Translation commentary on Tobit 13:2

For he afflicts: The use of For implies that God punishes us because his kingdom lasts forever. This is not the meaning of the text, so the connector For may be omitted. He afflicts should be understood in the sense of “He punishes us” (Good News Translation).

For Hades see 3.10.

He brings up from the great abyss: Although later in Jewish history (see for example Luke 8.31; Rev 9.1-11) the abyss was considered the place where demons were confined until the Day of Judgment, in this present context it is used in the same sense as Hades, meaning “the deepest part of the earth” (compare Wis 16.13), where the dead exist. Good News Translation translates it as “the grave”; but the literal rendering of Contemporary English Version, “great destruction” (see the New Revised Standard Version footnote), seems too vague. Another possible model for this clause is “He brings us up to the land of the living again.”

There is nothing that can escape his hand; that is “No one can escape his power” (Good News Translation) or “He has complete control over us.”

An alternative translation model for this verse is:

• He punishes us, and he also shows us mercy.
He sends us down to the world of the dead,
and brings us back to the land of the living.
He completely controls us.

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.

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