Compiled by John Christopher Smith from Handel’s operas, oratorios and other works, the oratorio Tobit, sometimes described as a pastiche, provided a winning synthesis of religion and entertainment at a time when newly-minted oratorios, drawing chiefly on biblical subjects were in vogue. The story of the pious and steadfast Tobit (Tobias the elder) is taken from the apocryphal Book of Tobias, in which he is persecuted for burying the dead. Patient in adversity, Tobit is finally restored to health and prosperity, while his son, Tobias, is safely married to Sarah.