tuesday bible study: Tobit

Also see: Ecclesiates Bible Study | Revelation Bible Study Winter/Spring 2008, 6-7 on Tuesdays in the parlor Lesson 6: Dudes, I’m an Archangel Read Tobit 12-14, and next week we’re done. What is Raphael’s advise in 12.6-10, and what do you think of it? Is it correct, in your opinion? Why was the angel sent, according to Raphael? How is Tobit like Abraham? Read Rev 1.4, 3.1: how many archangels are they, and how many are mentioned by name? Compare and contrast this angelophany with others in our Bible: Judg 13.20: Dan 10.8-12: Matt 17.6: Luke 2.9-10; 24.5: Rev 1.17: The purpose of most angelophanies is to give a commission. What are they here? What do you notice about Tobit’s prayer in all of 13? What struck you about it? What features of this prayer are universal, and which are more particular, in your opinion? Read the advise of Tobit in chapter 14, and comment on which parts are significant and interesting to a post-modern reader. Considering the book of Tobit as a whole, what exactly have you learned in this study? What will you take away with in from reading Tobit with this group? Lesson 5: Home With the Dog Read Tobit 9-11, and the rest of the Buechner book. The next lesson is the last one, so hang tough. How does chapter 9 serve the narrative? What does it suggest to Jews who are in exile? How does the conversation between Anna and Tobit show their personalities? Look back over the whole book: does Anna ever pray? What might this mean, if anything? How does Tobit’s advice about life in chapter 4 find some fulfillment in 10.7-13? What is the characterization of Raguel? Talk about the tone of chapter 10 in its two parts. Is the second half too sentimental for you? How many times is the word blessed used in chapter 11? What’s with the mention of the dog again in 11.4? Was the dog with them the whole trip? How is Tobit’s healing described? How does God work to heal today, if at all? Talk more about the Buechner book and how it was to read the text and the book side-by-side. Lesson 4: Burning Fish Liver Rids the House of Demons Read Tobit 7-8, and more of the Buechner book. What does Deut 25.5-10 say about levirate marriage? Does Gen 38 and Ruth 4.1-12 shed more light? React to the phrase in 6.17: “She was set apart for you before the world was made.” What is the relationship of Raguel and Edna like, and how does it differ from that of Tobias and Sarah? In 7.10, is Raguel alluding to a well-known phrase (as in Isa 22.13), or he just saying, “Relax tonight”? Is there any wedding ceremony in our bible? What passages might be appropriate? What is the mother expressing in 7.16: hope, courage, sorrow, all of the above? In the opening of chapter 8, what did it feel like to be each of the characters: Tobit, Sarah, Raguel, Edna, the demon? So how far (roughly) did the demon flee? What happened to him? What do you think of Tobit’s prayer with Sarah in the bedroom? Is it an accurate restatement of the Genesis story? What does the word helper mean here? Why does he mention, not because of lust? Why does Raguel dig the grave, and why does he have it filled? What’s the tone of this scene? Fourteen days is twice the number of days of the usual wedding feast. Why does the father order it to be longer? What do you think of Raguel’s prayer in 8.15-17? Lesson 3: Raphael, the Angel, Not the Painter or Ninja Turtle Read Tobit 5-6, and more of the Buechner book. Tobit 4.15a is a version of what saying? Which is better the positive statement, or the negative? How are they different? What do you think of On the Road with the Archangel so far? What other stories (in which a person looks for a traveling companion, or one in which a person talks with an angel unawares) does this one in Tobit chapter 5 remind you of? Have you, in your own experience, ever encountered an angel? How about a messenger from God? Look up the name Azariah and give its meaning here. Tobit refers to him as what? What does the narrator refer to him as, and why? Notice 5.10: I lie in darkness like the dead. What does this verse conjure up in you? What does Raphael do in 5.11-15? Does this bother you? There is much talk in Tobit 5.15—6.1 of God keeping one safe in travel. Do you believe God acts in this manner or not? Defend your answer. 5.22 mentions good angels; does that imply there exists “bad angels”? A dog shows up 6.2. What might he be an image or suggestion of? How you imagine the fish story in 6.2-9? What part does it play in the story? What actors would best be cast as Tobit, Tobias, Raphael, Sarah, and the rest? Lesson 2: Tobit & Sarah Pray Read Tobit 3- 4, and the first part of the Buechner book. What do you notice about Tobit’s prayer in 3.1-6? Is he in total despair? Is he self-pitying? What parts of his prayer are hopeful, and which parts are hopeful? Is his calling God just meant to be ironic, given the historical setting (of the Exile)? Compare Tobit 3.6 with verses from Eccl, such as 12.5. How are alike? Does Tobit have any hope of an afterlife? Consider the meaning of the names in 3.7-15. Sarah means princess; Raguel maker of Italian sauces (no, actually it means friend of God); Asmode may mean either destroyer (from the Hebrew) or demon of anger (Persian). How are these names fitting or ironic, or both? Why does Sarah think about suicide? Is there anywhere in our bible that expressly prohibits suicide? If so, where? How is Sarah’s prayer different from Tobit’s? Does she mention her people? Where is her hope? She calls God merciful in 3.11; what are some other mentions of mercy in Tobit? Is Raphael mentioned anywhere else in our Bible? What does his name mean (Hint: 3.17)? What do you think about this mention of healing and answered prayer? How does this square with your experience? What is the nature of Tobit’s instructions to his son? What strikes you about this list? Is this wisdom, or something else? How does this list compare to what your father might have said to you, if anything? How does it compare to those found elsewhere, as in Hamlet? Lesson 1: Why Are We Reading This Book Anyway? Read the first two chapters of Tobit, and start reading the Buechner book, if you like. For what reason might Christians want to read this book? How did the early churches decide which book were canonized and which were not? According to 1.1-2, when and where does the action of this book purport to take place? What do you know about Nineveh? In the section 1.3-9, what major themes are introduced? What are the ironies that you see here? Who else in our bible keeps him- or herself from unclean foods? Does your faith impact the way you eat? Who else in literature gets in trouble for burying the dead? Why is this a big deal? What humiliations come upon Tobit in chapter 2, and why do they happen? What genre does Tobit seem to be? Of what other stories does it remind you? In what way does chapter 2 illustrate the phrase, “No good deed goes unpunished”? Do you think that saying is true? Tell about a good deed that you did that landed you in trouble.

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