Get up from the ground, and acknowledge God translates the text found in a few manuscripts, both Greek and Latin. The text followed by Good News Translation, “Praise the Lord on earth and confess God” is a bit awkward, but does not need to be changed. The variant translated by New Revised Standard Version could well have originated as a scribal attempt to ease the awkwardness. (There is a common element: a Greek word is used which in one case means “earth” and in the other means “ground.”) For “on earth” Good News Translation has “while you are on this earth,” and Contemporary English Version makes the meaning even clearer with “for as long as you live.” For acknowledge, see the note on 12.6.

I am ascending to him who sent me: The Greek uses a verb for ascending which can be interpreted as “ascend” or simply “go back.” It is not absolutely clear that Raphael rises into the air, but the text can certainly be taken that way (compare Jdg 6.21). The similarity of this scene to the transfiguration and ascension of Jesus has been noted. Raphael’s words I am ascending to him who sent me is very close to what Jesus says in John 7.33 and 16.5 (where, however, a different verb is used). There is no reason why translators should not keep the idea of ascending here. Another way to express this sentence is to use a different verb: “Now I am going back up to the one who sent me down here.”

And he ascended: Contemporary English Version has “Then Raphael went up to heaven.” In languages that use ideophones, one may be put in this sentence; for example, “Then all of a sudden, poof! the angel disappeared.” See 6.3 for a further discussion of ideophones.

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.