Book of Tobiah (Tobit) on Contraception

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reggieM

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Is anyone familiar with the Book of Tobias chapter 6 where the angel Raphael warns Tobias against lust and tells him that he must be moved by love of children when he takes a wife?

I wonder why that is in the Douay Rheims but not other translations.

Also, when did Protestants remove that book?

Thanks for your help!
 
reggieM said:
Is anyone familiar with the Book of Tobias chapter 6 where the angel Raphael warns Tobias against lust and tells him that he must be moved by love of children when he takes a wife?

I wonder why that is in the Douay Rheims but not other translations.

Also, when did Protestants remove that book?
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Protestants removed the book during the reformation. As for the difference in translation, I’m not sure, but i’ll look into it. my NRSV has only 18 verses for ch.6, as opposed to the Douay’s 22
 
I think it’s because there is more than one “old” Greek copy of Tobit. The newer Catholic translations chose to use a different source than the Douay Rheims. Don’t know about the rest of you, but I sure find the Douay Rheims far more beautiful and meaningful.
 
reggieM said:
I wonder why that is in the Douay Rheims but not other translations.
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I am scratching my head over this one. I am also not a little dismayed. However, this is as far as I have got so far:

There is a difference in the text as shown in the Sacra Vulgata and in the Nova Sacra Vulgata. The former has the text as in the Douay Rheims, with 22 verses in book 6. The Nova Sacra Vulgata, which is the Latin text available on the Vatican website has the 18 verse version.

It appears that the Nova Vulgata was based on a particular manuscript, but I have not found any argument for why this version was preferred. I am especially distressed, because no version which has the 18 verse version has any footnote or other indication of why it differs from the older Sacra Vulgata.

It seems to me that this is a serious matter, since the change seems to remove something from Scripture and to substitute for a clear statement on the meaning of sex a mystical sounding endorsement of “she was made for me” romance.

I would appreciate any further details that anyone can share on this issue – and on similar divergences between the two versions of the Vulgata.

It leaves one wondering which of the two texts were canonized by the various Councils.

John Hiner
 
Sorry for such a long delay with a reply.

Thank you for looking into this matter.

John H. – I agree that there’s a serious issue especially concerning such a strong statement of God’s intention for marriage. I was challenged by some Protestants about the Catholic teaching on contraception and that passage was quite strong. But they objected that it wasn’t in all of the versions of the Book of Tobit.
 
cba.cua.edu/novav.cfm

The article above mentions a little history of the translation of Tobit:
The Book of Sirach (also Ben Sira or Ecclesiasticus), one of the deuterocanonical books, provides an example. In producing the Vulgate, St. Jerome did little with the deuterocanonical books, because he thought that only the books of the Hebrew Bible were inspired. Although he included the deuterocanonical books in the Vulgate at the insistence of church authority, he took no pains with them. The case of the Book of Tobit is well known. He claimed to have translated it in one night. The reference to three nights of abstinence from intercourse for Tobiah and Sarah (8:4-5) was probably his own invention; it hardly concurs with Raguel’s digging a grave and hasty filling in when the couple were found safe on their wedding night.
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I know it doesn’t deal directly with your question but it does provide some clue as to the confusion with this book.
 
There is a very interesting article on the Douay-Rheims and I believe that it is a must-read. It won’t necessarily answer the question posed in the OP, but it will shed some light that many have yet to see.

by Jimmy Akin*Uncomfortable Facts about the Duoay-Rheims *

The article gave me a whole new look at the translation I used to prefer to use most often.

God bless you,

Kelly
 
Since we are posting articles to bring the questions about Tobit into context, I suggest this one by Karl Keating. I think it does an effective – and enjoyable – job of bringing the critical qualifications of “textual criticism” into reasonable doubt.

No Apology from the New Apologists, by Karl Keating.

Spiritus Sapientiae nobiscum.

John Hiner
 
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