Is Tobit in the Bible?

It is in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, where it sits among the Old Testament history books. It is not in Protestant Bibles, which is why it can be hard to find if you are searching a 66-book edition. The text here is the Douay-Rheims.

What is the book of Tobit about?

A blind and faithful man named Tobit, his son Tobias, a young woman named Sarah who has suffered terrible losses, and the journey that resolves all three of their situations. The angel Raphael travels with Tobias without revealing who he is until the end.

Why is Tobit not in the Protestant Bible?

The Reformers followed the shorter Hebrew canon, while Catholic and Orthodox tradition kept the books that came through the Greek Septuagint. Tobit is one of the seven affected books.

Random Verse from Tobit

298 verses across 14 chapters, in the Douay-Rheims. One of the seven books the Catholic Bible carries and the Protestant Bible does not.

If any man hath done any work for thee, immediately pay him his hire, and let not the wages of thy hired servant stay with thee at all.

Tobit 4:15DRC

TranslationFrom

Drawing from 298 verses

Tobit is a short story, and one of the most human books in the Bible. A devout man goes blind. Far away, a young woman is grieving and desperate. Their two troubles get solved together over the course of one journey, with an angel travelling in disguise as the guide.

It runs to fourteen chapters and reads like a folk tale, which is part of why people love it. There is a dog that comes along for the trip. There is a wedding. There is a father who cannot see his son come home and a mother who watches the road every day.

The themes are ordinary and close to the ground: caring for your parents, burying the dead when nobody else will, giving to the poor before you can afford to, and praying honestly when things have gone badly wrong. Tobit 4 is essentially a father's advice to his son before a long trip, and it includes a version of the golden rule written centuries before the Gospels.

Tobit sits in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles and not in Protestant ones, which is why many readers meet it for the first time by accident. It is usually a friendly first meeting. Nothing in it requires background reading.

A random verse from Tobit tends to land on either a piece of practical counsel or a prayer said in a hard moment. Both are worth sitting with.

Frequently asked questions

Is Tobit in the Bible?: It is in Catholic and Orthodox Bibles, where it sits among the Old Testament history books. It is not in Protestant Bibles, which is why it can be hard to find if you are searching a 66-book edition. The text here is the Douay-Rheims.
What is the book of Tobit about?: A blind and faithful man named Tobit, his son Tobias, a young woman named Sarah who has suffered terrible losses, and the journey that resolves all three of their situations. The angel Raphael travels with Tobias without revealing who he is until the end.
Why is Tobit not in the Protestant Bible?: The Reformers followed the shorter Hebrew canon, while Catholic and Orthodox tradition kept the books that came through the Greek Septuagint. Tobit is one of the seven affected books.