Tobit 9

Then Tobias called Raphael and said to him,

1Then Tobias called Raphael, and said unto him,

2"Brother Azarias, take a servant and two camels with you, and go to Rages in Media, to Gabael. Get the money for me and bring it back, and bring Gabael to the wedding feast.

2Brother Azarias, take with thee a servant, and two camels, and go to Rages of Media to Gabael, and bring me the money, and bring him to the wedding.

Note"Azarias" is the name Raphael gave when Tobias hired him as a traveling companion at the start of the journey; Tobias still has no idea who he really is. "Brother" here is a polite form of address between kinsmen, and the supposed Azarias had claimed to be a relative of the family. The money is the silver (ten talents, in Tobit 1:14) that Tobias's father Tobit had left on deposit with Gabael years earlier, before the family's fortunes collapsed. Media was the region east of Assyria, in what is now northwestern Iran; Rages and Ecbatana, where Tobias now is, were both cities in it, with Rages several days' travel further on. Camels are the pack animals for the load of silver, and a servant to help drive them.

3I ask this because Raguel has made me swear that I will not leave.

3For Raguel hath sworn that I shall not depart.

NoteRaguel is Sarah's father, and now Tobias's father-in-law. He had put Tobias under oath to stay for the full fourteen days of the wedding celebration, twice the customary seven. An oath was a binding legal and religious act, not a courtesy Tobias could quietly set aside, so he has to send someone else in his place.

4And my father is counting the days. If I stay away a long time, he will be deeply grieved."

4But my father counteth the days; and if I tarry long, he will be very sorry.

NoteTobias's parents are back in Nineveh, and his father is blind. Tobit had calculated how long the round trip should take, so every day past that count would be read at home as evidence that the journey had ended badly.

5So Raphael set out and stayed the night with Gabael, and gave him the written note. Gabael brought out the bags with their seals still on them and handed them over to him.

5So Raphael went out, and lodged with Gabael, and gave him the handwriting: who brought forth bags which were sealed up, and gave them to him.

NoteThe King James "handwriting" does not mean penmanship. It means a written bond: the document recording the deposit and proving who had the right to claim it back. Some ancient copies of Tobit say the document had been cut in two when the money was left, each man keeping half, so that the halves had to be matched before payment. The bags are sealed with stamped clay or wax bearing the owner's mark; intact seals showed the silver had not been touched since the day it was handed over.

6Early in the morning the two of them set out together and came to the wedding feast. And Tobias blessed his wife.

6And early in the morning they went forth both together, and came to the wedding: and Tobias blessed his wife.

Note"Both together" means Raphael and Gabael, who travel back to the wedding feast in Ecbatana. To bless someone here is to speak a set form of words over them, a formal spoken blessing rather than a compliment or a private good wish.