What does Tobit 7:17 mean?
Tobias has traveled with the angel Raphael and met his kinsman Raguel. After Raguel recognizes Tobias as the son of his relative, Tobias asks for the hand of Raguel's daughter, Sara. Although Raguel initially fears the marriage because of the deaths of Sara's previous husbands, the angel reassures him that Tobias is the rightful spouse. Raguel agrees to the match, joins the couple's hands, and they sign a formal marriage contract. In chapter 7, verse 17, the household begins their celebration of the new marriage.
Seven suitors had already perished across the threshold of that bridal chamber, yet here the household reclines to banquet and bless the living God. The scene in Tobit chapter 7, verse 17 is neither an act of shallow escapism nor careless relief. It is a posture of profound theological defiance: a covenantal banquet celebrated directly upon the precipice of mortal terror. In the Catholic tradition, this domestic hearth is transfigured into an altar, prefiguring the ultimate triumph of the divine Bridegroom over the ancient darkness of the grave.
The Sacrificial Banquet at the Threshold of the Tomb
The Latin Vulgate employs the verb epulati sunt, designating an action far deeper than secular dining or biological sustenance.
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