经文研读
Tobit 8:7-9 — Tobias's Wedding Prayer and Raguel's Fear
Tobit 8:7-9 captures Tobias's bedside prayer dedicating his marriage to God, Sarah's agreement, and Raguel's anxious preparation of a grave out of fear the demon will strike again.
经文
- 7.现在，主啊，我不是因为淫欲娶这我的妹子，乃是出于真诚。求你赐我恩典，能与她白头到老。And now, O Lord, I am not taking this sister of mine because of lust, but with sincerity. Grant that I may find mercy and may grow old together with her.”
- 8.她对他说：“阿们。”And she said with him, “Amen.”
- 9.他们两人便睡了一夜，但拉古珥起来，出去挖了一个坟墓，Then they both went to sleep for the night. But Rag′uel arose and went and dug a grave,
这段经文的意思
Tobias 8:7 is a prayer addressed to God that frames the marriage to Sarah as an act of sincerity rather than desire. By stating 'I am not taking this sister of mine because of lust, but with sincerity,' Tobias distances his marriage from the pattern set by the seven previous husbands who died on the wedding night (Tobit 3:8, 7:11). The request 'Grant that I may find mercy and may grow old together with her' shows that Tobias understands the union as depending on divine mercy, the very mercy Raguel and Edna had begged God for on Sarah's behalf (Tobit 3:11-15).
The one-word exchange in Tobit 8:8 — Sarah says 'Amen' together with him — is the first time Sarah herself speaks in the chapter. Her spoken assent turns a husband's private prayer into a joint act of worship. The chapter note underscores this: 'marital deliverance depends on looking to God,' and Sarah's agreement makes the looking a shared one. The brevity of the verse highlights that her response is given in full harmony with Tobias's words, without qualification.
Tobit 8:9 then shifts the scene sharply. Tobias and Sarah sleep, while Raguel rises in secret to dig a grave. The action is driven by the same fear that had shadowed the chapter: that the demon Asmodeus will strike the groom as he had struck the seven before. Raguel does not yet know that the smoke of the fish organs had driven the demon away (Tobit 8:2-3), so his grave-digging is presented as a precaution taken in ignorance. The narrator thus places the newlyweds' peaceful sleep against the father's silent dread, creating a narrative tension that is resolved only in verses 13-14 when the maid finds them alive.
背景
Tobit 8:7-9 sits inside a single wedding-night scene that begins in Tobit 8:4 when Tobias tells Sarah to get up and pray. His prayer in verses 5-6 recalls creation: God made Adam and gave him Eve as a helper, and God said it is not good for the man to be alone. By echoing Genesis 2:18-24, the prayer roots the new marriage in the original institution of marriage and treats Sarah as Tobias's divinely given 'helper.' Verse 7 then applies that foundation to the present couple, asking that the marriage be marked by mercy and longevity rather than by the deaths of the seven previous husbands.
Verses 9-12 continue the chapter by recording Raguel's secret burial preparations and his request to his wife Edna to send a maid to check whether Tobias is alive. The fear built up in verse 9 is answered only in verses 13-14, where the maid finds both Tobias and Sarah asleep and alive. From there Raguel moves from anxiety to a blessing of God (Tobit 8:15-17) and orders the grave filled in (8:18). Tobit 8:7-9 is thus the pivot of the chapter: the prayer that consecrates the marriage and the first moment of the suspense that the rest of the chapter must resolve.
常见问题
Why does Tobias insist he is marrying Sarah 'not because of lust, but with sincerity'?
Sarah had already been married seven times, and each husband died on the wedding night (Tobit 3:8). Tobias's statement in Tobit 8:7 distinguishes his motives from those of the previous husbands and frames the marriage as a covenant sought before God rather than a physical desire. It also sets up the prayer that asks God for mercy and a long shared life.
What is the significance of Sarah's 'Amen' in Tobit 8:8?
Tobit 8:8 is the first time Sarah herself speaks in the chapter. By voicing 'Amen' together with Tobias, she turns her husband's prayer into a prayer offered by both of them, showing that the couple's appeal to God is mutual. The curated chapter note reads this as an expression of the principle that 'marital deliverance depends on looking to God,' now looked toward by both spouses.
Why does Raguel dig a grave in secret in Tobit 8:9?
The narrator explains in Tobit 8:10 that Raguel dug the grave 'with the thought, perhaps he too will die.' Because seven previous grooms had died on the wedding night, Raguel expects the same fate may befall Tobias. The digging is done in ignorance of the fact that the smoke of the fish organs had already driven the demon away (Tobit 8:2-3), so verse 9 places the couple's peaceful sleep against the father's silent fear until verses 13-14 reveal that Tobias is alive.