Tobit 10: What the Passage Says

The Chapter in a Sentence

Back home, Tobit keeps count of the days, and when the time set for the journey passes without Tobias returning, he wonders whether the travelers have been delayed or whether Gabael has died. Anna says her son is dead and mourns for him, going out each day to watch the road and weeping through the nights, while Tobit tells her to be quiet because Tobias is well. When the fourteen days of the wedding feast are over, Tobias asks Raguel to let him go; Raguel gives him Sarah and half his property and sends them off with a blessing, and both Raguel and Edna speak parting words to the couple.

Claim by Claim

1. 10:1
   • Tobit, the father of Tobias, counted every day.
   • The days of the journey were completed.
   • Tobias and his companion did not come.
2. 10:2
   • Tobit asked whether they were detained.
   • Tobit asked whether Gabael had died.
   • Tobit asked whether there was no one to give Gabael's money to Tobias.
3. 10:3
   • Tobit was very sorrowful.
4. 10:4
   • Tobit's wife said to him that her son was dead.
   • Tobit's wife gave his long delay as the reason.
   • Tobit's wife began to wail for her son.
   • Tobit's wife spoke.
5. 10:5
   • Tobit's wife said she cared for nothing now.
   • Tobit's wife addressed her son.
   • Tobit's wife said she had let her son go.
   • Tobit's wife called her son the light of her eyes.
6. 10:6
   • Tobit told his wife to be silent.
   • Tobit told his wife to take no care.
   • Tobit said that Tobias was safe.
7. 10:7
   • Tobit's wife told Tobit to be silent.
   • Tobit's wife told Tobit not to deceive her.
   • Tobit's wife said her son was dead.
   • Tobit's wife went out every day to the road by which they had gone.
   • Tobit's wife ate no food during the daytime.
   • Tobit's wife did not cease through whole nights to lament her son Tobias.
   • This continued until the fourteen days of the wedding feast were completed.
   • Raguel had sworn that Tobias should spend those fourteen days there.
   • Tobias asked Raguel to let him go.
   • Tobias said his father and mother no longer expected to see him.
8. 10:8
   • Tobias's father-in-law told him to stay with him.
   • Tobias's father-in-law said he would send word to Tobias's father.
   • Tobias's father-in-law said they would declare to Tobias's father how things went with him.
9. 10:9
   • Tobias refused.
   • Tobias asked to be sent away to his father.
10. 10:10
    • Raguel arose.
    • Raguel gave Tobias Sara his wife.
    • Raguel gave Tobias half of his goods.
    • The half included slaves.
    • The half included livestock.
    • The half included money.
11. 10:11
    • Raguel blessed Tobias and Sara.
    • Raguel sent them away.
    • Raguel said the God of heaven would give them a prosperous journey.
    • Raguel called them his children.
12. 10:12
    • Raguel told his daughter to honour her father-in-law and her mother-in-law.
    • Raguel said her parents-in-law were now her parents.
    • Raguel said this was so that he might hear a good report of her.
    • Raguel kissed his daughter.
    • Edna spoke to Tobias.
    • Edna called Tobias her dear brother.
    • Edna asked that the Lord of heaven restore Tobias.
    • Edna asked to be granted sight of Tobias's children by her daughter Sara before she died.
    • Edna said this was so that she might rejoice before the Lord.
    • Edna said she committed her daughter to Tobias as a special trust.
    • Edna told Tobias not to treat Sara badly.

Words Worth Explaining

Every language note in this chapter, gathered. These explain what a word meant, never what it means for the reader.

10:1

Tobias had traveled from Nineveh to Media to collect money his father had left there years before. The trip had a known length, so Tobit could count off the days and see that his son was overdue.

10:2

Gabael was the relative in Media with whom Tobit had deposited his silver for safekeeping (Tobit 1:14; 4:20). Collecting it was the whole point of Tobias's journey, so if Gabael had died there would be no one who knew of the deposit or was obliged to hand it over.

10:3

In 1611 English, "sorry" meant full of sorrow. Tobit is not apologizing. He is deeply sad.

10:4

Wailing was formal, audible mourning, the public lament performed over someone who has died. By starting it, Anna is treating Tobias as already dead rather than merely late.

10:5

"The light of mine eyes" was an ordinary expression of deep affection for a child, especially an only child. Tobit, the boy's father, is himself blind.

10:6

"Hold thy peace" in 1611 English meant "say no more, be silent." It is not an appeal to stay calm or to keep the peace between them.

10:7

"Meat" in the King James means food of any kind, not flesh in particular: she ate nothing at all while it was light. A wedding feast normally ran seven days; Raguel had made Tobias swear to stay double that, fourteen (Tobit 8:20), which is why the parents' wait stretched so far past the expected date.

10:8

"Tarry" is an old word for stay or wait. Raguel is asking Tobias not to leave yet.

10:10

Raguel hands over half of everything he owns at once, as the marriage settlement; he had already promised that the other half would come to the couple when he and Edna died (Tobit 8:21). Sarah is his only child, so the whole estate passes through her. "Cattle" in the King James means livestock generally, not only cows.

10:11

"A prosperous journey" means a safe and successful one, a trip that goes well. It is not a wish for wealth.

10:12

"Honour thy father and thy mother in law" echoes the commandment to honor father and mother (Exodus 20:12), here transferred to the husband's parents, whom a bride joined on marriage. Edna calls Tobias "brother" as a term for a kinsman: the families are related, and in this book a husband and wife also address each other this way. "I commit my daughter unto thee of special trust" uses the vocabulary of a deposit left with someone for safekeeping, the same kind of arrangement as the money left with Gabael. "Entreat her evil" means treat her badly; "entreat" here carries its old sense "treat," not "beg." The words "where are" are a printing slip for "wherefore," that is, "therefore."