Master translates a Greek word (despotēs) not used as often as the word usually translated “Lord.” (In the New Testament it is used of God in Luke 2.29; Acts 4.34; Rev 6.10; it is used of Christ in 2 Peter 2.1; Jude 4.) This word places more emphasis on rule than on ownership, and a word equivalent to “master” will be a suitable translation in a number of languages. This is a subtle distinction that Good News Translation is willing to sacrifice.

I am innocent of any defilement with a man: The story has already suggested that Sarah is a virgin (see 3.8). Here she states it clearly, denying any kind of sexual impurity; we already know that her marriages were never consummated (3.8). She does not literally use the word “virgin,” but Good News Translation uses it in order to define the idea of not being “defiled by a man.” Good News Translation also maintains two balanced lines that have the same meaning. Many languages, however, will follow Revised Standard Version, using euphemisms for “virgin”; for example, “I have never been [or, slept/lived] with a man.”

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.