章节研读

Tobit 3: Two Prayers Heard and Raphael Sent

Two sufferers pray for death on the same day, and God sends Raphael to deliver both of them.

经文

  1. 1.托比特的祷告 于是我在悲痛中哭泣，并在痛苦中祷告，说，Tobit’s Prayer Then in my grief I wept, and I prayed in anguish, saying,
  2. 2.主啊，你是公义的，你一切所行的和你一切所行的道都是慈爱和诚实，你按真理和公义审判，直到永远。“Righteous art thou, O Lord; all thy deeds and all thy ways are mercy and truth, and thou dost render true and righteous judgment for ever.
  3. 3.求你记念我，施恩与我，不要因我的罪和我无知的过犯，以及我列祖在你面前所犯的罪，惩罚我。Remember me and look favorably upon me; do not punish me for my sins and for my unwitting offenses and those which my fathers committed before thee.
  4. 4.因为他们违背了你的命令，你将我们交给了掠夺、俘虏和死亡，你使我们在所有分散我们到那里去的国家中成为讥笑和羞辱的对象。For they disobeyed thy commandments, and thou gavest us over to plunder, captivity, and death; thou madest us a byword of reproach in all the nations among which we have been dispersed.
  5. 5.现在，你许多的判决对我是真的，惩罚我的罪和我祖先的罪，因为我们没有遵守你的命令。因为我们没有在你面前行事为人忠诚。And now thy many judgments are true in exacting penalty from me for my sins and those of my fathers, because we did not keep thy commandments. For we did not walk in truth before thee.
  6. 6.现在按照你的心意对待我，命令我的灵魂被取去，好让我离开成为尘土。因为对我来说，死比活着更好，因为我听到了虚假的辱骂，我内心的悲伤很大。命令我现在从我的痛苦中解脱，前往永恒的居所；不要把你的脸背对着我。And now deal with me according to thy pleasure; command my spirit to be taken up, that I may depart and become dust. For it is better for me to die than to live, because I have heard false reproaches, and great is the sorrow within me. Command that I now be released from my distress to go to the eternal abode; do not turn thy face away from me.”
  7. 7.同一天，在米底的埃克巴塔那，也发生了这样的事：拉古珥的女儿撒拉被她父亲的婢女诬陷，Sarah Falsely Accused On the same day, at Ecbat′ana in Media, it also happened that Sarah, the daughter of Rag′uel, was reproached by her father’s maids,
  8. 8.因为她曾被给予七个丈夫，而恶魔亚斯摩德在她成为他们的妻子之前就杀死了他们。于是侍女对她说，“你难道不知道你会使你的丈夫丧命吗？你已经有了七个丈夫，却从中没有得到任何益处。because she had been given to seven husbands, and the evil demon Asmode′us had slain each of them before he had been with her as his wife. So the maids said to her, “Do you not know that you strangle your husbands? You already have had seven and have had no benefit from any of them.
  9. 9.你们为什么打我们呢？如果他们死了，就随他们去吧！愿我们永不见到你们的儿女！Why do you beat us? If they are dead, go with them! May we never see a son or daughter of yours!”
  10. 10.撒拉听见这些事以后，极其忧伤，甚至想到上吊自杀。但她说：“我是父亲的独生女，如果我这样做，将会给父亲带来耻辱，也会使他在悲伤中度过余生，带着悲痛进入坟墓。”Sarah’s Prayer for Death When she heard these things she was deeply grieved, even to the thought of hanging herself. But she said, “I am the only child of my father; if I do this, it will be a disgrace to him, and I shall bring his old age down in sorrow to the grave.”
  11. 11.于是她在窗边祷告说，主我的神啊，你是应当称颂的，你的圣洁荣耀的名也永远应当称颂。愿你所有的作为都永远称颂你。So she prayed by her window and said, “Blessed art thou, O Lord my God, and blessed is thy holy and honored name for ever. May all thy works praise thee for ever.
  12. 12.现在，主啊，我已经转向你，我的眼睛和脸都朝向你。And now, O Lord, I have turned my eyes and my face toward thee.
  13. 13.命令使我从地上释放出来，不再听见辱骂。Command that I be released from the earth and that I hear reproach no more.
  14. 14.主啊，你知道我与人无罪，Thou knowest, O Lord, that I am innocent of any sin with man,
  15. 15.并且我在被掳的土地上没有玷污我的名字和我父亲的名字。我是父亲唯一的孩子，他也没有其他子女来继承他的产业，也没有近亲或亲属的儿子需要我为他们守寡。已经有七个丈夫死在我面前。我为何还要活着？但是，如果你不愿意结束我的生命，请命令人们尊重我，怜悯我，不再让我听到羞辱的话。and that I did not stain my name or the name of my father in the land of my captivity. I am my father’s only child, and he has no child to be his heir, no near kinsman or kinsman’s son for whom I should keep myself as wife. Already seven husbands of mine are dead. Why should I live? But if it be not pleasing to thee to take my life, command that respect be shown to me and pity be taken upon me, and that I hear reproach no more.”
  16. 16.祷告的回答 他们两人的祷告都被伟大上帝的荣耀所垂听。An Answer to Prayer The prayer of both was heard in the presence of the glory of the great God.
  17. 17.拉法耳被派去治愈他们两人：去除托比特眼睛上的白翳；将拉古耳的女儿撒拉给托比特的儿子托比亚斯为妻，并捆绑恶魔阿斯摩德，因为托比亚斯有权拥有她。就在那一刻，托比特回来了，进入他的家，拉古耳的女儿撒拉从她上面的房间里下来。And Raph′ael was sent to heal the two of them: to scale away the white films of Tobit’s eyes; to give Sarah the daughter of Rag′uel in marriage to Tobi′as the son of Tobit, and to bind Asmode′us the evil demon, because Tobi′as was entitled to possess her. At that very moment Tobit returned and entered his house and Sarah the daughter of Rag′uel came down from her upper room.

这段经文的意思

The chapter sets a structural parallelism: Tobit, just blinded and mocked, prays in anguish from Nineveh (3:1–6), while Sarah, daughter of Raguel in Ecbatana, prays at hers (3:7–15). Both prayers open with confession of God's righteousness and turn to a plea for release from distress. Tobit confesses the sins of his fathers and his own; Sarah declares her innocence but bears the shame of seven dead husbands. The literary device pairs two strangers on opposite ends of the exile so that a single act of God addresses both.

God's response is stated briefly but decisively in 3:16: 'The prayer of both was heard in the presence of the glory of the great God.' Verse 17 then names the specific deliverances — Tobit's eyes are to be scaled, Sarah is to be given in marriage to Tobias son of Tobit, and Asmodeus is to be bound. The chapter binds theology (God hears) to narrative mechanism (Raphael's mission) so the reader sees the connection before the travel story of chapters 4–11 begins.

A subordinate theme is the legitimacy of lament that ends in a request for death. Neither prayer is rebuked; both are heard. Yet the answer is not the death requested but life-restoring intervention. The chapter frames suffering prayer not as wrong speech but as the very context in which God's saving action becomes visible.

背景

The provided curated note states only that Tobit was backfilled outside designated P0/P1 ranges, so no further thematic framing is supplied. The chapter stands at the hinge between Tobit's lament over his blindness (chapter 2) and the commissioning of the journey by Raphael (chapters 4–6). Sarah's storyline likewise launches the Ecbatana episodes that culminate in the wedding of chapters 7–8.

Because no cross_references list and no original_words list were provided for this chapter, this reference page makes no claims about Hebrew or Aramaic vocabulary and cites no parallel passages. Statements are confined to what the chapter text itself contains.

常见问题

Why do Tobit and Sarah both pray for death in the same chapter?

The chapter uses the parallel to set up a single divine response. By placing two unrelated sufferers in different cities on the same day and giving each a similar lament, the author concentrates attention on the moment in verse 16 when God hears them both at once, and verse 17 when Raphael is sent for both. The repetition makes the connection unmistakable before the journey of chapters 4–11 unfolds.

Does the chapter endorse suicide for the afflicted?

Neither prayer is condemned, but neither request is granted as asked. Both are heard, and the answer is restorative: Tobit's eyes will be healed and Sarah will be given in marriage. The chapter treats lament that includes a plea for death as speech that God receives, yet redirects toward life.

Who is Raphael and what is he sent to do?

Verse 16 says the prayers were heard in the presence of the glory of the great God, and verse 17 states that Raphael was sent. The chapter lists three specific tasks: to scale away the white films from Tobit's eyes, to give Sarah in marriage to Tobias son of Tobit, and to bind the evil demon Asmodeus, because Tobias had the right to possess her.

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