Tobias said to him: The Greek simply says, “He said to him.” It must be made clear to the readers by some device that Tobias is asking Raphael the question. New Revised Standard Version, Contemporary English Version, and New American Bible give Tobias’s name; Good News Translation combines this with the previous sentence, with Tobias retained as the subject.

Where do you come from, young man?: Good News Translation expresses this question in indirect form, but it then must (or perhaps, is able to) omit the address young man. In English young man is not what one young man would say to another, and we assume Tobias is a young man since it makes for a better romance with the young woman Sarah. The reader does need the information that Raphael has taken the form of a young man, so as to have a better mental picture of the scene. Good News Translation could have done this smoothly by translating, “he asked the young man where he was from,” or by use of direct speech, “Tobias asked the young man, ‘Where do you come from?’ ” However, in some languages translators may wish to follow New Revised Standard Version and say something like “Friend, where do you come from?” or “Younger brother, where do you come from?” Addressing the angel as young man probably indicates that Tobias feels that Raphael is younger than he is.

The question Tobias asks is Where do you come from? It is not, as in New American Bible and Contemporary English Version, “Who are you?” though that is ultimately what is meant. Tobit asks for his name in verse 12. Raphael’s answer will probably seem evasive if he is asked “Who are you?” since the reader would then expect a name. Rather, the point of Tobias’s question has to do with geography: he wants to know if this man happens to know how to get to Media.

From your kindred, the Israelites … and I have come here to work: Raphael’s reply presents him as the perfect candidate for the job. He is a fellow Israelite and just happens to be looking for work; and he knows “the way to Media.” For a comment on kindred, see 1.3. Good News Translation is justified in rendering this as “one of your distant relatives,” since if he were a close relative Tobit would know him already.

Then Tobias said to him: Once again, Tobias’s name needs to be supplied to make the speaker immediately clear. Said in a number of languages will be the equivalent of “asked.”

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.