06_Biblica_AM_MacAgantay_Layout 1 16/12/13 12:28 Pagina 579 579 Μισθός AND IRONY IN THE BOOK OF TOBIT wife Anna starts doing women’s work, presumably as a textile weaver. Once, after sending the product of her labors to her employer, she receives a goat on top of her usual μισθός as a reward. When Tobit hears the bleating of the goat, he questions his wife about it. He is not convinced by her re- sponse that the kid was not stolen but was, rather, a bonus over and above her payment. Suspicious of this windfall, Tobit angrily orders her to return the goat to her employer. And so, the crisis between the couple develops when the unexpected and gratuitous gift comes with Anna’s μισθός. The acrimonious exchange between the spouses conveys the impres- sion that Tobit wants to deprive Anna of her μισθός with its bonus just as he is bereft of his. It would seem as well that if Anna were to give her bonus back the two would be equal again, both boasting of nothing and thereby normalizing and stabilizing their relationship. In more ways than one, the goat bleats Tobit into shame and umbrage. Changing thus the topic of their heated discussion from wages and bonuses to something theological, Anna undercuts Tobit’s wary stare at her μισθός by asking her husband in effect if his poverty and loss of sight were the divine rec- ompense he received for his faithful abiding by God’s laws (2,14) or if his righteous deeds are futile since they have not merited anything resem- bling a reward 10. If Tobit suffers from such adversities, then perhaps it is equally legitimate to doubt, as he does Anna’s μισθός, the authenticity of his righteousness and acts of charity. On the other hand, Tobit’s distrust of Anna’s μισθός inadvertently calls into question the value and the usual understanding of μισθός. In other words, Tobit’s questioning attitude cov- ers the notion of μισθός with a hint of suspicion. This episode of the quarreling pair dramatizes a theological concern central to the narrative. Anna worked with diligence and skill and received a bonus on top of her μισθός while Tobit who is known for his works of charity and righteousness had earned no reward other than blindness and misery. That the roles of Tobit and Anna are upturned further underscores the irony in the use of μισθός in this narrative episode. Both the role reversal and the added bonus to Anna’s μισθός were an insult to Tobit. Anna the generous financial provider of the family had a μισθός to show for her work, but Tobit, the one provided for, had none to prove his works of charity. With 10 C.A. MOORE, Tobit. A New Translation with Introduction and Commen- tary (AB 40A; New York 1996) 136, notes that Anna’s first words indicate not only that she is volatile but also perceptive, raising “in effect, the crucial ques- tion in Tobit, namely, does it really pay to be good and to do good?”. H. SCHÜNGEL-STRAUMANN, Tobit (HTHKAT; Freiburg 2000) 74, points out that Anna plays a theological role in this episode. G.D. MILLER, Marriage in the Book of Tobit (DCLS 10; Berlin 2011) 188-189, discusses the various readings of this episode in the story. See also R. PETRAGLIO, “Tobit e Anna: un cammino difficile nella crisi di una coppia”, RivBib 52 (2004) 391.