With the beginning of the next stage of the action, Good News Translation begins a new paragraph here. Translators should consider following this approach, too.

So Raphael with the four servants and two camels went to Rages in Media and stayed with Gabael: Good News Translation has omitted reference to the two camels here, probably because they have been mentioned in verse 2. They can easily be brought in, however: “So Raphael and the four servants took the two camels and went to Rages in Media….”

Raphael gave him the bond: This refers to the document mentioned in 5.3; see the note there.

Gabael got up: “At once” is the interpretation Good News Translation (and New American Bible) puts on the Semitic idiom got up; see the note on 8.9.

Their seals intact: This is the first time seals on the bags have been mentioned. When Tobit left the money, some device was used so that he would know when he reclaimed the bags, that they had not been opened while he was away. The seal was probably of wax, impressed with Tobit’s personal stamp, probably on a ring.

The textual problem noted in both Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version about the camels may be more apparent than real. The Old Latin is a literal translation of our text, but it adds “on camels.” There are a few Greek manuscripts that mention the camels, but the differences are greater. They say “… counted the money and placed it [different verb] on the camels”; there is nothing about bags or seals. There seems to be no compelling reason not to mention the camels here; we could argue that they are understood in this text in any case. New Revised Standard Version, Good News Translation, and Contemporary English Version all include them.

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.