Good News Translation begins a new paragraph here, but again it does not seem necessary to do this, as Tobit is still talking about tithes. However, translators should decide what is the most natural thing to do in their language.

A third tenth is not found in the Greek text that we are following, and we recommend that translators not use it. Our text simply has a pronoun referring back to the “second tenth” of verse 7. What we have here is a further description of how Tobit uses the “second tenth.” He uses it in the third and sixth years to provide food for the poor (Deut 14.27-29). He still uses this tithe to provide a festive meal, but on the third and sixth years the poor (orphans and widows) are invited to join him.

Converts who had attached themselves to Israel: The Hebrew of Deut 14.28-29 speaks of “resident aliens, foreigners,” which the Greek Old Testament regularly translates by the word normally meaning “proselyte, convert.” Good News Translation follows the Hebrew meaning; the Greek word, however, is clearly “proselyte, convert,” and translators are urged to follow the interpretation of New Revised Standard Version (as well as New English Bible, New American Bible, and Revised English Bible).

In the third year refers to years three and six of the seven year cycle.

We would eat it means “we would eat the festival meal together” (Good News Translation), “we” referring to Tobit and these poor people.

Good News Translation is a useful model for verse 7, but for verse 8a we suggest the following:

• But every third year and every sixth year, I would share this festival meal with widows, orphans, and foreigners who had converted to our religion.

According to the ordinance decreed concerning it in the law of Moses: This will need to be restructured in most languages. The Good News Translation model is quite simple: “I did this in keeping with the Law of Moses.” Another way to express this is: “The Law of Moses commands us to help these people. So that’s why I did this.” A literal translation of the phrase the law of Moses will give the impression in a number of languages that Moses owned the Law. It is rather the Law that Moses gave to the people of Israel, and will be expressed in that way in many languages.

According to the instructions of Deborah … left me an orphan: Tobit credits his grandmother Deborah with teaching him and providing the example for his piety. Ordinarily the father might have been expected to give religious instruction, but he had died, leaving Tobit an orphan. Presumably his mother had died earlier.

The mother of my father Tobiel: The name Tobiel follows the Latin text. The Greek text we are following has “Hananiel,” who according to 1.1 was Tobit’s grandfather. (The alternate Greek text omits the name.) It is possible that the author intends to say that Deborah is Tobit’s great-grandmother, and that the reference to “father Hananiah” is actually to his grandfather. Even the Latin text may be an attempt at harmonizing; but it is not a bad solution, and the translator need have no worries about rendering “Tobiel.” The phrase my father is in Greek actually “our father.”

In some languages it will be necessary to reorder the clauses of this verse as both Good News Translation and Contemporary English Version have done. The following is an alternative model:

• When I was young, my father died and I became an orphan. So it was my grandmother Deborah who instructed me to obey the commands in the Law that Moses gave about taking care of orphans and widows and the foreigners who had converted to our religion. So every third year, I would give a third tenth of my harvest to these people, and we would eat the festival meal together.

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.

Again Good News Translation opens a new paragraph, but New Revised Standard Version doesn’t. We suggest that translators follow New Revised Standard Version here.

When Tobit became a man, he married a member of our own family, surely meaning, as Good News Translation makes clear, “a member of my own tribe” (similarly Contemporary English Version). While marriage outside the tribe was allowed, restricting marriage to members of a person’s own tribe seems to be given here as further evidence of Tobit’s piety. Became a man may be also expressed as “grew up” (Good News Translation) or “was old enough” (Contemporary English Version).

“Anna” does not appear by name at this point in the Greek text we are following, hence the absence of her name in New Revised Standard Version. Introduction of the name here by Good News Translation and New American Bible need not be considered a textual matter, but simply an earlier introduction of information given later at 1.20. Tobias means in Hebrew “Yahweh is good”; it is the Greek form of a Hebrew name, which if directly transliterated in the usual Old Testament fashion, would be “Tobiah” in English, the form preferred by New American Bible. Good News Translation has both parents naming Tobias, but the text is I named (New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version).

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.

Verse 10 returns us to the sequence of events reported in verse 3, where Tobit tells how the Assyrians took him and many other Israelites to Nineveh. Verses 4-9 have been a flashback to establish Tobit’s genuine religious devotion. Translators should open a new paragraph here and continue it till the end of verse 15.

I was carried away captive to Assyria: In languages that do not have the passive voice, this clause may be expressed as “Later, the Assyrian soldiers captured me and took me to the land of Assyria.”

Came as a captive to Nineveh may be rendered “that is how I came to live in Nineveh” (Good News Translation) or even “we went to live in the city of Nineveh” (Contemporary English Version).

For everyone of my kindred and people: See the comment at verse 3.

Ate the food of the Gentiles: Gentiles refers to those who were not Israelites. In exile in Nineveh, it was the practice of all Tobit’s relatives to eat the food of the Gentiles, that is, food not permitted by the Law of Moses. Surrounded by a Gentile culture, it would have been all but impossible to obey these dietary laws (compare Dan 1).

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.

The opening words in Greek express an emphatic contrast between the practice of Tobit and the practice of all his relatives. In English this is rendered as but in most versions.

I kept myself is literally “I kept my soul,” a translation into Greek of a Hebrew idiom, meaning “I would not allow myself.” For this verse Good News Translation has “but I refused to do so,” while Contemporary English Version makes it clear that it was not permitted by the Law of Moses: “But I decided to eat only what was allowed by the Law of Moses.”

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.

The connector Because (Good News Translation “Since”) introduces the reason for Tobit’s receiving favor with Shalmaneser in verse 13. It is possible to indicate this connection by deleting Because and beginning the next verse with “so”; for example, “I carefully obeyed the commands of the Most High God, 13 so….”

I was mindful of God with all my heart means “with every thought I was determined to follow God’s law”; Good News Translation expresses this as “I took seriously the commands….” Contemporary English Version has a helpful model: “Obeying God was the most important thing in my life.” God repays this devotion by the good fortune described in the next verse, where the reference to God as “the Most High” is combined by Good News Translation into a single reference here to “the Most High God.”

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.

The Most High is literally, “the Highest.” This word is regularly used in the Greek Old Testament to translate a Hebrew term first used in Gen 14.18. Translations must not suggest that God is tall or lives on mountaintops, or that he is “higher” than other gods. It is a title designating God’s absolute, ultimate supremacy. Another way to express this title is “God who is above [or, more powerful than] all other gods.”

God gave Tobit favor and good standing with Shalmaneser, that is, God arranged it so that Shalmaneser would show Tobit favor. Good standing is literally “form,” but this is probably idiomatic for “God made me look good to Shalmaneser.” Good News Translation has “he made Emperor Shalmaneser respect me.” Other ways to express this are “God made King Shalmaneser pleased with me,” or in a number of Asian languages “God made King Shalmaneser lift my face,” or even “God let me have face before King Shalmaneser.” For Shalmaneser see the comment at verse 2.

I used to buy everything he needed: Tobit had clearly risen to a position of importance in the Assyrian government, one which required travel on royal business, as the next sentence shows. Good News Translation has “I was placed in charge of purchasing all the emperor’s supplies,” and Contemporary English Version “Shalmaneser even put me in charge of buying all the supplies for his palace.”

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.

Until his death may be rendered “Until the emperor died,” or even “For the rest of the emperor’s life.”

I used to go into Media: On his travels Tobit would sometimes go to the country of Media (the northwestern area of modern Iran).

While in the country of Media: Contemporary English Version has “on one of those trips,” while Good News Translation has “Once, when I was in the city of Rages in Media.” The phrase “the city of Rages” does not occur in our Greek text until 4.1 (see the important note there), but it is a legitimate addition here in translation to bring out something that is made clear elsewhere in the text. If this addition is made, translators may wish to add a footnote as follows: “The city of Rages is not in the Greek text, but see 4.1.”

I left bags of silver worth ten talents in trust with Gabael, the brother of Gabri: On one such trip (a different tense is used for I used to go into Media, and buy and I left) he entrusted a large sum of money to a man named Gabael, identified only as the brother of Gabri. I left … in trust means that Tobit left some money with Gabael for safekeeping. Good News Translation expresses it by “I left some bags of money … and asked him to keep them for me”; or we may say “I left … for Gabael to take care of for me.” The important thing about the money is not its exact monetary value—ten talents would be many thousands of dollars—but simply its huge size. Good News Translation “600 pounds of silver coins” renders the same Greek text and attempts to express it in terms not requiring an equivalent in any modern national currency. In the metric system the equivalent is approximately 270 kilograms. It is a sum of money large enough to justify going to some trouble to get it back. Tobit’s attempt to recover this money is the first action in the plot of the story.

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.

His son Sennacherib reigned in his place: History is abbreviated here. Shalmaneser was followed in 722 B.C. by Sargon; Sennacherib followed Sargon in 705 B.C. This clause may also be expressed as “his son Sennacherib succeeded him as emperor” (Good News Translation) or “… took his place as king” (Contemporary English Version), or even “… ruled over Assyria in his place.”

The highways into Media became unsafe; that is, “Media was no longer a safe place to travel” (Contemporary English Version). We may also connect this clause logically to the final clause and say, “It soon became so dangerous to travel on the roads in Media that I….” Tobit could not travel the roads to Media because travel had become unsafe, presumably because of robbers.

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.