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.