Geoffrey D. Miller, «Canonicity and Gender Roles: Tobit and Judith as Test Cases», Vol. 97 (2016) 199-221
Clues from rabbinic literature suggest that several factors were at play in establishing the early Jewish canon, including the dating, theology, and language of disputed texts. Another vital yet overlooked criterion is adherence to patriarchy, and a careful analysis of the Books of Judith and Tobit illustrates how these texts failed to meet rabbinic standards for gender roles. Most notably, the countercultural figures of Judith and Anna would have scandalized the rabbis by their encroachment on traditionally male spheres of activity, their freedom of movement inside and outside the home, and their ability to chastise male characters without repercussions.
CANoNICITY ANd GeNder roLeS 217
discord hampers the relationship of Tobit and Anna for the re-
mainder of the story, and the latter refuses to play the part of the def-
erential wife. The two spouses fight in nearly every conversation they
have, and Anna displays an acerbic wit and an intractable tongue in
each one. In chap. 5, Tobit sends their only son Tobiah on a long and
perilous journey, protected only by the family dog and a man he has
just met. Tobit makes this decision unilaterally, and when Anna learns
of it, she objects immediately: “Why have you decided to send my
child away? Is he not the staff of our hands, going in and out before
us?” (5,18). Her choice of words is noteworthy since she uses the first-
person singular possessive pronoun to characterize Tobiah, “my son”,
undermining Tobit’s position as father. The image of a staff also has
subtle implications for the enfeebled man. As Anna and Tobit reach
old age, they will need to rely on their son for support, and by sending
away their only child Tobit risks having no one around to care for him
in his elder years. Anna also questions her husband’s values: “do not
heap money upon money! rather relinquish it in exchange for our
child!” (5,19). Tobit is endangering their son’s life and his own future
by chasing after silver he deposited hundreds of miles away, and Anna
challenges him “to straighten his priorities: their son is more important
than money” 49. She then concludes with another implicit critique of
her husband’s religiosity: “What the Lord has given us to live on is
enough for us!” (Tob 5,20). Anna thus “strikes again at Tobit’s trust in
God’s providence, implying that she is content with what God sends,
but that apparently he is not” 50.
Anna loses the argument but not her resolve, and she continues to
assail her husband verbally in their next encounter. When Tobiah fails
to return in the expected amount of time, Anna becomes inconsolable
in her anguish, weeping and wailing throughout the night. She does
not confront her husband directly about his reckless decision but
makes her feelings known through a bitter lament: “Alas, my child,
the light of my eyes, that I let you make this journey!” (10,5). Tobit
tries to assuage his wife’s fears by assuring her that their son is safe,
but Anna rebuffs him: “You be still, and do not try to deceive me! My
son has perished!” (10,7). As before, Anna proves herself to be imper-
vious to her husband’s influence and both clever and sardonic in her
speech. In chap. 2, Tobit implied that her explanation about the goat
49
BoW – NICKeLSBurG, “Patriarchy with a Twist”, 137.
50
NoWeLL, “The Book of Tobit: Narrative Technique and Theology”, 134.