“I will now declare the whole truth to you. I will conceal nothing from you. Already I have declared to you when I said.
‘It is good to conceal the secret of a king,
But to reveal with due honor the works of God.’
So now, when you and your daughter-in-law Sarah prayed,
It was I who brought and read the record of your prayer
Before the glory of the Lord.
Likewise, whenever you would bury the dead,
I was present with you.
That time when you did not hesitate to get up
And leave your dinner to go and bury the dead,
I was sent to test you.
At the same time,
God sent me to heal you and Sarah your daughter-in-law.
I am Raphael,
One of the seven angels who stand ready
And enter before the glory of the Lord.’”
Raphael said that he would reveal the whole truth and conceal nothing. He had hinted at that when he said that it was good to conceal the secrets of the king. He told Tobit and Tobias that when Tobit and Sarah had prayed in despair, he was the one who recorded this and brought it to the Lord. He was present when Tobit buried the dead. He was sent to test him. God sent him to heal both Tobit and Sarah. Then he revealed that he is the angel Raphael. However, he is not just any angel, but one of the 7 who stand before the glory of the Lord. Literally, his name means, “God heals,” so that this was a perfect project for him. The naming of angels did not take place until after the Persian captivity, in the Second Temple time, so there is a Persian influence here. Sometimes, he is referred to as an archangel, because of his place among the top 7 angels. Perhaps he might have a place among the guardian angels as he protected Tobias here.
Eugene Finnegan Bible Project 