The Word of God Has Not Failed: God’s Faithfulness and Israel’s Salvation in Tobit 14:3-7 and Romans 9-11

Abstract

Tobit 14:3-7 and Romans 9-11 share several striking verbal and conceptual parallels that invite detailed comparison. Most notably, both Tobit and Paul (1) deny the failure of God's word (Tob. 14:4a; Rom. 9:6a); ( 2) proceed to unveil a three-phase redemptive history for Israel (exile → partial restoration → full restoration); and (3) utilise their respective storylines to assure their readers in phase 2 that God will bring phase 3 to completion. These and other parallels show not only that Tobit and Paul share a common eschatological perspective, but that they deploy and develop almost identical thesis statements, thereby further demonstrating the proximity of Paul's discourse to contemporary Jewish modes of thought and argumentation.