Catholic Commentary

Tobit 14:12–14

Tobias Fulfills His Duties: Deaths, Burials, and Inheritance

¹²When Anna died, he buried her with his father. But Tobias departed with his wife and his sons to Ecbatana to Raguel his father-in-law,¹³and he grew old in honor, and he buried his father-in-law and mother-in-law magnificently, and he inherited their possessions, and his father Tobit’s.¹⁴He died at Ecbatana of Media, being one hundred twenty seven years old.

What does Tobit 14:12–14 mean?

Tobit 14:12–14 describes Tobias's final years, including his burial of his parents and in-laws with honor, his inheritance of dual family estates, and his death at age 127 in Ecbatana. The passage demonstrates the fulfillment of the commandment to honor father and mother extended across generations, presenting Tobias as a faithful heir who receives both material wealth and spiritual vindication through his acts of dutiful reverence.

Key Insight

Tobias's ordinary faithfulness to aging parents and in-laws—burying them with honor, caring for them unto death—becomes the architecture of a blessed life that stretches across 127 years.

Commentary

Tobit 14:12 — Burying Anna; Departure for Ecbatana

The verse opens with a quiet act of filial love: Tobias buries Anna "with his father." This detail is not incidental. In the ancient Near East and throughout Israel's tradition, burial alongside one's spouse or family was a sign of covenant solidarity even in death — the couple who had journeyed together through poverty, blindness, and anxiety are now reunited in the earth. The book of Tobit opened with Tobit's own obsession with burying the dead (1:17–18; 2:3–7), an act for which he suffered exile and loss. Now that same corporal mercy is completed in his honor: his wife receives burial beside him by the hand of their faithful son. The circle of the narrative closes with perfect structural beauty.

Tobias then departs with "his wife and his sons" — Sarah and their children, the fruit of a marriage forged in prayer and delivered from demonic threat (ch. 8) — to Ecbatana, the Median capital and home of Raguel (3:7). The journey mirrors the great journey of the book's center (chs. 5–12), but now it is a movement not of quest but of filial obligation fulfilled. Tobias does not abandon his Israelite roots; he carries them with him.

Tobit 14:13 — Honoring the In-Laws; The Double Inheritance

Verse 13 is dense with covenantal resonance. Tobias "grew old in honor" (Greek: en timē, "in esteem") — a phrase that echoes the Deuteronomic promise attached to the fourth commandment: "Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long in the land" (Ex 20:12). Tobias has honored not only his own parents but now his father-in-law and mother-in-law, burying them "magnificently" (endoxōs in the Greek tradition) — with the full ceremony and dignity their station deserved. This extravagance in burial is not vanity; it is the final act of reverence toward the body, which in Israel signals the hope of resurrection and the dignity of the human person made in God's image.

The double inheritance — both Raguel's possessions and Tobit's — signals something beyond material comfort. In biblical typology, the double portion is the inheritance of the firstborn (Deut 21:17), and Elisha famously asked for a "double portion" of Elijah's spirit (2 Kgs 2:9). Tobias, the faithful son, receives the fullness of both family lines: he is heir to the righteousness of Tobit and the hospitality of Raguel. This is a union of two faithful houses, both of which traced their lineage to the tribe of Naphtali, brought together in the providence of God.

Tobit 14:14 — Death at 127 in Media

The final verse records Tobias's death at 127 years of age in Ecbatana of Media. The age is striking: 127 is the exact age at which Sarah, the wife of Abraham, died (Gen 23:1) — the only woman in Scripture whose age at death is recorded. This is almost certainly intentional in the Greek textual tradition of Tobit (the longer Greek text, favored by Jerome, gives this number explicitly). Tobias thus dies at the age of a matriarch of Israel, suggesting not simply longevity but a patriarchal, founding-figure quality to his life. His death in Media — in exile, far from the land of Israel — does not diminish his holiness; like the patriarchs who died outside Canaan yet in faith, he dies in hope. The place of death matters less than the shape of the life.

Catholic Commentary

Catholic tradition reads the book of Tobit as a wisdom narrative that illuminates the theology of the family, the communion of saints across generations, and the resurrection of the body. These closing verses crystallize each of those themes.

Corporal Works of Mercy and the Dignity of the Body. The Catechism lists burial of the dead among the corporal works of mercy (CCC 2300), grounding this practice in the Church's conviction that the human body — destined for resurrection — merits reverence even in death. Tobias's repeated, careful burials throughout this chapter enact what CCC 2300 teaches: "The bodies of the dead must be treated with respect and charity, in faith and hope of the Resurrection." St. Ambrose, in his De Excessu Fratris (On the Death of His Brother Satyrus), draws directly on Tobit's example to commend the dignity of Christian burial as a work of love, not grief alone.

The Fourth Commandment and Its Promise. The Catechism's treatment of the fourth commandment (CCC 2197–2220) explicitly invokes the promise of long life for those who honor their parents, citing the Old Testament precedent that Tobias so vividly embodies. His 127 years are the narrative reward of a life structured by honor — toward Tobit, Anna, Raguel, and Edna — a living commentary on Sirach 3:6: "Whoever honors his father will have long life."

Typology of the Faithful Heir. The Church Fathers, particularly St. Jerome (who translated Tobit into Latin for the Vulgate, drawing on an Aramaic source), regarded Tobias as a type of the faithful soul who, by righteous living, inherits eternal life. The double inheritance foreshadows the fullness of grace given to those who receive both the Old and New Covenants — the inheritance of Israel fulfilled in Christ (Gal 3:29; Rom 8:17).

A Holy Death. Tobias's death "in honor" at a great age prefigures the ars moriendi tradition so precious in Catholic spirituality. Pope John Paul II's apostolic letter Salvifici Doloris (1984) notes that righteous suffering and righteous dying are themselves forms of witness. Tobias's peaceful death in old age is the seal of a life of fidelity — a reminder that how we die is shaped by how we live.

For Today

These final verses of Tobit carry an urgent, concrete word for Catholics today, particularly in an era that struggles to honor its elderly, bury its dead with dignity, and maintain multi-generational bonds.

First, Tobias moves his entire household — wife, children — to care for aging in-laws. This is a countercultural act in a society that privatizes elder care. Catholics are called to ask honestly: How do we treat the aging members of our families? Do we "bury magnificently," or do we minimize, neglect, or hand off?

Second, the careful, named burial of Anna, Raguel, and Edna resists the modern tendency to sanitize or rush past death. Catholic funerary practice — the vigil, the Requiem Mass, the rite of committal — is not mere custom but theology enacted. Tobias's example invites us to invest in the rituals of death as acts of love and hope.

Third, the double inheritance Tobias receives is a quiet rebuke to those who view duty toward aging parents as a burden rather than a seed. The spiritual life is structured like Tobias's life: faithfulness in small, hidden obligations of care bears fruit — often unexpectedly — in abundance.

Cross-References

Exodus 20:12 commentary — The fourth commandment — 'Honor your father and your mother, that your days may be long' — is the direct scriptural promise Tobias's long life embodies.
Genesis 23:1 commentary — Sarah dies at 127 years — the same age as Tobias — linking him typologically to the founding matriarch of Israel as a figure of covenantal faithfulness.
Tobit 1:17–18 commentary — Tobit's own practice of burying the dead at personal cost is the paternal example that Tobias has internalized and now perfects in his own generation.
Sirach 3:3–6 commentary — Sirach's teaching that honoring one's father atones for sin and brings long life provides the wisdom framework for understanding Tobias's blessed old age.
Deuteronomy 21:17 commentary — The law of the double portion for the firstborn heir illuminates the theological resonance of Tobias inheriting both his father's and his father-in-law's possessions.
2 Kings 2:9 commentary — Elisha's request for a 'double portion' of Elijah's spirit parallels the double inheritance Tobias receives, suggesting that material inheritance here symbolizes a fullness of righteous legacy.