tobit

one thing about being unwell:
plenty of time to read.
in september I started at the beginning
and have now reached tobit.

tobit is an israelite in exile,
who has managed to stay faithful to the old law of moses.
raphael and amodeus
[an angel and a demon]
are an essential part of the story
(could these be 'foreign gods' of old in disguise?)

tobit's blindness is cured with a medicine
prescribed by raphael.
and the text is littered with phrases
later quoted by jesus.
['feed the hungry and clothe the naked' ]
moreover, the narrative is both detailed and compelling;
[operatic!]

there are more than glimmers here of the gospel style.
why, then, is this only part of the apocrypha?