worry

The Greek and Hebrew that are translated as “worry” or “anxious” in English are translated in Navajo (Dinė) as “my mind is killing me.” (Source: Nida 1952, p. 24)

Nida (1952, p. 124) also gives other examples:

“The Piro in Peru use almost the same idiom when they say that a worried man is ‘one who is hard chased.’ The worried person is like a pursued animal in the forest trying to elude the hunter. The impenetrable jungle of the future, the failing strength, and the exhaustion of doubt all press hard upon the soul. And one’s heart seems to fail and even disappear. This is the very phrase employed by the Tzeltal Indians in the rugged mountains of southern Mexico. They describe ‘worry’ by the words ‘their hearts are gone.'”

See also anxious / worried about many things and worries/cares of the world/this age.

Translation commentary on Tobit 5:21

Both Good News Translation and New Revised Standard Version obscure the fact that Tobit uses the same clause when he starts talking to Anna, and again at the end of this verse: Do not worry … Say no more (New Revised Standard Version), “Calm down … stop worrying” (Good News Translation). Translators may follow either version, or may use the clause “Do not worry” twice.

The key expression good health appears three times in this verse and once again in verse 22; compare verses 14, 17. Of course, here Anna is more concerned with Tobias’s safety than with his health (the Greek word covers both senses). Good News Translation is on target with “safely” and “safe and sound.”

Sister is a term of endearment a man might use to his wife. See 8.4 and elsewhere in this book; compare also Song 4.9-12; 5.1.

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.