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Septuagint · Tobit §10.1-10.12

Parents' Grief and the Departure of Tobias with Sarah

Passage 10 of 14 · Greek

Summary

While Tobit and his wife worry and mourn over Tobias's delayed return, Tobias strongly requests to depart as soon as the wedding period ends, and is sent away by Raguel with half his property and Sarah.

§10.1Καὶ Τωβεὶτ ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ ἐλογίσατο ἑκάστης ἡμέρας· καὶ ὡς ἐπληρώθησαν αἱ ἡμέραι τῆς πορείας καὶ οὐκ ἤρχετο, §10.2εἶπεν Μή ποτε κατήσχυνται; (²)ἢ μή ποτε ἀπέθανεν Γαβαήλ, καὶ οὐδεὶς δίδωσιν αὐτῷ τὸ ἀργύριον; §10.3καὶ ἐλυπεῖτο λίαν.
Now Tobit his father was counting each day; and when the days of the journey were completed and he did not come, he said, "Is it possible that they have been disappointed? (²) Or is it possible that Gabael is dead, and no one is giving him the money?" And he was grieved exceedingly.
§10.4εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ἡ γυνή Ἀπώλετο τὸ παιδίον, διότι κεχρόνικεν· καὶ ἤρξατο θρηνεῖν αὐτὸν καὶ εἶπεν §10.5Οὐ μέλει μοι, τέκνον, ὅτι ἀφῆκά σε τὸ φῶς τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου; §10.6καὶ Τωβεὶτ λέγει αὐτῇ Σίγα, μὴ λόγον ἔχε, ὑγιαίνει. §10.7καὶ εἶπεν αὐτῷ Σίγα, μὴ πλάνα με· ἀπώλετο τὸ παιδίον μου. καὶ ἐπορεύετο καθʼ ἡμέραν εἰς τὴν ὁδὸν ἔξω οἴας ἀπῆλθεν, ἡμέρας τε ἄρτον οὐκ ἤσθιεν, τὰς δὲ νύκτας οὐ διελίμπανεν θρηνοῦσα Γωβείαν τὸν υἱὸν αὐτῆς, ἕως οὗ συνετελέσθησαν αἱ δέκα τέσσαρες ἡμέραι τοῦ γάμου ἃς ὤμοσεν Ῥαγουὴλ ποιῆσαι αὐτὸν ἐκεῖ.
But his wife said to him, "The child is perished, because he has delayed long." And she began to bewail him and said, "Woe is me, my child, that I let you go, the light of my eyes!" And Tobit said to her, "Be silent, do not worry; he is well." But she said to him, "Be silent, do not deceive me; my child is perished." And she went out every day into the way by which he had departed, and ate no bread during the day, and at night she did not cease mourning for her son Tobias, until the fourteen days of the wedding were completed which Raguel had sworn he should spend there.
Εἶπεν δὲ Γωβείας τῷ Ῥαγουήλ Ἐξαπόστειλόν με, ὅτι ὁ πατήρ μου καὶ ἡ μήτηρ μου οὐκέτι ἐλπίζουσιν ὄψεσθαί με. §10.8εἶπεν δὲ αὐτῷ ὁ πενθερός Μεῖνον παρʼ ἐμοί, κἀγὼ ἐξαποστελῶ πρὸς τὸν πατέρα σου καὶ δηλώσουσιν αὐτῷ τὰ κατὰ σέ. §10.9καὶ Γωβείας λέγει Ἐξαπόστειλόν με πρὸς τὸν πατέρα μου. §10.10ἀναστὰς δὲ Ῥαγουὴλ ἔδωκεν αὐτῷ Σάρραν τὴν γυναῖκα αὐτοῦ καὶ τὰ ἥμισυ τῶν ὑπαρχόντων, σώματα καὶ κτήνη, ἀργύριον· §10.11καὶ εὐλογήσας αὐτοὺς ἐξαπέστειλεν λέγων Εὐοδώσει ὑμᾶς, τέκνα, ὁ θεὸς τοῦ οὐρανοῦ πρὸ τοῦ μὲ ἀποθανεῖν. §10.12καὶ εἶπεν τῇ θυγατρὶ αὐτοῦ Τίμα τοὺς πενθερούς σου, αὐτοὶ νῦν γονεῖς σού εἰσιν· ἀκούσαιμί σου ἀκοὴν καλήν. καὶ ἐφίλησεν αὐτήν.
Then Tobias said to Raguel, "Send me away, for my father and my mother have no longer any hope of seeing me." And his father-in-law said to him, "Abide with me, and I will send to your father, and they shall declare to him how things go with you." But Tobias said, "Send me away to my father." And Raguel arose, and gave him Sarah his wife, and half his goods, servants and cattle, and money; and he blessed them and sent them away, saying, "The God of heaven give you a prosperous journey, my children, before I die." And he said to his daughter, "Honor your father-in-law and your mother-in-law, for they are now your parents; let me hear a good report of you." And he kissed her.
καὶ Ἔδνα εἶπεν πρὸς Τωβείαν Ἀδελφὲ ἀγαπητέ, ἀποκαταστήσει σε ὁ κύριος τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, καὶ δῴη μοι ἰδεῖν σου παιδία ἐκ Σάρρας τῆς θυγατρός μου, ἵνα εὐφρανθῶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ κυρίου·
Edna also said to Tobias, "Dear brother, the Lord of heaven restore you, and grant that I may see your children by my daughter Sarah, so that I may rejoice before the Lord.
καὶ ἰδοὺ παρατίθεμαί σοι τὴν θυγατέρα μου ἐν παρακαταθήκῃ, μὴ λυπήσῃς αὐτήν.
And behold, I commit my daughter to you in trust; do not grieve her."

Notes

  1. 10.2Μή ποτε κατήσχυνται; — The particle μή ποτε introduces a question expressing apprehension or doubt ("Is it possible that...?"). The verb κατήσχυνται is the perfect passive third-person plural of καταισχύνω ("to put to shame, disappoint"), here indicating the father's fear that the travelers have been disappointed or frustrated in their mission. The textual variant κατεσχέθησαν ("were detained") points to a similar situation.
  2. 10.5Οὐ μέλει μοι — An impersonal construction of μέλει with the negative οὐ. Although literally meaning "it is not a matter of indifference to me" (i.e., "it matters greatly to me"), here it functions as an exclamatory expression of grief ("Woe is me"). The ὅτι clause explains the cause of her lament ("that I let you go").
  3. 10.7οἴας ἀπῆλθεν — The genitive feminine singular οἵας of the relative pronoun οἷος ("of what kind, such as"). It has undergone case attraction (attraction) to the preceding noun ὁδόν (though ὁδόν is accusative, the path of departure implies a genitive direction or is influenced by the surrounding syntax). It means "the way by which he had departed."

Cite this passage

Septuagint, Tobit §10.1-10.12. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0527.tlg021.humanitext-grc1:10.1-10.12

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