Although you were watching me, I really did not eat or drink anything: The Greek text of this verse is awkward, literally “And you saw that I ate nothing, but you were seeing a vision.” The meaning, more clearly expressed in the shorter Greek text, is as both Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version have it. The addition of and drink in New Revised Standard Version is taken from that other text. It is not in our text and is not needed to make sense. Good News Translation is a helpful model.

But what you saw was a vision: There is a difference in meaning between “it only seemed so” (Good News Translation) and what you [plural] saw was a vision. A noun is used in Greek, but it does not necessarily indicate a vision in the sense of a religious experience. Clearly, when Raphael was with Tobias, Tobias was not having a religious experience; he didn’t even know who Raphael was. Raphael’s only meaning here is “You were seeing things that weren’t real—it was an illusion.”

The whole verse may be expressed as, for example,

• Even though you thought you saw me eating, I really ate nothing; it only appeared that way.

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.