Catholic Dictionary

Find accurate definitions of over 5,000 Catholic terms and phrases (including abbreviations). Based on Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

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TOBIT, BOOK OF

A deuterocanonical book of the Old Testament, not recognized as part of the Bible by Jews and Protestants. It relates the story of Tobit, a pious Jew of the captivity of Nineveh, who, in the practice of charity in his old age, became blind. He sent his son Tobias on a long journey to recover a debt. Tobias' companion, the angel Raphael, rescued a family relative, Sarah, from the power of the devil, helped recover the debt, and prescribed a remedy to cure Tobit's blindness. The moral lesson of the narrative is to show God's fidelity to those who serve him, especially in the practice of charity, and to teach the special providence of the angels as ministers in the divine service.