Susan Cremin: Bede and the Book of Tobit

In the condensed biography at the close of his Ecclesiastical History, the Venerable Bede(c. 673-735), monk of the twin monastery of Wearmouth-Jarrow in Northumbria, characterised his priestly life of scholarship as making extracts, for his own benefit and that of his brother monks, from the writings of the uenerabilium patrum. My paper explores Bede’s commentary On Tobit in the light of employment and citation of this work in Patristic tradition. Virtuous themes in the Book of Tobit such as alms-giving and love of neighbour are especially signalled in the Fathers’ references to this text. In Bede’s commentary we encounter a significant Christological and ecclesial thrust which he signals at the beginning of the work when he states that the Book of Tobit contains ‘the greatest mysteries of Christ and the Church’. Bede’s interpretative practice and theological values are given focus in our exploration of his commentary along with reference to Tobit in his other work. The paper considers how On Tobit reflects Bede’s inheritance and assimilation of Patristic learning, yet it is a work which demonstrates a confident and creative exegesis.