The Book of
Tobit, one of the freestanding volumes of the Apocrypha, begins with a
description of Tobit's earlier faithfulness and righteousness:
I, Tobit, walked in the ways of truth and
righteousness all the days of my life. I performed many acts of charity for my
kindred and my people who had gone with me in exile to Nineveh in the land of
the Assyrians. (Tobit 1:3, NRSV)
Readers of
the Book of Mormon will note the similarity to 1 Nephi 1:1, and Nephi's
first-person autobiographical note, as well as similar texts in the Book of Mormon,
something that is rare in ancient literature. Indeed, commenting on such a
parallel, LDS scholar Jared Ludlow wrote:
Interestingly, this initial description is
given in the first person by Tobit himself. Such first-person narratives are
uncommon among ancient texts, and Tobit's direct speech provides a brief
parallel to the first-person portions of the Book of Mormon written by Nephi, Jacob,
Mormon, and Moroni. (Jared W. Ludlow, Exploring
the Apocrypha from a Latter-day Saint Perspective [Springville, Utah: CFI,
2018], 119 n. 8)
