Tobit is a literary romance-filled with irony. It features Tobit, a God-fearing Jewish exile in Assyria, who despairs of life because of his blindness and poverty. His son Tobias and the angel Raphael disguised as Azariah, a relative, are God's agents in restoring his fortunes. Their quest of deliverance for Tobit, leads also to the rescue of the seven-times widowed Sarah, who becomes Tobias' wife. The book emphasizes the pious deeds of prayer, fasting, almsgiving, and proper burial of the dead. The moral: everyday piety will ultimately be rewarded.
The Apocryphal books are considered to be Scripture in the Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christian traditions while being considered very important books of the church that should be read for deeper understanding for most Protestant traditions.
