Chapter 7
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.
1When he entered Ecbatana, Azariah said to him, “Brother, take me straight to Raguel our kinsman.” He led him to Raguel’s house. They found him sitting by the courtyard gate. They greeted him first. He said to them, “Joy to you, brothers, a great deal of it. You have come well and in good health.” And he brought them into his house.
2He said to Edna his wife, “How much this young man looks like Tobias, my kinsman.”
3Edna asked them, “Where are you from, brothers?” They said to her, “We are from the sons of Naphtali, the captives in Nineveh.”
4She said to them, “Do you know Tobit our kinsman?” They said to her, “We know him.”
5She said to them, “Is he well?” They said to her, “He is well, and he is alive.” Tobias said, “He is my father.”
6Raguel jumped up, kissed him, and wept. He said to him, “Blessing on you, child of a good and noble father. What miserable evils, that a just man who gives gifts of mercy has gone blind.” He fell on the neck of Tobias his kinsman and wept.
7Edna his wife wept for him, and Sarah their daughter wept too.
Notes (1)Hide notes
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An Aramaic copy, 4Q197, has a broken line around this welcome in which Raguel calls the father a just man. The Greek of verse 6 already says that. This verse in Sinaiticus is the weeping. The Aramaic does not add a new sentence clear enough to print on its own.
8He slaughtered a ram from the flock and received them eagerly.
9When they had washed and bathed and reclined to eat, Tobias said to Raphael, “Azariah, brother, tell Raguel to give me Sarah my kinswoman.”
10Raguel heard the request and said to the boy, “Eat, drink, and be glad tonight. There is no man who has the right to take Sarah my daughter except you, brother. I have no authority to give her to any other man but you, because you are my nearest kin. And I will tell you the truth plainly, child.
11I gave her to seven husbands from our kindred, and all of them died on the night they went in to her. Now, child, eat and drink, and the Lord will act for you.”
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The number seven is damaged in the Greek of this verse. Chapter 3 and chapter 6 both say seven, so seven is printed. The damaged letters are not given a different number.
12Tobias said, “I will not eat and I will not drink until you settle what concerns me.” Raguel said to him, “I am doing it. She is given to you according to the ruling in the book of Moses, and from heaven it has been decided that she be given to you. Take your kinswoman from now on. You are her brother and she is your sister. She is given to you from today, forever. May the Lord of heaven make your way good tonight, child, and act toward you with mercy and peace.”
13Raguel called Sarah his daughter. She came to him. He took her hand and gave her to him and said, “Take her according to the law and according to the ruling written in the book of Moses, to give her to you as wife. Take her and lead her to your father in good health. May the God of heaven prosper you both with peace.”
14He called her mother and said to bring a scroll. He wrote a contract, a marriage agreement, that he was giving her to him as wife according to the ruling of the law of Moses. From that moment they began to eat and drink.
15Raguel called Edna his wife and said to her, “Sister, prepare the other room and take her in there.”
16She went and spread the bed in the room, as he had told her, and she took her there. She wept for her, wiped the tears, and said to her,
17“Take heart, daughter. May the Lord of heaven give you joy in place of your grief. Take heart, daughter.” And she went out.