Chapter 2
1 When I returned to my house, and Anna my wife and Tobiah my son were given to me, on the feast of Pentecost, the Holy Week of Weeks, a good dinner was prepared for me, and I lay down to eat. (Every seventh year, according to the law of Moses, was called a sabbatical year; after seven sabbatical years, the next, fiftieth, year was called a jubilee. “Sacred” 7).
2 When I saw a lot of food, I said to my son: Go and bring whomever you find, a poor one of our brothers who remembers the Lord, and I will wait for you. (Invitation to the table of the poor from the “chosen people” who remember Yahweh).
3 And he came and said: My father, one of our tribe, was strangled and thrown into the market place. (Tobias reports that a strangled Israeli lies in the square).
4 Then, before I began to eat, I hastily went out and put him away in one dwelling before the sun went down. (Tobit hid the body).
5 When he returned, he washed himself and ate my bread in sorrow. (After washing, Tobit ate in sorrow.)
6 And I remembered the prophecy of Amos, how he said: Your festivals will be turned into sorrow, and all your pleasures into mourning. (Amos is a Jewish prophet).
7 And I cried. When the sun set, I went and dug [a grave] and buried him. (The corpse is buried).
8 The neighbors mocked [me] and said: He is not yet afraid of being killed for this matter; He’s already been running, and now he’s burying the dead again. (It was forbidden to bury the dead in Nineveh, and in Zoroastrianism, only specially authorized people had to bury the dead. The first book of the Avesta, Vendidad, is one of the later works (1st century BC – 1st century AD .). Vendidad begins with a description of the creation of the world by Ahura Mazda (the Good Lord). This is followed by a poetic description of 16 countries inhabited by worshipers of this deity. The second and third chapters tell about the history of mankind and about the founder of civilization – Iama. The remaining parts of the first book of the Avesta are devoted to moral, civil and religious precepts, expressed in the form of laws of human behavior, the main place among which is occupied by discussions about the impurity arising from touching a corpse, and an exposition of the means of liberation from this impurity. The second book is called Yasna. This is an older book. It sets out the liturgical cult of Zoroastrianism, provides prayers and magical formulas accompanying the sacrifice.Among other prayers are appeals to fire and water. The cult of fire was of particular importance. In Zoroastrian temples (including the modern Parsi temples of Bombay) there are no images of deities. Believers worship the fire burning on the altar. Entrance to the temple for non-believers is prohibited. Since a corpse is considered unclean, it is prohibited to desecrate fire by touching a corpse. This touch should also not offend the sacred elements – earth, air and water. Therefore, Zoroastrians give the body of the deceased to be torn apart by wild animals and birds. This is usually done in a specially designated place (“dakmas”, or “towers of silence”). The gnawed bones were collected and stored in special storage facilities – ossuaries. Visperod, the third book of the Avesta, is a collection of liturgical prayers to the deities.).