With much grief and anguish of heart I wept: The New Revised Standard Version rendering much grief and anguish of heart (literally “becoming very sad in the heart”) and Good News Translation “so embarrassed and ashamed” are attempts to draw shades of meaning from the Greek phrase “sorrowful at heart.” Another way to express this first clause is “My heart was so filled with grief and anguish that I wept.”

And with groaning began to pray: The Greek word began is followed with to pray rather than “to cry.” Good News Translation “began to cry” is answered by “choked back my tears.” Began to pray is what the author said, but in English this may suggest that the prayer is going to be interrupted. Good News Translation “sighed” and “choked back my tears” translate a verb and a noun of the same root—a play on words in the Greek.

In the first clause of this verse “groan” or “moan” fits the context better than “sigh,” which suggests exasperation rather than despair, and in the second half of the verse “choked back my tears” (Good News Translation) is a better rendering than with groaning. Translators should try to find a good balance between the two clauses.

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• My heart was so filled with sorrow that I groaned and wept. Then, as I choked back my tears, I began to pray.

Quoted with permission from Bullard, Roger A. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Tobit. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2001. For this and other handbooks for translators see here.