BIBLE HOME - Adam Through Jacob - Tobit - Passion Narratives | Religious Reading Blog
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BIBLE HOME - Adam Through Jacob - Tobit - Passion Narratives | Religious Reading Blog |
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The text below comes from the first half of Tobit, Chapter 1 (with some omissions). As the Book of Tobit begins, the story is being told in first person by Thobi (Tobit). Later in the book, the narration will change to third-person. As you read this story, you will meet Thobi's immediate family: his wife, Anna, and his son, Thobias. You will also see that kinship terms are used in a variety of ways in this text. Pater can mean "father" in the biological sense of one's father, but it can also be used to refer to an "ancestor" more generally, as when Tobit refers to King David as his pater. The term frater means "brother," but Tobit refers to any man in the Jewish community as his "brother." Both frater and soror are used as terms of address - and a husband even uses these terms when speaking to his wife, so don't get confused if you see Tobit call his wife "Sister Anna" or if you see Raguel (another character in the story) calling his wife "Sister Edna." The story of Tobit is set during the eighth century B.C.E., when King Sargon captured Samaria, the capital of Israel, and took the people captive to Assyria. Yet Tobit also makes reference to the revolt of the northern Jewish tribes against Jerusalem, which took place in the tenth century B.C.E., two hundred years earlier! So don't worry too much about the history. Instead, see how the story represents Tobit as being always faithful. When the Jewish people turned away from God and worshipped idols, Tobit remained faithful; when the Jewish people were taken into captivity and gave up their traditions, Tobit remained faithful. The story of the Book of Tobit is focused on Tobit's unwavering faith and devotion to God. As the story opens, Tobit is living in the city of Nineveh, the capital of the ancient kingdom of Assyria, in modern-day Iraq. As a servant in the court of the Assyrian king, Tobit also journeys to the city of Rages in Media, in modern-day Iran. You might want to take a look at this map to get oriented: Nineveh was near the modern city of Mosul, and Rages was located near the modern city of Tehran.
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| Ego, Thobi, in viis veritatis ambulabam et in iustitiis omnibus diebus vitae meae, |
Thobi: Hebrew name (nominative) |
| et eleemosynas multas feci fratribus meis et nationi meae, qui abierant mecum in captivitatem in regionem Assyriorum in Nineven. |
qui: relative pronoun, agreeing with fratribus + nationi in gender and number Nineven: feminine accusative singular (Greek declensional ending) |
| Et, cum essem in regione mea in terra Israel et cum essem iunior, omnis tribus Nephthali, patris mei, recessit de domo David, patris mei, et ab Ierusalem civitate. |
essem: subjunctive with cum Israel: Hebrew name (agrees with terra) Nephthali: Hebrew name (agrees with patris) David: Hebrew name (agrees with patris) Iersusalem: Hebrew name (agrees with civitate) |
| Omnes fratres mei omnisque domus Nephthali, patris mei, sacrificabant vitulo, quem fecit Ieroboam, rex Israel, in Dan, in omnibus montibus Galilaeae. |
Nephthali: Hebrew name (agrees with patris) quae: relative pronoun, agreeing with vitulo in gender and number Ieroboam: Hebrew name (agrees with rex) Dan: Hebrew name (locative) |
| Ego autem solus ibam aliquotiens in Ierusalem diebus festis, sicut scriptum est in toto Israel in praecepto sempiterno. |
autem: postpositive Iersusalem: Hebrew name (accusative) Israel: Hebrew name (agrees with toto)
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| Primitias et primogenita et decimas armentorum et pecorum et initia tonsurae ovium mecum portabam in Ierusalem. |
Iersusalem: Hebrew name (accusative)
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| Et dabam ea sacerdotibus, filiis Aaron, ad aram, |
Aaron: Hebrew name (genitive) |
| et dabam ea orphanis et viduis secundum mandata, quae mandaverat Debora, mater patris mei, Ananiel, |
quae: relative pronoun, agreeing with mandata in gender and number Ananiel: Hebrew name (agrees with patris) |
| quia orphanum me reliquit pater et mortuus est. |
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| Et, postquam vir factus sum, accepi uxorem Annam ex semine patriae nostrae et genui ex illa filium et vocavi nomen eius Thobiam. |
Thobiam: Hebrew name (nominative: Thobias) |
| Et, postquam in captivitatem deveni ad Assyrios, cum captivus morarer, ibam in Nineven. |
morarer: subjunctive with cum Nineven: feminine accusative singular (Greek declensional ending) |
| Et omnes fratres mei et qui de genere meo erant manducabant de panibus gentium. |
qui: relative pronoun, agreeing with subject of manducabant ("all my brethren and (those) who...") |
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Ego autem custodivi animam meam, ne manducarem de panibus gentium. |
autem: postpositive manducarem: subjunctive with ne
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| Et, quoniam memor eram Dei mei in tota anima mea, dedit mihi Excelsus gratiam et speciem penes Salmanasar, |
Salmanasar: Hebrew name (accusative) |
| et comparabam illi omnia, quaecumque erant in usum. |
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| Et ibam in
Mediam, usque dum moreretur, et commendavi Gabael, fratri Gabriae, in Rages, in regione Mediae, saccellos decem talenta argenti.  |
moreretur: subjunctive with dum Gabael: Hebrew name (agrees with fratri) Gabriae: Hebrew name (genitive; nominative is Gabrias) Rages: Hebrew name (locative) |
| © The segmented texts, annotations and audio files at BestLatin.net are copyrighted by Laura Gibbs, 2006. No copyright is claimed for any images. |
