Tobit's story provides an insight into ordinary Jewish life at the time of the deportation of the conquered Israelites to Assyria. The particular incident read today tells of Tobit's misfortune at being blinded, and the consequent suffering he had to endure. He had to depend on the charity of Akihar for two years, and after that on the income his wife brought in by doing piece work at home. The extent of his humiliation at being provided for by others came to the lowest point when his wife brought home a kid given her by one of her customers.

The man who had unselfishly looked after the needs of others because of his love of God and of his fellow men, he whose integrity and whose every action had been dictated by a punctilious observance of the Law of the Lord, this same man found it difficult to understand God's love for him when his wife was the recipient of neighbourly charity. His questioning came to an end when his wife pointed out to him that perhaps it was God's kindly power and mercy rewarding him for all his virtuous deeds of the past.

The Jews of that time tended to believe that misfortune and suffering were equated with punishment for sin, but Tobit's patience and faith eventually revealed the justice of God. Man's relationship to God and to his fellows is emphasised here to show God's care for His own and the need to wait patiently for the Lord.