In Tobit 6:2-9 we read of how a sacrifice of fish entrails wards off demons:
As they went along the way, they
came at evening to the Tigris River and camped there. Then the young man went
down to wash himself, and a fish leapt out from the river and wanted to swallow
the young man. The angel said to him, “Catch the fish!” And so the young
man grabbed the fish and threw it on the ground. Then the angel said to
him, “Slit open the fish and remove the heart, liver, and gall. ⌊Set them safely aside.” So the young man did as the angel
told him. After roasting the fish, they ate it. And both of them continued
traveling until they drew near to Ecbatana. Then the young man said to the
angel, “Brother Azariah, what are the liver, heart, and gall of the fish for?” And
he said to him, “As for the heart and the liver, if a demon or evil spirit
troubles someone, so let these things make smoke before a man or woman; and no
more will the person be troubled. The gall is for anointing a human who has
white spots on his eyes, and he will be healed.” (Lexham English Septuagint)
This is pretty “odd” by modern standards, to be sure, but just as
(or perhaps even less) “weird” than Mark 5 and the Gerasene demoniac (Protestant Steve Christie (and a
questioner, Geoffrey Robinson [AKA "A Goy for Jesus"]) used this as a
text against the reliability of the Catholic canon in is debate against Trent
Horn). Such an action is not actually “unusual” for a Second Temple Jew.
Consider the following from Michael L. Satlow in his Jewish Marriage in
Antiquity:
Although there is no other
supporting evidence from Jewish Hellenistic sources, Tobias’s short prayer
before consummating his marriage may have been a standard part of both Jewish
and non-Jewish wedding celebrations of his time. Nor is Tobias’s “sacrifice” of
fish entrails before consummating his marriage to Sarah particularly odd.
Medea, in Seneca’s play, mentions the recitation of prayers followed by a
sacrifice in the wedding chamber.[79] Philo prefaces his recounting the
biblical law regarding the man who accuses his new bride of not being a virgin
(Deut. 22:13-21) with the words, “in the case of persons who take maidens in
lawful matrimony and have celebrated the bridal sacrifices and feasts.”[80]
Josephus argues that a man should not marry a prostitute because God will not
accept her marital sacrifice.[81] Neither author mentions precisely when the
new couple (or bride alone) would make this sacrifice, although Philo implies
that it is made on the day of the wedding itself, before consummation. Either the
author of Tobit, Philo, and Josephus added false details about Jewish marriages
meant to make these marriages more recognizable to their non-Jewish audiences,
or, as I think is more likely, they related contemporary Jewish marital
practices. Perhaps influenced by Greek and Roman customs, some Jews during the
Second Temple period could have offered small sacrifices in their homes (implied
at least by Philo) before consummating their marriages. (Michael L. Satlow, Jewish
Marriage in Antiquity [Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2001], 174-75)
Notes for the Above
[79] Seneca Medea 37-39:
"Hoc restat unum, pronubam thalamo feram | up ipsa pinum postque
sacrificas preces | caedam dicatis victimas altaribus." The force of this
line will be relazed later, when before slaughtering her own children, she
again invokes the image of a wedding (894-95, 985-86) and “victima” (970).
[80] Philo Spec leg 3.80: και γαμους
θυσαντες τε και εστιαθεντες, Cf. Heres 5.
[81] Josephus Ant. 4.245. van
der Toorn, From Her Cradle to Her Grace: The Role of Religion in the Life of
the Israelite and the Babylonian Woman (trans. Sarah J. Benning-Bolle;
Sheffield: JSOT Press, 1994), 69 interpreters Mal. 2:11-12 as referring to “the
sacrifice that was brought to the Lord at the wedding ceremony,” but the text
is obscure.
Tobias’ sacrifice, as recorded in the book of Tobit, is not “odd” nor
is it a good argument against its canonicity or the Tridentine canon from
session 4 of Trent (April 1546). I hope critics of Catholicism will drop this argument.
