“Distribute your loaves at the grave of the righteous, but do not give to sinners” [Commentary on Tobit 4:17]

By Blessed Augustine of Hippo

Distribute your loaves at the grave of the righteous, but do not give to sinners

After all, believers know how to perform the commemoration of their dead; they also know that this cannot be done for the wicked, i.e. for unbelievers, because only “the just shall live by faith” (Rom. 1:17). [Conversation 361. On the Resurrection of the Dead]

Lopukhin A.P.

Distribute your loaves at the grave of the righteous, but do not give to sinners

Verses 3-19 And he called him and said, “My son, when I die, bury me, and do not leave my mother; Honor her all the days of your life, do what is right for her, and do not cause her grief. Remember, my son, that she had many sorrows because of you, even during the time of pregnancy. When she dies, bury her in the same grave with me. Always remember, my son, the Lord our God, and do not desire to sin or transgress His commandments. All the days of your life do what is right, and do not walk in the paths of iniquity. For if you do what is right, your deeds will prosper, as do all who do what is right. Give alms from your possessions, and do not let your eye be sorry when you give alms. Do not turn away your face from any poor person, and the face of God will not be turned away from you. When you have much, give alms from it, and when you have little, do not be afraid to give alms, even a little; you will lay up for yourself a rich treasure against the day of need, for almsgiving delivers from death and does not allow one to go down into darkness. Almsgiving is a rich gift for all who do it before the Most High. Beware, my son, of every form of lewdness. Take thee a wife from the tribe of your fathers, but do not take a foreign wife who is not of the tribe of your father, for we are the sons of the prophets. Our fathers of old were Noah, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Remember, my son, that they all took wives from among their brethren, and were blessed in their children, and their seed shall inherit the land. Therefore, my son, love your brethren, and do not be lofty in heart above your brethren, and above the sons and daughters of your people, lest you take a wife from them. For pride brings ruin and great confusion, and lewdness brings poverty and desolation. Lewdness is the mother of famine. The wages of a hired worker who serves you shall not stay with you overnight, but shall pay it promptly, and you shall be recompensed if you serve God. Be careful, my son, in all your actions, and be prudent in all your conduct. What is hateful to yourself, do not do to anyone. Do not drink wine to the point of drunkenness, and do not let drunkenness go with you on your way. Give some of your bread to the hungry, and some of your clothes to the naked. Give alms from all that you have over and let not your eye pity when you give alms. Distribute your loaves at the graves of the righteous, but do not give to sinners. Ask advice from every prudent man, and do not disdain advice that is profitable. Bless the Lord God at all times and ask Him to make your ways right and all your deeds and intentions prosperous, for no nation has the power to make its undertakings successful, but the Lord Himself sends down all good things and whom He wills He humbles according to His will. Remember, then, my son, my commandments, and let them not be erased from your heart!

In a distressed situation and expecting death, Tobit recalls the money given to Gavael for safekeeping (1:14), tells Tobias about this and at the same time teaches him a number of moral instructions about piety to his mother

Tobit’s instructions to his son, verses 3-19, have the character of general biblical moral teaching; Many parallels from other biblical books may be indicated for individual instructions, but there are also individual and historical features that do not allow us to see (with Fritzsche and others) in these instructions a tendentious selection of moral teachings, freely composed in imitation of other biblical books.

Thus, Tobit’s instruction to his son about respect for his mother (verses 3–4) is based on the overall Old Testament view of honoring parents, primarily in the Law of Moses (Exodus 20:12; Deut. 5:16), then in the didactic books (Sir. 3:1–16; 7:29) and other parts of the Holy Scriptures; likewise, Tobit’s desire to be buried with his wife was characteristic of the patriarchs of the Jewish people (Gen. 25:10; 49:29) and other biblical figures and follows quite naturally from the true biblical concept of the marital union as an indissoluble union (Gen. 2:24; 1 Cor. 6:16). But at the same time, this instruction characterizes the marital union of Tobit and Anna from the point of view of the moral strength of their marriage, despite the wife’s reproaches to her husband (II:14). The instruction about the constant fear of God and the observance of God’s commandments (vv. 5–6), expressing the essence of piety according to the Old Testament teaching (Deut. VI:2; Eccl. XII:13), is quite appropriate in the address of the God-fearing Tobit to his son entering life. The instruction on almsgiving (vv. 7–11), with its very understandable similarity—in view of the fundamental significance of the teaching on almsgiving in biblical moral teaching—to the teaching on this subject in other Holy Books of the Old and New Testaments (see, for example, Proverbs III:9; Sirach IV:8; XIV:13; XXIX:15; XXXV:9; Luke XIV:13, etc.), had a special meaning and application in captivity, where there were so many needy Jews (see I:16 et seq.). The idea of the sin-absolving significance of almsgiving, also found in the book of the prophet Daniel (Dan. 4:24; cf. Sir. 29:15; Luke 11:41), is expressed here especially strongly: “alms deliver from death and do not allow one to go down into darkness” (v. 10): here it is evidently said about the posthumous reward beyond the grave, and in view of the latter, the great significance of almsgiving is affirmed in the matter of delivering man from the “second death” (Rev 20:4) and “outer darkness” (Matt 8:12; 25:30), and not from the first death and the grave—inevitable even for the righteous. The commandment of chastity (12a), as a marital virtue, is connected with Tobit’s advice to his son to take a wife from his own people and tribe, and the purity of Tobit’s lineage and his fellow tribesmen is pointed out: “we are the sons of the prophets” and patriarchs, who in marriages equally guarded the purity of their lineage (12b, cf. Gen. XXIV:3 et seq.), and this instruction is elevated to a general rule – not to neglect one’s own tribe, not to exalt oneself before the sons and daughters of one’s own people (v. 13), a rule that undoubtedly had great practical importance in view of the original inclination of the Jews to enter into marriages, bypassing their own tribe, with women from foreign tribes; this rightly indicates pride, from which comes destruction. The instruction on justice in relation to a mercenary (14a) is twice given in the Mosaic legislation (Lev. 19:13; Deut. 24:14), and in the Assyrian captivity, where the poor Jews undoubtedly earned their living by the labor of day laborers, there was a special need for strict observance of this rule (cf. James 5:4). The rule, “what is hateful to you, do not do to anyone” (v. 15a), is expressed by the Lord Savior in a positive form: “in everything, as you want men to do to you, do also to them” (Matt. 7:12; Luke 6:31), – according to the word of the Lord – “this is the law and the prophets.” The prohibition of drunkenness (v. 15b) could have had in mind the prevalence of this vice in Assyria (Nahum 1:10). Further, when repeating the instruction about almsgiving to the needy (v. 16), a special instruction is given: “Distribute your loaves at the grave of the righteous, but do not give to sinners” (v. 17): this refers to the custom common among the Biblical Jews of bringing the bread of sorrow and the cup of consolation to those grieving over the dead, distributing alms to the poor for the dead and offering prayers and propitiatory sacrifices for them (2 Samuel 3:35; 12:17; Jeremiah 9:16; 16:7; Ezekiel 24:17; Hosea 9:4; Sirach 7:36; 2 James 12:42-45); and at the same time, Jews are forbidden to participate in the funeral rites of the Assyrians, who, as is evident from some of the inscriptions of Ashurbanipal, had the custom of bringing food and drink to the shades of the dead. (See Professor Drozdov, pp. 61–65 and 468). This instruction could have had a broader scope, containing the advice not to give alms to the pagans at all – an instruction that was quite understandable coming from an Old Testament man (cf. Matt. 5:43) and, moreover, during the difficult time of captivity, when the Jews suffered great malice from the pagan Assyrians and, naturally, themselves had the same feeling towards them (cf. Ps. CXXXVI). [Explanatory Bible]