Give alms from your possessions: To give alms means to give something (usually money or food) to a poor person, in this case a “righteous” or “good” person. From your possessions is literal, but rather obvious; you cannot give as alms something which is not yours to begin with.

Do not let your eye begrudge the gift when you make it: The idea of giving “generously” (Good News Translation) is an interpretation of the metaphor in the original Greek, the eye begrudging the gift (compare Matt 20.15). The Greek repeats this clause word for word in verse 16.

An alternative translation model for the final clause of verse 6 and this first clause in verse 7 is the following:

• … If people faithfully obey God, but are poor, you must give generously to them.

Do not turn your face away from anyone who is poor, and the face of God will not be turned away from you: The metaphor of turning the face away, whether done by a prospective giver or by God, is interpreted in Good News Translation by the use of the word “stingy” twice. There is a double danger in the use of this word, however. First, turning aside from the poor, that is, avoiding them or ignoring them, is not quite the same as being stingy. Though the two things may go hand in hand, the focus is different. Second, being stingy is a character trait that we would really not want to attribute to God, even when he withholds his generosity. A better translation for the final two clauses is the following:

• Always be willing to help the poor, and God will always provide for your needs.

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.