate their marriage (Tob 8:4–8). 29
After their return to Nineveh, Tobit is told by his wife Anna of their approach and stumbles toward Tobias his son. Tobias holds his father firmly, blows into his eyes, and applies the medicine. He then peels off the white films from his father’s smarting eyes (Tob 11:10–13). 30
e. The situation is miraculously restored
Through the divine power of the agent of God, healing or restoration is brought to the situation of distress. Bitter waters are made potable (2 Kgs 2:21). The widow’s oil supply is miraculously increased, enabling her to become debt free (2 Kgs 4:6–7). The dead child is revived and restored to his mother (2 Kgs 4:35). Poisonous food becomes edible (2 Kgs 4:41), and the borrowed iron axe head floats to the surface (2 Kgs 6:6). 31
In Tobit, after the exorcism of the demon, Tobias and Sarah sleep peacefully through the night and, the next morning, a maid reports them alive and well (Tob 8:9, 14). At the end of the story Tobit, with miraculously healed eyes, sees his son, throws his arms around him, weeps, and blesses God (Tob 11:13–15).
Added features from the complex form of the prophetic miracle story
Greater development of character and plot
In Tobit two parallel miracles, the exorcism of the demon from Sarah and the healing of Tobit’s blindness, are intricately woven into a unified plot. 32 The main characters—Tobit, his wife Edna, his son Tobias, Sarah, and her parents Raguel and Hannah—are well developed, each showing piety and faith in God as well as recognizable human failings. 33 In the manner of biblical narrative their development is shown, not through description of physical details, but rather, through their speech and actions. 34
The setting and plot of the book are wide-ranging and complicated. The two major poles of the book are Nineveh, where Tobit and his exiled family live and Ectabana, where Sarah and her parents reside. The story begins in Nineveh with the blind Tobit sending his son, accompanied by Raphael, on a journey to Rhaga in Media to recover some money he had left there in deposit. After a sojourn at the River Tigris, Azariah diverts the journey to Ectabana in order to exorcize the demon from Sarah and to unite her with Tobias in marriage, a twofold task which he successfully accomplishes. After his recovery of the deposited money from Rhaga, Azariah returns with Tobias to Nineveh. Under the instruction of Azariah, Tobias heals his father’s blindness and introduces his wife to his family. The story ends in Ectabana to which Tobias and his family return after the death of his parents in Nineveh. At a symbolic level, two further poles, within which the story is set, are revealed at the beginning and end of the book. These are Jerusalem, which Tobit constantly remembers (Tob 1:4, 6–8; 5:14 and 13:8–18; 14:4–7), and Nineveh, the city where Tobit was exiled and persecuted (Tob 1:3, 10, 16–20) and whose destruction is referred to in Tob 14:4, 15. 35
The miracle occurs in response to prayer
In the complex form of the prophetic miracle story the miracle often occurs in response to prayer, either by the prophet, as in Elisha’s raising of the widow’s son (2 Kgs 4:33; 6:17, 18, 20), or by the recipient of the miracle, as in Hezekiah’s prayer after having been warned of his immanent death by Isaiah (2 Kgs 20:3–5). 36 So in the story of the miraculous healings of Tobit and Sarah, the prayers of Tobit (Tob 3:2–6; 11:14–15; 13:1–18), Sarah (Tob 3:11–15), Tobias (Tob 8:5–7), and Raguel (Tob 8:15–7) occur in written form, testifying to their importance and significance. 37 Prayer becomes “the driving force of the whole plot.” 38
The book of Tobit gives insight into the unseen dimension behind prayer, which is only glimpsed in the prophetic narratives of the books of Kings. In response to Elisha’s prayer his servant’s eyes are opened to see the heavenly army surrounding the city of Dothan (2 Kgs 6:15–8) and in 1 Kgs 22:19–22 Micaiah sees the deliberations of the heavenly court. In Tobit greater detail is given on how the prayers of Tobit and Sarah are heard by God. Raphael explains how seven angels have the task of approaching and presenting the “memorial of the prayers” (μνημόσυνον τῆς προσευχῆς) of the righteous before God. It was he who presented the prayers of Tobit and Sarah to God and he was sent to heal them and unite Tobias and Sarah in marriage (Tob 3:16–17; 12:12, 14–15). 39 The two worlds, the earthly and the heavenly, are connected by prayer through angelic mediation. Although unseen, the Divine responds immediately and simultaneously to the prayers of Tobit and Sarah. Their prayers, which are set between the narrator’s (Tob 3:16–17) and Raphael’s (Tob 12:12, 14–15), activate the work of God within the movement of the story. 40 This unseen dimension is not known, however, to the protagonists until the end of the story when Azariah reveals his true identity as Raphael, an archangel (Tob 12:11–21).
The healed person acknowledges God
A further element found in the complex prophetic miracle story is the meeting between the deliverer and the delivered after the miraculous act. During this meeting, the one who is delivered, formally acknowledges his recognition of God and his agent. 41 In 2 Kgs 5 Naaman, after being miraculously healed of his leprosy, returns to Elisha and says, “Now I know that there is no God in all the earth except in Israel” (2 Kgs 5:15; cf. 1 Kgs 17:24).
A similar meeting between Tobit, Tobias, and the angel occurs at the end of the book where Raphael takes the two aside privately and reveals his true identity to them, before ascending to heaven. In response, they bless and sing praises to God and acknowledge God (Tob 12:22; 13:1–18). 42 Like the prophet Elisha, who refuses the money offered him by Naaman (2 Kgs 5:15–16), Raphael shows no interest in the money offered him by Tobit and Tobias (Tob 12:5–6).
Further themes from the complex prophetic miracle stories of 2 Kings
The theme of physical/spiritual blindness and sight
In 2 Kings 6:14–23, the situation of distress is the threatened invasion of Dothan by Syria whose troops surround the city. The matter is reported to Elisha by his terrified servant and Elisha prays that his eyes may be opened. In response to his prayer, the servant receives spiritual insight to see the heavenly army surrounding the city. When the Syrian army begins to invade, Elisha prays that they may be struck with blindness. God answers his prayer, and he leads the blinded soldiers into Samaria. He then prays that they might see again. The Syrian army, having been shown mercy, is sent back and refrains from invading again.
This interplay between physical and spiritual blindness and sight underlies the message of the book of Tobit. 43 The blind Tobit is healed of his physical blindness but also of spiritual blindness. At the beginning of the narrative, his spiritual vision is limited. He understands that his sufferings in exile are due to the rebellion of his people against the God of his fathers (Tob 3:3–5). 44 But with the restoration of his physical sight comes spiritual insight into the mercy of God and his plan for the restoration of his people as recorded in the prophets (Tob 13–14).
God’s power to kill/make alive
The power of God to bring both death and life is nowhere more dramatically illustrated than in the miracle stories of Elisha. 45 This power is demonstrated in the two-fold killing of the contingents of 50 sent by Ahaziah (2 Kgs 1:2–17) with fire from heaven and in the death of the young men by bears at the cursing of Elisha (2 Kgs 3:23–27). The deaths of the kings Ahaziah and Ben Hadad are both prophesied and recorded as fulfilled according to Elijah’s and Elisha’s words (2 Kgs 1:17; 8:10, 15). The theme of God’s power over life is also dominant in the Elisha stories which begin and end with accounts of the prophet’s power to raise from the dead (2 Kgs 4:32–37; 13:20–21) and are infused with accounts of Elisha’s restorative or saving powers which rescue from death, a power which continues after his death (2 Kgs 13:20–21). In 1–2 Kings, this power of God over life and death as exercised by Elisha is seen as a polemic against the claims of Baal worship introduced by the Omride dynasty as well as an intimation of hope for Israel’s future restoration from the devastation of exile.
At the beginning of the book, the theme of death, related to God’s punishment of exile, pervades (Tob 3:4). 46 Tobit buries the bodies of those thrown over the wall or killed by King Sennacherib (Tob 1:17–18). Sarah’s seven husbands are killed by the demon Asmodeus (Tob 3:8) and both Tobit and Sarah contemplate suicide (Tob 3:6, 10). Tobit, who regards his blindness as comparable to death (Tob 5:10), sees his recovery as having been brought from death to life (Tob 13:2). Whereas death prevails in the opening of the book, life in the form of the progeny of Tobias and Sarah, prevails at its end (Tob 13:3, 12). 47
The author of Tobit has combined the “nascent eschatological conceptions” of the book of 2 Kings 48 together with more developed prophetic eschatological conceptions, particularly those of the book of Isaiah, 49 using the character of Tobit as a paradigm for the restoration of exiled Israel (Tob 13–14). 50 This theme, found in the opening words of the eschatological Song of Tobit (Tob 13:1–18), extols God who has the power to kill and make alive (“He leads down to Hades in the lowest parts of the earth, and he brings up from the great destruction”; Tob 13:1–2). 51 The formula (kill or afflict/make alive) is applied to Tobit in his blindness (Tob 11:15), to Israel in exile (Tob 13:5), and to Jerusalem in destruction (Tob 13:9), serving to unite the destiny of Tobit with that of the nation of Israel. The healing of Tobit’s blindness thus becomes a paradigm and pledge for the future restoration of Israel. 52
Seeking healing from the God of Israel alone
The book of 2 Kgs 1:2–17 begins with a somber account of the rebuke and death of Ahaziah, king of Israel, for seeking healing from a foreign god rather than from the God of Israel. The theme of this story is accentuated in the threefold repeated question, “Is it because there is no God in Israel that you are sending to inquire of Baal-zebub, the god of Ekron?” (2 Kings 1:3, 6, 16). This account may have influenced the author’s account of the healings of Sarah and Tobit whose miraculous restoration is clearly shown to come only from the God of Israel in response to their prayers. In Tob 2:10 (GII) Tobit attempts to find healing from physicians, resulting in the deterioration of his condition and total blindness which, for him, is equivalent to death (Tob 5:10 GII). As shown in Part 2 below, the attraction of various methods of healing in the Hellenistic world of the author may have presented temptation for Tobit’s audience and provided impetus for the crafting of this story to demonstrate the healing which comes from God alone.
Summary of Part 1
As shown above, the miracle stories of 2 Kgs 1–8, 13:20–21 appear to have been used by the author of Tobit as a model for his account of the parallel healings of Tobit and Sarah. Like the Elisha miracle-stories of 2 Kings, these stories relate the fate of ordinary people from the Northern Kingdom of Israel who are distanced from worship of God in Jerusalem. 53 The author seeks to show that they have not been forgotten by God, who continues to act in mercy on their behalf in the mundane circumstances of life in exile. The stories of Tobit and Sarah follow the basic outline of the simple miracle stories of 2 Kings: a situation of distress, the situation being brought to the attention of an agent of God, instructions from the agent of God to remedy the situation, the instructions being carried out, and miraculous restoration which follows. Other features from the complex miracle stories of 2 Kings include greater development and interweaving of character in multiple episodes, the emphasis on prayer as the medium by which the situation of distress is revealed to God, and the acknowledgment of God by those who have been restored. In addition to this, themes such as the interplay between physical and spiritual blindness and sight, the power of God to kill and make alive, and the importance of seeking healing from the God of Israel alone may also have been drawn from the book of 2 Kings.
Part 2: Healing in the Hellenistic world
The revival of interest on the part of Tobit in an earlier prophetic miracle story did not occur in a vacuum. This book, probably written in the third- to second-centuries BCE, 54 is a product of the Hellenistic period during which the culture of Greece mingled with the traditions of the civilizations of the east and was, in turn, influenced by their customs.
Throughout the Hellenistic period there was a continuing debate over what constituted legitimate medicine and how healing should be accomplished. As Vivian Nutton observes of healing in the Hellenistic period, “. . . Evidence shows a multiplicity of competing healers—root cutters, physicians, obstetricians, incantatory priests, exorcists, bone-setters, surgeons, to say nothing of laymen and laywomen, self-medication and divine intervention.” 55 The problem for ordinary people was that all healers appeared to use organic or common substances and even folk methods, and it seemed impossible to distinguish between them. 56 It seems that this diversity with regard to the practice and use of medicine can be reflected in the writings of Hellenistic era Jewish literature, where there are discussions about the source and legitimacy of medical knowledge and how these relate to a central concept within Jewish faith—God as healer (Exod 15:26). 57
While in Tobit 2:10 (GII) there appears to be a negative attitude to the physicians who, instead of healing Tobit’s eyes, made them worse, there is in this book an equivocal attitude toward medicine and medical practice. 58 The healings of Sarah and Tobit, although presented as the work of God, are accomplished by means which reflect the medical practice of the time. 59 In its presentation of the healing process, the book shows a development of the prior prophetic miracle stories in the amount of added detail which seems to indicate additional influences (see section 2.1 below). In previous prophetical stories, we are simply told that the protagonist becomes very sick. There are few, if any, details given as to the nature of the sickness, how it came about, and how it progressed. For example, in 2 Kgs 5 nothing is said about the cause, nature, and duration of Naaman’s leprosy or how, by bathing in the Jordan, his disease was cured. Similarly, in 2 Kgs 20:7 we are only told in passing that Hezekiah’s sickness was caused by a boil somewhere in his body. The details of how he got the boil and how it affected him, bringing him to the point of death, are not related. In contrast with this, there is a great deal of emphasis on causality in Tobit. We are told in considerable detail the process of Tobit’s ailment—how the white films on his eyes were initially caused by bird droppings falling into his eyes, and how the unsuccessful attempts of doctors to heal them resulted in eventual blindness which lasted 4 years before he was cured (Tob 2:9–19 GII). Likewise, there is much more detail given as to the nature and application of the cure. In 2 Kgs 20:7, we are simply told that a natural substance, a cake of figs, was applied to the boil. How the figs effected the cure and brought about the healing we are not told. The reader simply accepts that the cure was miraculous, caused by God. In contrast to this, in Tobit we are told that the fish’s gall, when applied to the white films covering the eyes of the blind Tobit, caused the films to contract and sting. Tobias then peeled them off from the corners of the eyes and sight was restored (Tob 11:8, 11–12 GII). The knowledge of this cure and the method of its application was revealed to Tobias by the angel, and therefore, the cure was miraculous, but the author also seems to display an added interest in the causation of the disease and the process of its healing, which could show the influence of Hippocratic thought.
In the earlier Greek translation GII, there also appears to be no reticence in the use of the term for medicine ϕαρμακόν, avoided in other Greek translations of the Hebrew scriptures because of its association with magic. 60 The angel Raphael tells Tobias to preserve the fish’s gall, heart and liver for use as medicine (ϕαρμακόν; Tob 6:5, 7 GII) and instructs Tobit how to apply them (Tob 8:17–18; 11:8, 10). 61 The term ϕαρμακόν is also found in the book of Sirach where it is considered to have been revealed to doctors by God (Sir 38:6–7). In addition to this, the physician (ἰατρός) is referred to in a very positive manner (Sir 38:1–4, 11–14). 62 It is possible that both the author’s presentation of the process of healing in Tobit and the positive attitude to healing and medical practice in Sir 38:1–4, 11–14 reflect a Zeitgeist, perhaps informed by traditions like the Hippocratic school of medicine which we consider below. 63
The Hippocratic School of Medicine
The physician Hippocrates (ca. 460–360 BCE) and the school of learning associated with him 64 studied medicine and treated disease theoretically and methodically, viewing disease as resulting from natural causes. While not rejecting the place of the divine in healing, the adherents of this school eschewed superstition and the use of divination, magic, incantations, chants, and charms to manipulate the gods. 65 In these writings, we see an attempt to justify their systematic practice of medicine in the face of many competing types of cures. Nevertheless, the Hippocratic concept of healing was not completely separated from non-Hippocratic methods of treatment, for natural remedies and substances continued to be used. 66 This school of thought continued to influence the practice of medicine for centuries, 67 and there is clear evidence of the assemblage and circulation of the Hippocratic writings in the works of the third century BCE grammarians of Alexandria, such as Erotian, who compiled Hippocratic glossaries. 68 With their systematic approach, their repudiation of magic and divination, their high ethical standard, and their acceptance of the role of the divine in healing, it is reasonable to assume that these writings held a certain appeal for many Hellenistic Jews. The emphasis on causality and procedure, and a growing interest in the use of medicine seems to be reflected in the book of Tobit.
The ἴαμα of the Asclepius cult
Although Hippocratic methods of healing and use of medicine may have resonated with Hellenistic Jewish tradition as mentioned above, the same cannot be said of the Asclepius cult of healing, which did not view the God of Israel as the source of healing.
This very popular form of healing in the Hellenistic era evidenced in the ἴαμα (accounts of healing) of the Asclepius cult was characterized by epiphany dreams about the human body, its maladies and cures. Temples where healing occurred appear to have been scattered throughout the Hellenistic world, as attested in the remains found at Kos, Lebena, Corinth, and Epidaurus among others. The most extensive witness to healing by the god Asclepius, is found in the shrine at Epidaurus, where four large remaining stelae of gray limestone have been inscribed with a collection of “case histories”—accounts of the healing of an assortment of maladies as well as other kinds of miraculous intervention. 69
These stelae are thought to have been set up during an expansion of the temple in the late fourth century BCE. The accounts inscribed on them have been drawn from a variety of sources including narrative and pictorial votives, oral tales attached to sanctuary features, and state-sponsored inscriptions, all suggesting a long history of collection, arrangement, and redaction. 70 Their inscription and collection, entitled “The Cures (ἰάματα) of Apollos and Asclepius,” which are considered to have been the work of priests serving in the Temple, consist of some 70 short narrative accounts of healing which occurred at the shrine. 71 They contain a brief introduction including the name and place of residence of the suppliant, the nature of the disease or problem from which the person suffered, a brief narrative account of the divine action, and a notice of successful outcome. 72 The ἰάματα emphasized the supernatural nature of the healings often performed in a dream which the patient received during the night. The healing action was performed by the god (Asclepius), who seems also to have appeared in the form of a snake or dog or in human form. When the suppliant awoke from his dream, he was miraculously healed.
The theme of blindness and its cure is found in Stele A 9, 11, 18, 20 and Stele B 2, 12, 20, but there are no examples of exorcism to be found in the collection. Several examples of these miraculous accounts are noted in the research of Lynn LiDonnici below. 73
Stele A 18
Alketas of Halieis. This man, being blind, saw a dream. It seemed to him that the god came toward him and drew open his eyes with his fingers, and he first saw the trees in the sanctuary. When day came he left healthy. 74
Stele A 6 (26)
A dog cured a boy from Aigina. He had a growth on his neck. When he had come to the god, a dog from the sanctuary took care of him with its tongue while he was awake and made him healthy.
Stele B (20)
Timo[n], wounded by a spear below his eye. This man, sleeping here, saw a dream. It seemed to him the god ground up an herb and poured it into his eye, and he became healthy. 75
Like the miracle legenda in the Hebrew Bible, there is little or no concern with empirical or scientific exploration of human pathology evident in these accounts. 76 Rather, their main concern is religious: with an encounter between the divine and the human suppliant. 77 Like the miracle stories of 2 Kings 2 and 4, these accounts are unconnected, simple accounts of a suppliant in a situation of distress, who seeks healing or some other form of divine intervention. They give a brief account of the name of the suppliant, the problem, the cure, and the successful outcome which was considered to be miraculous. Like the miracle stories in 1–2 Kings, they are considered to have their origin in oral testimonies which were committed to writing and collected by a professional person: 78 in the case of the Epidaurian inscriptions, by artisans and priests; and in the case of the biblical accounts, in prophetic circles. The biblical prophetic miracle stories, even in their simple form, show, however, greater literary development than the Epidaurian inscriptions.
The Epidaurian Iamata, attested from the fourth century BCE and later, have a very different Sitz im Leben from 2 Kings and Tobit and do not appear to have any relationship with them. In the latter, the accounts of miraculous provision/restoration occur within the local community, in or around isolated prophetic groups (áðé äðáéàéí) who may have been excluded from institutional life. 79 On the contrary, in the Epidaurian inscriptions the healing almost always occurs at the abyton in the public temple site and the agent of healing is not a prophet, but an apparition of the god Asclepius (or his priestly assistants), who appear in a dream. 80 The miracle cure is accomplished, not through the instructions of a prophet, but through divine apparition, often with the use of hands, or with surgery. Nevertheless, these inscriptions attest to the popularity of accounts of miraculous healing in the Hellenistic period. 81 It is possible that in order to counteract the appeal of these Hellenistic healing sites, the author of Tobit may have revived prophetic miracle stories from 1–2 Kings in a contemporary, readable form in order to reaffirm the source of healing in the God of Israel. As mentioned above, the prophetic miracle stories of Elisha’s demonstration of God’s power to heal are preceded by the threefold pronouncement of Elijah against Ahaziah, king of Israel, for seeking healing from Baal of Ekron rather than from the God of Israel (2 Kgs 1:3, 6, 16). This could well be taken as a warning for Hellenistic Jews: Hellenistic gods of healing, such as Asclepius are to be renounced and healing is to be sought from the God of Israel alone and acknowledged as such.
Summary
These developments in Greek medicine and healing appear to have influenced the author of Tobit in different ways. The interest shown in the use of medicine, the causes of sickness, and the process of healing may have been influenced by traditions like those in the Hippocratic corpus, or, at least, the way of thinking underlying these writings. For the author of Tobit, medicine comes from the things created by God, who reveals its use to humanity (as in Sir 38). Asclepian healing may have been regarded negatively, as contrary to the traditional faith of Israel. To counter the attraction of the popular temple healing, the author of Tobit appears to have turned to Israelite accounts of miraculous healings in 2 Kings, which begin with the solemn threefold warning against seeking healing from foreign gods rather than from the God of Israel (2 Kgs 1:3, 6, 16). Out of these prophetic miracle stories, the author of Tobit has crafted two intricately woven stories of miraculous healing, drawing on many sources, and forming them into a complete, very readable novella, which demonstrates the God of Israel as the source of all healing and well-being. The command of Raphael at the end of the story to “write down the all the things that have happened to you” (GII)/“write in a book all the things that have been accomplished” (GI), 82 may point to the importance of a written testimony which acknowledges Israel’s God, a testimony to counter accounts acknowledging the god Asclepius and other gods of healing, inscribed on temples throughout the Hellenistic world.
Conclusion
The prophetic miracle story, in both its simple and more complex forms, appears to have furnished the author of Tobit with a model with which to address the concerns of Jews over legitimate forms of healing. At a narrative level, the miracle stories from 2 Kgs 1–8 provided the author of Tobit with a source of encouragement that God continued to intervene on people’s behalf in miraculous ways. The prophetic miracle story also supplied the author of Tobit with a means of addressing the confusion of Hellenistic Jewish communities over the bourgeoning developments in Greek medicine and medical practice. This exemplar affirmed belief in God as the source of all healing. In Tobit, the miraculous healings of the blind Tobit and widowed, childless Sarah become paradigms for the restoration of Israel’s spiritual understanding, the return to their land, and the conception of promised progeny.
Footnotes
Declaration of conflicting interests
The author(s) declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author(s) received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
1.
2.
Carey A. Moore, Tobit A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary, AB 40A (New York: Doubleday, 1996), 27.
3.
Moore, Tobit, 11–14.
4.
George W. E. Nickelsburg, “The Search for Tobit’s Mixed Ancestry: A Historical and Hermeneutical Odyssey,” RevQ 17 (1996): 339–49 at 340–4. See also Andrew B. Perrin, “An Almanac of Tobit Studies: 2000–2014,” CurBR 132 (2014): 122–28.
5.
Devorah Dimant, “The Qumran Aramaic Texts and the Qumran Community,” in Flores Florentino: The Dead Sea Scrolls and Other Early Jewish Studies in Honour of Florentino García Martínez, ed. Anthony Hilhorst, Émile Puech, and Eibert Tigchelaar, JSJSup 122 (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 197–205; Devorah Dimant, “Mother of Jacob and Mother of Tobiah: From the Book of Genesis to the Book of Tobit,” RevQ 30 (2018): 47–63; Andrew B. Perrin, “Tobit’s Context and Contacts in the Qumran Aramaic Anthology,” JSP 25 (2015): 23–51; Katri Atin, “Propagating the Israelite Way of Life in the Book of Tobit and Jubilees: Tobit and Noah as Exemplary Characters,” JSP 33 (2023): 97–111; Francis M. Macatangay, “Raphael’s Instruction to ‘Write Everything Down,’ in the Book of Tobit,” Bib 99 (2018): 507–24; Jonathon R. Trotter, “The Developing Narrative of the Life of Job: The Implications of Some Shared Elements of the Book of Tobit and the ‘Testament of Job,’” CBQ 77 (2015): 449–66.
6.
Ariel Feldman, The Dead Sea Scrolls Rewriting Samuel and Kings: Texts and Commentary, BZAW 469 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2015), 12–13.
7.
Nickelsburg, “Tobit’s Mixed Ancestry,” 345.
8.
Various names have been given to these stories such as “prophetic legenda,” “wonder stories,” or “prophetic stories/narratives” among other names. I have coined the term “prophetic miracle story” which refers to discrete, brief, narrative texts which share a similar content concerning a miracle performed by a prophet or man of God in response to a situation of distress. The following analysis is based on the methodology of Alastair Fowler, Kinds of Literature: An Introduction to the Theory of Genre and Modes (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1982). Fowler, who examines genre descriptively and diachronically, regards genre as a communication necessary for reading and interpreting texts (Kinds of Literature, 256). On the necessity for and development of genre studies in the twenty-first century, see Ruth Henderson, Second Temple Songs of Zion: A Literary and Generic Analysis of the Apostrophe to Zion (11QPsa XXII 1–15), Tobit 13:9–18 and 1 Baruch 4:30–5:9, DCLS 17 (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014), 20–22. See also Carol Newsom, “Spying out the Land: A Report from Genology,” in Bakhtin and Genre Theory in Biblical Studies, ed. Roland Boer, SBLSemSt 63 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2007), 19–30.
9.
Daniel J. D. Stulac, Life, Land, and Elijah in the Book of Kings (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 11. For an overview of scholarship on the composition of the books Kings and the place of the Elijah/Elisha stories within them, see Life, Land, and Elijah, 10–37.
10.
See Gwilym Henry Jones, 1 and 2 Kings, Vol. 2, NCBC (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1984), 400–12, 421.
11.
Burke O. Long, “2 Kings III and Genres of Prophetic Narrative,” VT 23 (1973): 337–48 at 341–42; Alexander Rofé, The Prophetical Stories: Narratives about the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, Their Literary Types and History (Jerusalem: Magnes Press, 1988), 21–22. See also, John Gray, I & II Kings: A Commentary, OTL (London: SCM Press, 1964), 416.
12.
Stulac, Life, Land, and Elijah, 14; Susanne Otto, “The Composition of the Elijah-Elisha Stories and the Deuteronomistic History,” JSOT 27 (2003): 487–508 at 497; Feldman, Dead Sea Scrolls Rewriting Samuel and Kings, 183.
13.
These features and the following section have been influenced by the work of Rofé, Prophetical Stories; see also “The Classification of the Prophetical Stories,” JBL 89 (1970): 427–40. Although the form-critical analysis of Rofé is rejected, he has nevertheless shown insightful analysis of many of the substantial features of this literary type.
14.
This feature was observed by Marvin A. Sweeney, I & II Kings A Commentary, 1st ed., OTL (Louisville, KY: Westminster John Knox, 2007), 296. Sweeney gives no reason for this feature, but it seems to me the interruption to the usual narrative style, comprising the waw-conversive and an imperfect verb, may point to inclusion from a separate source. Exceptions to this feature include 2 Kgs 2:19 and 6:1.
15.
W. Brian Aucker, “A Prophet in King’s Clothes: Kingly and Divine Representation in 2 Kings 4 and 5,” in Reflection and Refraction: Studies in Biblical Historiography in Honour of A. Graeme Auld, ed. Robert Rezetko, Timothy H. Lim, and W. Brian Aucker, VTSup 113 (Leiden: Brill, 2007), 1–25 at 4.
16.
Winfried Thiel, “Character and Function of Divine Sayings in the Elijah and Elisha Traditions,” in Eschatology in the Bible and in Jewish and Christian Tradition, ed. Henning Graf Reventlow (London: Bloomsbury, 1997), 189–99.
17.
Moore, Tobit, 8.
18.
Stulac, Life, Land, and Elijah, 140, 162–63, 194–95.
19.
GII “foot”; GI “person.” Three Greek recensions of Tobit have survived: a shorter text, represented by Vaticanus (B) and Alexandrinus (A) usually called GI; and a longer recension, GII represented by Sinaiticus. A partial text is also represented in GIII. Today, most scholars agree that the earlier text is that represented by Sinaiticus (GII), as this is supported by the Qumran fragments and the Old Latin. This text (GII) is usually referred to in this study. The Greek texts have been taken from Robert Hanhart, Tobit, Septuaginta: Vetus Testamentum Graecum 8.5 (Gottingen: Vandenhoeck & Rupreckt, 1983). The English translation is from Alexander A. Di Lella, “Tobit,” in A New English Translation of the Septuagint, ed. Albert Pietersma and Benjamin G. Wright (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 459–77. The earliest witnesses to the text are the fragments found at Qumran Cave 4 (4Q196–199 in Aramaic and 4Q200 in Hebrew). There are also two Latin versions: the longer version, Old Latin, which reflects GII, and the shorter Vulgate translation which is closer to GI. The non-Greek versions referred to been taken from The Book of Tobit: Texts from the Principal Ancient and Medieval Traditions, ed. Stuart Weeks, Simon Gathercole and Loren Stuckenbruck (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2004) and Vincent Skemp, The Vulgate of Tobit Compared with Other Ancient Witnesses, SBLDS 180 (Atlanta: Society of Biblical Literature, 2000).
20.
I do not think the miracles of the prophetic legenda were considered to have been performed through magical means as claimed by many, but rather, that ancient audiences understood the miraculous events as the result of the application of organic substances or natural processes combined with divine power as transmitted through an agent of God. The use of natural substances was common to all types of healing—folk, magical and medical—in the ancient world. See Moore, Tobit, 201–2, 262. For an understanding of the miraculous according to the pre-modern biblical viewpoint, see Stulac, Life, Land, and Elijah, 142–43.
21.
Exorcisms are also not featured in the Hippocratic writings and the Asclepian Iamata discussed below.
22.
On the distress of Tobit and Sarah see Anathea Portier-Young, “Alleviation of Suffering in the Book of Tobit: Comedy, Community and Happy Endings,” CBQ 63 (2011): 35–54 at 38–46.
23.
On the identification of the prophet with the divine messenger/angel in later biblical literature, see William M. Schniedewind, The Word of God in Transition: From Prophet to Exegete in the Second Temple Period JSOTSup 197 (Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1995), 82–84; Edgar W. Conrad, “The End of Prophecy and the Appearance of Angels/Messengers in the Book of the Twelve,” JSOT 73 (1997): 65–79; Mark J. Boda, “Messengers of Hope in Haggai–Malachi,” JSOT 32 (2007): 113–31; Christopher R. Seitz, “The Divine Council: Temporal Transition and New Prophecy in the Book of Isaiah,” JBL 109 (1990): 229–47; and Rofé, Prophetical Stories, 174–82. On Raphael as messenger/prophet, see Irene Nowell, “The ‘Work’ of the Archangel Raphael,” in Angels: The Concept of Celestial Beings Origins, Development and Reception, ed. Friedrich V. Reiterer, Tobias Nicklas, and Karin Schopflin, ed., Deuterocanonical and Cognate Literature Yearbook (Berlin: De Gruyter, 2007), 234–37; Beate Ego, “The Figure of the Angel Raphael According to His Farewell Address in Tob 12:6–20,” in Angels: The Concept of Celestial Beings, 239–54.
24.
Stulac, Life, Land, and Elijah, 8, 194–95; Rofé, Prophetical Stories, 14–17, 41–42.
25.
Nowell, “The ‘Work’ of Raphael,” 233–37.
26.
See also Tob 11:7.
27.
For discussions of these miracle stories, see Aucker, “A Prophet in King’s Clothes,” 2–20; Stulac, Life, Land, and Elijah, 143–94; Paul J. Kissling, Reliable Characters in the Primary History: Profiles of Moses, Joshua, Elijah and Elisha (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic, 1996), 190–97.
28.
The instructions Raphael gives to Tobias immediately before he meets his father differ between the two LXX versions. In GII of Tob 11:8 the emphasis is on the effect of the fish gall medicine, which after having been applied to the eyes of his father by Tobias, will cause the white films to contract and peel off. On the other hand, in GI the emphasis is on the blind Tobit; after his eyes have been anointed by his son, he will automatically react to the stinging sensation created by the application of the gall and, rubbing his eyes, will cast off the white films to see his son. See Moore, Tobit, 262–63.
29.
Moore, Tobit, 241.
30.
In GII of 11:10–13 the emphasis is on the son Tobias who, having blown into his father’s eyes and having said a few words of encouragement, anoints the eyes with the fish’s gall. He scales off from the corners the white films which have been shrunken from the effect of the medicine. In GI the emphasis is on Tobit, who feeling the sting, rubs his eyes causing the white films to peel off. The role of his son Tobias in the healing process has been diminished. See Moore, Tobit, 262–63.
31.
For an understanding of the miraculous according to the pre-modern biblical viewpoint, see Stulac, Life, Land, and Elijah, 142–43.
32.
See Ryan S. Schellenberg, “Suspense, Simultaneity, and Divine Providence in the Book of Tobit,” JBL 130 (2011): 313–27.
33.
Moore, Tobit, 135.
34.
Moore, Tobit, 7–8; Irene Nowell, “The Book of Tobit: Introduction, Commentary and Reflections,” in The New Interpreter’s Bible Vol. 3, ed. K. Doob Sakenfeld (Nashville: Abington Press, 1999), 975–1071 at 983.
35.
See Ruth Henderson, “Jonah and Tobit: A Developing Understanding of the Meaning of Exile,” JSP 31 (2022): 287–305 at 295, 302; Ego, Tobit, 313–14.
36.
This story, although having been through considerable reworking and appearing in two versions, appears to have the basic features of the simple prophetic miracle story. See Jones, 1 and 2 Kings, Vol. 2, 584–89.
37.
P. J. Griffin, “The Theology and Function of Prayer in the Book of Tobit” (PhD dissertation, The University of Michigan, 1982).
38.
Nowell, “The ‘Work’ of Raphael,” 233. See also Moore, Tobit, 29–30 and especially Griffin, “Theology and Function of Prayer in Tobit,” 100–101, 158, 184, 200–204.
39.
Moore, Tobit, 157.
40.
Nowell, “The ‘Work’ of Raphael,” 233.
41.
Rofé, Prophetical Stories, 129.
42.
See Macatangay, “Raphael’s Instruction,” 507–24.
43.
Aaron Jonathon Chalmers, “A Critical Analysis of the Formula ‘Yahweh Strikes and Heals’,” VT 61/1 (2011):16–33.
44.
See Micah D. Kiel, “Tobit’s Theological Blindness,” CBQ 73 (2011): 281–98, who points out a transition in the theological insight of Tobit from Deuteronomistic retribution theology to a greater understanding of the working of God.
45.
Stulac, Life, Land, and Elijah, 185–86.
46.
Moore, Tobit, 32–33; 129–30 and Nowell, Tobit NIB, 1069, n. 124.
47.
Moore, Tobit, 290. Nowell, Tobit NIB, 1068–69.
48.
Stulac, Life, Land, and Eljah, 143–44, 155–56, 194; Sweeney, I & II Kings, 287–88, 291–92, 296; Aucker, “A Prophet in King’s Clothes,” 23–24.
49.
On prophetic intertextuality in the eschatology of Tobit, see Moore, Tobit, 283–84; Henderson, Second Temple Songs of Zion, 156–71; Joseph P. Riordan, “Long Live Zion: The Meaning of σκηνή in Tob 13:10 (GII, VL),” in Selected Studies in Deuterocanonical Prayers, ed. Angela Kim Harkins and Barbara Schmitz (Leuven: Peeters 2021), 142–46.
50.
Moore, Tobit, 295–96.
51.
Moore, Tobit, 278.
52.
Chalmers, “The Formula ‘Yahweh Strikes and Heals’,” 16–33.
53.
Unlike the Pentateuchal healing stories which refer to the early nation of Israel during the patriarchal and wilderness periods (Gen 20:17–18; 21:1–3; Exod 15:23–26; Num 21:5–9), the story of the healing of Hezekiah refers to a king of Judah (2 Kgs 20:1–7/Isa 38:1–6).
54.
Perrin, “Almanac of Tobit Studies,” 113–15.
55.
Vivian Nutton, “The Rise of Greek Medicine,” in The Cambridge History of Medicine, ed. Roy Porter (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006), 50–52. See also Steven M. Oberhelman, “Introduction: Medical Pluralism, Healing and Dreams,” in Dreams, Healing and Medicine in Greece: From Antiquity to the Present, ed. Steven M. Oberhelman (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2013), 6–10.
56.
Vivian Nutton, Ancient Medicine, Series of Antiquity (London: Routledge, 2004), 65–66; Loren T. Stuckenbruck, “The Book of Tobit and the Problem of ‘Magic’,” in The Myth of Rebellious Angels: Studies in Second Temple Judaism and New Testament Texts, WUNT 1.335 (Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2014), 120-30, at 121, n. 1.
57.
See Stuckenbruck, “Book of Tobit and the Problem of ‘Magic’,” 120–30, for an overview of the diverse attitudes to the practice and use of medicine in Jewish Hellenistic literature. See also M. Chrysovergi, “Contrasting Views on Physicians in Tobit and Sirach,” JSP 21 (2011): 37-54 and Nowell, “The ‘Work’ of Raphael,” 228–29.
58.
Nowell, “The ‘Work’ of Raphael,” 228–29.
59.
See Larry P. Hogan, Healing in the Second Temple Period, Novum Testamentum et Orbis Antiquus 21 (Freiburg, Switzerland: Universitätsverlag, 1992), 32–33.
60.
The term ϕαρμακόν is found in Tob 6:5, 7; 11:8, 10 in GII. The omission of this term in the later revision GI seems to indicate a desire to bring the book into greater conformity with the approach of the Hebrew scriptures. See Stuckenbruck, “Book of Tobit and the Problem of ‘Magic’,” 125–29.
61.
The use of the term ϕαρμακόν is confirmed by 4Q197 4i:12, where the underlying Aramaic for the Greek ϕαρμακόν is סם (“powder/medicament”). This word has also been reconstructed in 4Q196 3:3, 4Q197 4i:9, 4Q5:3 200.
62.
Chrysovergi, “Contrasting Views on Physicians,” 42–44; Howard Clark Kee, Medicine, Miracle and Magic in New Testament Times (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1986), 21.
63.
Chrysovergi, “Contrasting Views on Physicians,” 42–44. Contra Chrysovergi, who limits this influence to Sirach, I think Tobit also reflects the influence of the Hippocratic School in its presentation of the healing process. See also, Kee, Medicine, Miracle and Magic, 21.
64.
See Nutton, Ancient Medicine, 60–61.
65.
Chrysovergi, “Contrasting Views on Physicians,” 42–4; Nutton, Ancient Medicine, 60–71; Kee, Medicine, Miracle and Magic, 30–32, 60. Lois N. Magner, A History of Medicine, 2nd ed. (New York: Informa Healthcare, 2005), 95.
66.
Nutton, Ancient Medicine, 63–64, 71.
67.
Nutton, Ancient Medicine, 50, 142.
68.
Elizabeth Craik, Two Hippocratic Treatises on Sight and on Anatomy: Edited and Translated with Introduction and Commentary (Leiden: Brill, 2006), xxiii.
69.
Lee T. Pearcy, “Writing the Medical Dream in the Hippocratic Corpus and at Epidaurus,” in Dreams, Healing and Medicine in Greece: From Antiquity to the Present, ed. Steven M. Oberhelman (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2013),102–3.
70.
Lynn R. LiDonnici, Tale and Dream: The Text and Compositional History of the Corpus of Epidaurian Miracle Cures (PhD dissertation, University of Michigan, 1989), 135, published as Lynn R. LiDonnici, The Epidaurian Miracle Inscriptions: Text, Translation and Commentary (Atlanta: Scholars Press, 1995).
71.
Pearcy, “Writing the Medical Dream,” 102–3.
72.
Pearcy, “Writing the Medical Dream,” 102–3; Kee, Medicine, Miracle and Magic, 69–70.
73.
LiDonnici, Tale and Dream, 45. LiDonnici used the text of Hiller in IG IV2 I, (1929) ed. min., v. 4, fasc. 1, 70–79.
74.
LiDonnici, Tale and Dream, 65.
75.
LiDonnici, Tale and Dream, 94.
76.
Sometimes a natural substance (ϕαρμακον) is applied to the diseased area, as in Stele B 20 above, though this is rare. This can be compared with the texts found at Lebena, Crete, which are two centuries later. In these a variety of items from the pharmacopoeia used in the cure are named, whereas in the Epidaurian Iamata, medicines are rarely used and never specifically named. See LiDonnici, Tale and Dream, 150–51.
77.
LiDonnici, Tale and Dream, 159–60. In the prophetic miracle stories interaction with the divine is mediated, however, through an agent of God.
78.
For a more extensive account of the origins of the Epidaurian Iamata, see LiDonnici, Epidaurian Miracle Inscriptions, 40–75. LiDonnici considers the Iamata to have been composed from a variety of sources, including narrative and pictorial votives, oral tales attached to sanctuary features, and state sponsored inscriptions (see above).
79.
The common people in prophetic stories appear to belong to the group mentioned in 1 Kgs 19:18 who rejected the worship of the calf instituted by Jeroboam, rejected the Baal worship introduced by Ahab and Jezebel, and sought help from the excluded prophets of God.
80.
Healing is usually performed by the god himself (Stele A 3, 6, 9, B 7, 8, 10, 12), priestly assistants (Stele A 5, B 3), a snake (Stele A.17) or a dog (Stele A. 20, B. 6). Instructions are sometimes given by the god (Stele A 6, B 4) but this is not often the case.
81.
See Louise Cilliers and François Pieter Retief, “Dream Healing in Asclepieia in the Mediterranean,” in Dreams, Healing and Medicine in Greece: From Antiquity to the Present, ed. Steven M. Oberhelman (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2013), 69–92, for a thoughtful assessment of these inscriptions.
82.
Macatangay, “Raphael’s Instruction to ‘Write,’” 507–24.