When I Die, Bury Me Well

"This interesting book shows how death and burial form part of the central themes of the Tobit narrative by focusing also on its ethical and collective dimension. Consequently, it should be regarded as an important contribution to research and by no means be neglected in future studies."

--Beate Ego, Lehrstuhl fur Exegese und Theologie des Alten Testaments, Evangelisch-theologische Fakultat, Ruhr-Universitat Bochum



"People dig holes to find treasures. The author has dug deeply into the book of Tobit and has unearthed its narrative preoccupation with burial of the dead: a good burial is a statement of hope in God who gives life. Thus the author has found us a treasure. Now we can read the book of Tobit and be enriched by its all-encompassing appeal for mercy."

--Nuria Calduch-Benages, Professor of Old Testament, Gregorian University, Rome; member of the Pontifical Biblical Commission



"This beautifully written book brings together some of the major themes that constitute both the core of the book of Tobit and the experience of many Jews in the Second Temple period. Those would be the experience of exile and the growing significance of charitable deeds. The book of Tobit has received a good deal of interest for precisely these reasons over the past decade or so, but the treatments have been very uneven. Macatangay, however, is one of the best interpreters we have, and readers will greatly profit from his astute guidance through the various twists and turns of the work's compelling storyline."

--Gary A. Anderson, Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology, University of Notre Dame; author of Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition (2013)



"When I Die, Bury Me Well advances our understanding of key leitmotifs--death, burial, and restoration--in the book of Tobit, offering fresh interpretations of this fascinating biblical text. Francis Macatangay reveals himself to be a most skilled and astute reader of texts through this nuanced examination of Tobit."

--Kelley Coblentz Bautch, Associate Professor of Religious and Theological Studies, St. Edward's University