Chapter 1
Because when all were going to the golden calves, etc. For Jeroboam, who fabricated golden calves for the deception of his subjects, expresses the author of idolatry.
And indeed Tobias was captured... he did not forsake the way of truth. This captivity made by the king of the Assyrians designates that captivity of the human race, by which through the king of all the wicked, that is, the devil, it was cast out from the habitation of the heavenly fatherland and was transferred into the pilgrimage of this exile.
Tobias imparted all that he could have daily with the captive brothers, etc. And the people of Israel, in their teachers, ministered the alms of the word of God not only to the rough listeners of their own nation but also to those who from the nations wanted to convert to their way of life. For whatever natural good they could have, which was not taken away by the conquering enemy, all this they showed to their own as an example of virtue. But they also always gave some portion of salvific knowledge to the Gentiles; which is Tobias ministering the tithe of his substance to the strangers.
Tobias, after he became a man, took a wife, Anna, from his own tribe, etc. And the same people, after they grew up and were multiplied in Egypt, took a synagogue instituted with legal ceremonies through Moses.
He begot a son from her, etc. Because he knew that Christ would be born from his lineage, as Moses said: "The Lord our God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your brothers, you shall listen to him" (Deut. XVIII). And the Lord said to David: "I will place the fruit of your womb on my throne" (Psalm CXXXI). To whom he gave his name, by believing and confessing, as the father says about him: "And I will make him my firstborn" (Psalm LXXXVIII). Just as it is said about the people, "Israel is my firstborn son" (Exodus IV).
Whom he taught to fear God from infancy, etc. By believing and confessing, because he would not sin, nor would deceit be found in his mouth, but the spirit of the fear of the Lord would fill him.
Tobias gave ten talents of silver to Gabael, his needy compatriot, under a bond. And the people of God entrusted the knowledge of divine law, which is contained in the Decalogue, to the Gentiles through the Seventy Interpreters, so that through this they might free them from the poverty of unbelief. He gave it under a bond, that is, under the condition of returning it, once he himself became rich, or the one who gave it would demand it back. But the Gentiles received the word of God from the people of Israel through interpretation, which they now understand spiritually after the incarnation of the Lord, and they practice to acquire the riches of virtues; they repay the lender when, at the end of the world, they receive the believing Jews into the unity of the Church, commit to them the sacraments of Christ for their salvation, and also unlock the mysteries of the Scriptures.
Tobias is ordered by the king to be killed, and all his property to be taken away because of the good he had done, etc. And the devil strove to destroy the people of God with spiritual death through idolatry, and to take away all the riches of virtues from them, but he could not; because there were many holy teachers among them who provided for and protected their life and salvation.
However, he fled with his son and wife. Because the enemy could neither take away the faith in the Lord's incarnation, nor the state of the synagogue, although he vehemently attacked it, which became very clear in the struggles of the Maccabees.
But after the king was killed by his sons, all his possessions were restored to Tobias. Because after the devil was often overcome, and condemned for his crimes, which he generated like a wicked offspring, prosperity returned to the people of God. We also see the state of the Church fluctuating through these struggles after the incarnation of the Lord.