A Scriptural Model for the Song of Tobit (Tobit 13.1–18)

The aim of this study is to look afresh at the scriptural sources underlying the Song of Tobit in Tobit 13 and to suggest a scriptural model for the authorial/editorial shaping of this Song in terms of the Kingship of YHWH Psalms in the Psalter. The study proceeds with an investigation of the group of psalms commonly designated Kingship of YHWH Psalms, with particular emphasis on the collection of these psalms in Book IV of the Psalter (Pss. 93, 95–99). This is followed by an overview of the complex textual situation and structure of the Song of Tobit (Tob. 13.1–18). Finally, a comparison of the features of Tobit 13 and those of the Kingship of YHWH Psalms is made. The study concludes with the suggestion that Tobit 13, in the earliest form known to us, has been modelled on what appears to be a generic modulation of the Kingship of YHWH Psalms found in the collection of Psalms 93, 95–99. It is suggested that in Tobit 13 the admonitory and eschatological elements found in germinal form in the Kingship of YHWH collection have been creatively extended and developed in a manner suggestive of a synagogue, rather than Temple locus for the song.