At that time, also: This verse forms a bridge between the account of Tobit becoming blind and the description of strained relations within the family.

My wife Anna earned money at women’s work: For the sake of continuity, Good News Translation builds into verse 11 information from elsewhere, and also makes clear some other things that follow from the earlier narrative. All of this is reasonable, and translators may do the same. For example, the Greek text does not state clearly that Anna began work “After Ahikar left” on his journey. It says only, “And at that time…,” but it is reasonable to assume that since verse 10 indicates that Ahikar had been supporting the family for two years, the “time” referred to is the time of his departure. Nor does the Greek actually say that Anna was forced to go to work (Good News Translation “Anna had to go to work”), but it is clearly understood to be an economic necessity. “Had to go to work” could indicate to many modern readers that she went to work outside the home at some sort of weaving factory. It is more likely that she wove cloth on a small loom in her house as verse 12 makes clear, a practice still followed in a number of modern cultures. So Contemporary English Version says “my wife worked at home.” Verse 11 does not say clearly that Anna “took up weaving” (Good News Translation). This comes from verse 12. But the ancient Jewish reader would have considered it natural for women to work at weaving, creating no jarring note in the narrative. The modern reader needs this information earlier in order to put verse 12 in perspective. (The Old Latin version does state that Anna did spinning and weaving; but this does not appear in either Greek text of Tobit.)

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.