Canonicity, Setting, Wisdom in the Deuterocanicals: Papers of the Jubilee Meeting of the Internatinal Conference on the Deuterocanonical Books, ed. Géza G. Xeravits, Jozsef Zsengellér, and Xavér Szabó. Berlin: De Gruyter, 2014.
Readers have long wondered what is the meaning of the dog that briefly appears in the Jewish fairy tale known as the Book of Tobit. This article considers common answers such as influence from Ahikar, the Odyssey, influence of Persian culture and influence of folktale and goes into depth of the dog’s significance in human culture, especially in connection with healing and defeating dragons and evil spirits and raises questions about the dog’s possible connection to the archangel Raphael.