Drafted by Grok 4.7 on 8 October 2026. First draft. Not independently reviewed. Aramaic and Hebrew where a Qumran copy can be read (4Q196–4Q200), and otherwise the longer Greek of Codex Sinaiticus. The shorter Greek in Swete is not the base. Gaps in Sinaiticus are not filled from a later edition.
1Every day Tobit counted the days, how many the journey would take and how many the return. When the days were finished and his son was not there,
2he said, “Perhaps he has been held up there. Or perhaps Gabael is dead, and no one is giving him the silver.”
4Anna his wife said, “My child is lost. He is no longer among the living.” She began to weep and wail over her son, and she said,
5“Oh, my child, that I let you go, the light of my eyes.”
6Tobit kept saying to her, “Quiet. Don’t make a case of it, sister. He is well. Something there has delayed them. The man who went with him is trustworthy, one of our own kindred. Don’t grieve over him, sister. He will be here soon.”
7She said to him, “Leave me alone, and don’t try to distract me. My child is lost.” She ran out and kept watching the road her son had taken, every day, and she would not listen to anyone. When the sun set she came in, wailed, and wept the whole night, and she got no sleep.
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Sinaiticus repeats the word for “quiet” or “be silent” at the start of her reply, carried over from Tobit’s line. Her reply itself is “leave me alone.” The repeated hush is not printed as her speech.
8When the fourteen days of the wedding that Reuel had sworn to make for Sarah his daughter were finished, Tobiah came to him and said, “Send me. I already know that my father does not believe it, and my mother does not believe that she will see me again. Now I ask you, my father, send me, and I will go to my father. I have already told you how I left them.”
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This verse follows the Hebrew of 4Q200 fragment 4, which is earlier than the Greek. The fragment reads the fourteen days, Reuel, Sarah, the request to be sent, the father who does not believe, the mother who does not believe she will see him, and “how I left them.” One letter in “fourteen” and a few words at the edges are damaged or filled by editors. Those edges are not expanded past what the Greek of the same scene also supports. Sinaiticus says “they will see me” and “how I left him,” and it spells the father-in-law Raguel. The Hebrew “she will see me” and “I left them” are printed. The Hebrew name Reuel is printed here. Elsewhere, where the Greek is the base, he is Raguel.
9Reuel said to Tobiah, “My son, stay with me, and I will send messengers to Tobi your father.” Tobiah said to him, “No. I ask you, send me from here to my father.”
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The Hebrew of 4Q200 fragment 4 is readable through “stay with me, and I will send messengers to Tobi your father.” The rest of the fragment on this line is broken. Tobiah’s refusal is the Greek of Sinaiticus, which continues the scene. “Tobi” is the Hebrew form of the father’s name. The Greek of the refusal says “my father” and does not repeat the name.
10Raguel got up and handed over to Tobias his wife Sarah, and half of everything he had: male and female servants, oxen and sheep, donkeys and camels, clothing, silver, and goods.
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From here the Hebrew fragment is no longer continuous, so the wording returns to Sinaiticus, including the Greek form Raguel.
11He sent them off in good health. He embraced him and said, “Stay well, child. Go in good health. May the Lord of heaven prosper you and Sarah your wife, and may I see children of yours before I die.”
12He said to Sarah his daughter, and he sent them off.
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Sinaiticus gives him a speech to Sarah and then says he sent them off, without writing the words of that speech. The missing words are not invented. Edna’s speech is the next verse.
13Edna said to Tobias, “Child, and dear brother, may the Lord bring you back, and may I see children of yours and of Sarah my daughter while I am alive, before I die. I place my daughter with you as a deposit, before the Lord. Do not grieve her all the days of your life. Child, go in peace. From now on I am your mother and Sarah is your sister. May we all prosper together all the days of our life.” She kissed them both and sent them off in good health.
14Tobias left Raguel in good health, glad, and blessing the Lord of heaven and earth, the king of all, because he had made his journey go well. Raguel said to him, “May it go well with you as you honor them all the days of their life.”