Chapter IX

Raphael's journey to Ragi 1–4. Tobias' request to Raphael Azariah to go to the Ragas of the Medes for the debt of Gibael. 5–6. Raphael fulfills the request and brings Gibael himself to the wedding celebration of Tobias and Sarah. 1. And he called Tobias Raphael and said to him, 2. Brother Azariah, take with you a servant and two camels, and go down to the Ragas of the Medes to Gabael; bring me the silver and bring him to me for marriage;

2. Camels were required by Azariah-Raphael, as in view of the impending transportation of money from Gabael, 10 talents of silver (I:14; IV:20) weighed no less than 25 poods, and for the passage of Azariah himself, Gabael and Raguel's slaves.

3. for Raguel has bound me by an oath that I should not depart; 4. Meanwhile, my father is counting the days, and if I tarry too long, he will grieve greatly. 5. And Raphael went and stayed with Gabael and gave him the receipt; and he brought the bags behind the seals and handed them to him.

5. Money was kept, sealed in sacks; the latter were laid on camels.

6. And early in the morning they arose together and came to the wedding. And Tobias blessed his wife.

6. Accepted Greek text: καί ευλύγησεν Ταβείας γυναίκα αυτού, Slav.: And bless Tobias' wife (as well as the Russian synod) gives an inconvenient thought that is at variance with the context of the speech. In Sinaisk. code. and other texts, on the contrary, not Tobias, but Gabael (upon his arrival at Raguel's house for the wedding celebration) blessed God and invoked God's blessing on Tobias and his wife. In the Vulgate (vv. 9-11) the very text of the blessing given to the newlyweds by Gibael is given.

Chapter X

1–7. The sorrow of Tobit and his wife for Tobias. 8–14. Raguel and Edna, at the insistent request of Tobias, let the latter and his wife go and bid them farewell with blessings and good wishes. 1. Tobit his father counted every day. And when the days of the journey were fulfilled, and he did not come, 2. Tobit said, "Have they not been detained?" or have not Gabael died, and there is no one to give them the silver? 3. And he was very sad. 4. And his wife said to him, "Our son is dead, therefore he does not come." And she began to weep for him and said: 5. Nothing occupies me, my son, because I have let you go, the light of my eyes! 6. Tobit said to her, "Be silent, do not be alarmed, he is well." 7. And she said to him, "Be silent, do not deceive me; My offspring perished. "And every day she went out of town to the road along which they went; by day she ate no bread, and by night she did not cease to weep for her son Tobias, until the fourteen days of the wedding feast which Raguel had sworn him to spend there were finished. Then Tobias said to Raguel, Let me go, for my father and mother have no hope of seeing me any more.

1–7. In v. 2, according to the accepted Greek text, there is an inappropriate word κατάσχονται, Slavic: shame the essence; here is an obvious mistake, which can be easily corrected from other texts: to Sinaisk. code. LXX stands κατεσξέθη, in Vet. Lat. and Vulg.: detentus est, detained, i.e., according to the assumption of Tobit, his son could have been detained by some difficulty in obtaining money from Gabael.

In the same way, in v. 5, in the accepted Greek text, there is a completely inappropriate expression: ού μέλει μοί, Slavonic: I have no care. The correct reading is again available in Sinaisk. cf. ουαί μοι, and in Vet. Lat: vale mini, or in Vulg.: Неу heu me.

8. And his father-in-law said to him, "Stay with me; I will send to your father, and they will tell him about you. 9. And Tobias said, "No, let me go to my father." 10. And Raguel arose and gave him Sarah his wife, and half of his possessions, and his servants and cattle, and the silver, 11. And when he had blessed them, he sent them away, saying, "Children! may the God of heaven be pleased with you before I die. 12. Then he said to his daughter, "Honor your father-in-law and mother-in-law; now they are thy parents; I wish to hear a good rumor about you. And he kissed her. And Edna said to Tobias, "Beloved brother, may the Lord of heaven raise you up, and grant me to see the children of Sarah my daughter, that I may rejoice in the Lord." And behold, I give thee my daughter for safekeeping; do not grieve her. 13. After that, Tobias went out, blessing God for making his way well, and he blessed Raguel and Edna his wife. And they went on their way, and they came near to Nineveh.

8–13. In the accepted Greek text, as well as in the Slavic-Russian. Translation, in v. 11 there is an omission of the words in other Greek lists: καί ίδοιμι υμώνπαιδία — that I may see your children, — as a result of which there is a strange idea that Raguel asked God to be blessed only until his death.

Overall, the blessing given by Raguel and Edna to their daughter Sarah and son-in-law Tobias (vv. 11-13) is the finest example of parental blessing to newlyweds in the Old Testament. It is not in vain that the marriage of Tobias was and is considered by the Jews to be a perfect image of a holy and pious marriage, which is why it is considered a rule among the Jews to imitate the marriage celebration of Tobias in the arrangement of marriage. The sublime biblical view of marriage as a well-established monogamous union of man and woman (Genesis II-III chapters) in the book of Tobit is carried out and realized in the very lives of the pious Tobit and Tobias.