Rendered in plain and understandable language, this little book is a wellspring of wisdom intermingled in a story even children will find entertaining. Its wisdom rivals that of Proverbs. It is a wonderful way to teach "life lessons."
The Story of Ahikar is one of the oldest sources of wisdom literature. Its influence can be traced through the Koran, as well as the Old and New Testaments. The oldest version, which we can only assume to be the original Papyrus, appears to have been produced circa 500 BC. It is written in Aramaic and was discovered among the ruins of Elephantine.
The earliest mention of Ahikar is in the Book of Tobit in the form of the name "Achiacharus". According to the book of Tobit, Ahikar was a relative and friend to Tobit. He was the chief counselor of the Assyrian ruler, Sennacherib. The book of Tobit mentions Nadab, Ahiker’s nephew, whom Ahikar adopted, and who sought to repay the kindness by attempting to kill his uncle. In the first chapter (verses 21, 22) you read that he was a great officer at the court of king Esarhaddon; and at the end of the book (xiv. 10) you may learn something about his story; for Tobit says to his son Tobias, "Remember, my son, how Aman handled Achiacharus that brought him up, how out of light he brought him into darkness, and how he rewarded him again; yet Achiacharus was saved, but the other had his reward, for he went down into darkness."
Tobit, xiv. 10, 11, according to the Codex Sinaiticus reads slightly different: "but God made good his dishonor in His sight and Ahikar returned to the light, but Nadab went into darkness everlasting".
In the Old Testament we see Ahikar was the chancellor of the Assyrian king Sennacherib, son of Esar-haddon (II Kings, xix. 37). The basic story of Ahikar contains four divisions: (1) The Narrative; (2) The Teaching; (3) The Journey to Egypt; (4) The Similitudes or Parables. Parts of the story are found in various forms in Greek, Rumanian, Slavonic, and Syriac, to name a few versions.
