It’s a story packed with adventure, piety, and a healthy dose of divine intervention. to a particularly intense moment from the beginning of the story. Our hero, Tobit, is in deep trouble. King Sennacherib, remember him? The Assyrian king who besieged Jerusalem? Well, he’s furious with Tobit. We aren't told exactly what Tobit did to anger him, but the result is clear: Sennacherib wants him dead.
"And it came to pass when Sennacherib heard this, that his anger was greatly kindled against me," the text tells us. The stakes are immediately high. He doesn't just want Tobit gone; he orders the capture of his wife, Hannah, and his son, Tobiyyah, too. Can you imagine the fear, the desperation?
So, Tobit does what any sensible person would do: he flees. "I fled from his presence," he says. But it doesn't end there. Sennacherib, still seething, orders all of Tobit's possessions to be seized. He's not just after Tobit's life; he wants to destroy everything he has.
But even in the face of such adversity, the story highlights Tobit's goodness. He hides, yes, but he's still very much in the hearts and minds of his community. We read that "the widows and orphans of Israel cried out for me in the bitterness of their soul with fasting and weeping." Their prayers, their genuine distress, ascended to heaven itself.
And here's where the story takes a turn, a rather brutal one, but a turn nonetheless. "His judgment reached unto heaven," the text says, "and was lifted up even to the skies, and the God of Israel delivered him into the hand of his two sons, and they slew him with the sword." Sennacherib is assassinated by his own children! Talk about karma.
Why did this happen? The text gives us a glimpse into the king's mindset. He questions his advisors, asking why the Holy One, Kadosh Baruch Hu (blessed be He), was so protective of Israel and Jerusalem. He remembers the angel of the Lord who destroyed the host of Pharaoh in Egypt, and all the young men used by God to deliver Israel.
The king's wise men offer a chilling explanation: "Abraham, the father of Israel, led forth his son to slay him, peradventure he might thereby obtain the favor of the Lord his God; therefore hath he been jealous for his children, and hath executed vengeance upon thy servants." In other words, Abraham's willingness to sacrifice Isaac created a divine debt, a reason for God to always defend his people.
It's a fascinating, if somewhat unsettling, interpretation. It suggests that even acts of obedience, even those that are ultimately averted, can have lasting consequences. And that, perhaps, the struggles of Tobit, and the downfall of Sennacherib, are all part of a larger, divinely ordained plan.
What does this all mean for us? Perhaps it's a reminder that even when we face seemingly insurmountable odds, our actions, our prayers, and the compassion of others can have a profound impact. And that sometimes, just sometimes, the wheels of justice do turn, even if it takes a little divine intervention.