The Word Am I

The Book of Tobit (Tobias)

Catholic Public Domain Version 2009

- Chapter 7 -

They are kindly entertained by Raguel. Tobias demands Sara to wife.

1
And so they went to Raguel, and Raguel received them with gladness.
2
And Raguel, gazing upon Tobias, said to Anna his wife, “How much like my cousin is this young man!”
3
And when he had spoken this, he said, “Which of our brethren are you from, young men?”(a)
4
But they said, “We are from the tribe of Naphtali, from the captivity of Nineveh.”
5
And Raguel said to them, “Do you know my brother Tobit?” They said to him, “We know him.”
6
And since he was saying many good things about him, the Angel said to Raguel, “The Tobit about whom you inquire is the father of this young man.”
7
And Raguel threw himself towards him and kissed him with tears and weeping upon his neck, saying, “May a blessing be upon you, my son, because you are the son of a good and most noble man.”
8
And his wife Anna, and their daughter Sarah, were weeping.
9
And so, after they had spoken, Raguel instructed a sheep to be killed, and a feast to be prepared. And when he exhorted them to recline for dinner,
10
Tobias said, “Here, today, I will not eat or drink, unless you first confirm my petition, and promise to give Sarah your daughter to me.”
11
When Raguel heard this word, he became afraid, knowing what had befallen those seven men, who had approached her. And he began to fear, lest it might happen to him also in the same way. And, since he wavered and gave no further response to the petition,
12
the Angel said to him: “Do not be afraid to give her to this one, because this one fears God. He is obliged to be joined to your daughter. Because of this, no other one could have her.”(b)
13
Then Raguel said: “I do not doubt that God has admitted my prayers and tears before his sight.
14
And I believe, therefore, that he has caused you to come to me, so that this one might be joined in marriage to one of her own kindred, according to the law of Moses. And now, do not continue to doubt that I will give her to you.”
15
And taking the right hand of his daughter, he gave it into the right hand of Tobias, saying, “May the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you. And may he join you together in marriage and fulfill his blessing in you.”
16
And taking paper, they made a written record of the marriage.
17
And after this, they feasted, blessing God.
18
And Raguel called his wife Anna to him, and he instructed her to prepare another bedroom.
19
And she brought her daughter Sarah into it, and she was weeping.
20
And she said to her, “Be steadfast in spirit, my daughter. May the Lord of heaven give you gladness in place of the grief that you have had to endure.”

Footnotes

(a)7:3 In formal English, we should say, “From which of our brethren are you, young men?” But this text is dialogue and people don’t really talk that way in English. So the preposition ‘from’ is left dangling: “Which of our brethren are you from, young men?” The same thing can be said for the common expression ‘Where are you from?’(Conte)
(b)7:12 Tobias was obliged to marry Sarah by Jewish law and custom, since he was the closest living, non-married, male relative (not of her immediate family) of marrying age to Sarah. Compare the similar situation in the Book of Ruth.(Conte)