King James Version · Under Assyria
Tobit 5
Touch any underlined name to see who or where it is.
1 then answered and said, , I will do all things which thou hast commanded me: 2But how can I receive the money, seeing I know him not? 3Then he gave him the handwriting, and said unto him, Seek thee a man which may go with thee, whiles I yet live, and I will give him wages: and go and receive the money. 4Therefore when he went to seek a man, he found that was . 5But he knew not; and he said unto him, Canst thou go with me to Rages? and knowest thou those places well? 6To whom said, I will go with thee, and I know well: for I have lodged with our brother Gabael. 7Then said unto him, Tarry for me, till I tell . 8Then he said unto him, Go and tarry not. So he went in and said to his , Behold, I have found one which will go with me. Then he said, Call him unto me, that I may know of what tribe he is, and whether he be a trusty man to go with thee. 9So he called him, and he came in, and they saluted one another. 10Then said unto him, Brother, shew me of what tribe and family thou art. 11To whom he said, Dost thou seek for a tribe or family, or an hired man to go with thy son? Then said unto him, I would know, brother, thy kindred and name. 12Then he said, I am , the son of the great, and of thy brethren. 13Then said, Thou art welcome, brother; be not now angry with me, because I have enquired to know thy tribe and thy family; for thou art my brother, of an honest and good stock: for I know and Jonathas, sons of that great , as we went together to to , and offered , and the tenths of the fruits; and they were not seduced with the error of our brethren: my brother, thou art of a good stock. 14But tell me, what wages shall I give thee? wilt thou a drachm a day, and things necessary, as to mine own son? 15Yea, moreover, if ye return safe, I will add something to thy wages. 16So they were well pleased. Then said he to , Prepare thyself for the journey, and send you a good journey. And when his son had prepared all things for the journey, his said, Go thou with this man, and , which dwelleth in , prosper your journey, and keep you company. So they went forth both, and the young man’s dog with them. 17But his mother wept, and said to , Why hast thou sent away our son? is he not the of our hand, in going in and out before us? 18Be not greedy to add money to money: but let it be as refuse in respect of our child. 19For that which hath given us to live with doth suffice us. 20Then said to her, Take no care, my sister; he shall return in safety, and thine eyes shall see him. 21For the good will keep him company, and his journey shall be prosperous, and he shall return safe. 22Then she made an end of weeping.
The 1611 translation, public domain. Its original printing included the Apocrypha, which is why the deuterocanonical books can be read here. Notes and cards are EKLI’s own.
The world at this moment · Under Assyria, 745 BC to 612 BC ›
Assyria at full stretch, deporting whole populations as policy. The northern kingdom is destroyed in 722 BC and Judah survives as a tribute-paying vassal.
- Assyria
- The first empire to run mass deportation as ordinary administration: move the leadership somewhere else, settle strangers in their place, and the province stops being a nation. It worked. Samaria fell in 722 BC and the northern tribes did not come back. Assyria also advertised its cruelty deliberately, carving flayings and impalements on palace walls where envoys would see them, because terror is cheaper than garrisons.
- Judah
- Survives by paying. Hezekiah rebels, Sennacherib takes forty-six Judean towns and besieges Jerusalem in 701 BC, and the city holds. The Assyrian account boasts of shutting Hezekiah up like a bird in a cage and pointedly does not claim to have taken the city, which is one of the more interesting silences in ancient records.
- Egypt
- The splintered reed of a staff that Assyria's field commander mocks Judah for leaning on. It promises help and cannot deliver, and Isaiah spends decades saying so. Assyria eventually invades and sacks Thebes.
- Further afield
- Greece is in its archaic period, founding colonies from Spain to the Black Sea. Rome is under kings. Assyria's own libraries are collecting the literature of Mesopotamia, which is how Gilgamesh survived to be read again in the nineteenth century.