06_Biblica_AM_MacAgantay_Layout 1 16/12/13 12:28 Pagina 584 584 FRANCIS M. MACATANGAY (cf. 13,2). What becomes clear in the story is that characters such as To- bias have to cooperate in God’s plan even in affliction by submitting to his divine will as expressed in the Book of Moses and in Tobit’s instruc- tions. Their docility, loyalty and obedience to the law show their submis- sion to God’s will. If they collaborate with and do not hinder God’s purposes from prevailing by practicing righteousness and mercy as they are embodied in the exhortations of Tobit, then the μισθός of God’s good things will be given them. For the dispersed, the ironic use of μισθός in this dramatic narrative has the rhetorical effect of emphasizing this seemingly hidden truth. Μισθός can be understood differently from what it is usually taken to be. That the “good things” are hidden, or that the way things are is not what they actually are or appear to be, may prove to be a consoling truth for those in the dis- persion, whose circumstances are a bitter testimony to the irony of ironies, namely the disparity between historical reality and divine word. * * * Tobit’s μισθός to his son’s faithful travel guide and the employer’s gift to Anna of a goat in addition to her usual wages are both acts of extravagance. Furthermore, Tobit’s decision and presumably that of Anna’s employer to grant a generous μισθός are both made in freedom. If the dynamic of God’s recompense is to a certain extent analogous to the mechanics of bonuses and wages, as Tobit and Tobias understand them to be, then God’s reward is as free and generous, if not more so. In fact, the Book of Tobit shows through irony that God’s free μισθός to a faithful elect is always more than what is deserved or imagined. God has his own hidden way in the world and his pur- poses always include the good things for his elect if they allow the divine in- tentions to prevail by their obedience. There is indeed divine μισθός, but it exceeds the calculations of the traditional formula for rewards. University of St. Thomas Francis M. MACATANGAY Graduate School of Theology 9845 Memorial Drive Houston, Texas 77024 SUMMARY The deuterocanonical Book of Tobit is a delightful story that employs ironic flourishes in its narrative. The word μισθός which literally means “wages” and figuratively connotes “reward” appears frequently in the story. It is argued that the narrative use of the word participates in dramatic irony. As a rhetorical strategy, the irony addresses the limitations of the title char- acter ’s espousal of the traditional typology for reward and punishment.