Tobit · Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Tobit 2 Brenton's Greek Septuagint
Notes on this text (1)
- Ezra and Nehemiah form one book (2 Esdras) in this edition; the reader shows them as Ezra 1–10 and Nehemiah 1–13.
1 Ὅτε δὲ κατῆλθον εἰς τὸν οἶκόν μου, καὶ ἀπεδόθη μοι Ἄννα ἡ γυνή μου, καὶ Τωβίας ὁ υἱός μου, ἐν τῇ πεντηκοστῇ ἑορτῇ, ἥν ἐστιν ἁγία ἑπτὰ ἑβδομάδων, ἐγενήθη ἄριστον καλόν μοι, καὶ ἀνέπεσα τοῦ φαγεῖν.
1 Now when I had come home again, and my wife Anna was restored to me, and my son Tobias, in the feast of Pentecost, which is the holy feast of the seven weeks, there was a good dinner prepared for me, and I sat down to eat.
2 Καὶ ἐθεασάμην ὄψα πολλά, καὶ εἶπα τῷ υἱῷ μου, βάδισον καὶ ἄγαγε ὃν ἂν εὕρῃς τῶν ἀδελφῶν ἡμῶν ἐνδεῆ, ὃς μέμνηται τοῦ Κυρίου, καὶ ἰδοὺ μένω σε.
2 I saw abundance of meat, and I said to my son, “Go and bring whatever poor man you find of our kindred, who is mindful of the Lord. Behold, I wait for you.”
3 Καὶ ἐλθὼν εἶπε, πάτερ, εἷς ἐκ τοῦ γένους ἡμῶν ἐστραγγαλωμένος ἔῤῥιπται ἐν τῇ ἀγορᾷ.
3 Then he came, and said, “Father, one of our race is strangled, and has been cast out in the marketplace.”
4 Κᾀγὼ πρινὴ γεύσασθαί με, ἀναπηδήσας ἀνειλόμην αὐτὸν εἴς τι οἴκημα ἕως οὗ ἔδυ ὁ ἥλιος.
4 Before I had tasted anything, I sprang up, and took him up into a chamber until the sun had set.
5 Καὶ ἐπιστρέψας ἐλουσάμην, καὶ ἤσθιον τὸν ἄρτον μου ἐν λύπῃ.
5 Then I returned, washed myself, ate my bread in heaviness,
6 Καὶ ἐμνήσθην τῆς προφητείας Ἀμὼς, καθὼς εἶπε, στραφήσονται αἱ ἑορταὶ ὑμῶν εἰς πένθος, καὶ πᾶσαι αἱ εὐφροσύναι ὑμῶν εἰς θρῆνον.
6 and remembered the prophecy of Amos, as he said, “Your feasts will be turned into mourning, and all your mirth into lamentation.
7 Καὶ ἔκλαυσα· καὶ ὅτε ἔδυ ὁ ἥλιος, ᾠχόμην, καὶ ὀρύξας ἔθαψα αὐτόν.
7 So I wept: and when the sun had set, I went and dug a grave, and buried him.
8 Καὶ οἱ πλησίον ἐπεγέλων, λέγοντες, οὐκ ἔτι φοβεῖται φονευθῆναι περὶ τοῦ πράγματος τούτου, καὶ ἀπέδρα, καὶ ἰδοὺ πάλιν θάπτει τοὺς νεκρούς.
8 My neighbors mocked me, and said, “He is no longer afraid to be put to death for this matter; and yet he fled away. Behold, he buries the dead again.”
9 Καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ νυκτὶ ἀνέλυσα θάψας, καὶ ἐκοιμήθην μεμιαμμένος παρὰ τὸν τοῖχον τῆς αὐλῆς, καὶ τὸ πρόσωπόν μου ἀκάλυπτον ἦν.
9 The same night I returned from burying him, and slept by the wall of my courtyard, being polluted; and my face was uncovered.
10 Καὶ οὐκ ᾔδειν ὅτι στρουθία ἐν τῷ τοίχῳ ἐστί· καὶ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν μου ἀνεῳγότων, ἀφώδευσαν τὰ στρουθία θερμὸν εἰς τοὺς ὀφθαλμούς μου, καὶ ἐγενήθη λευκώματα ἐν τοῖς ὀφθαλμοῖς μου, καὶ ἐπορεύθην πρὸς ἰατροὺς, καὶ οὐκ ὠφέλησάν με· Ἀχιάχαρος δὲ ἔτρεφέ με ἕως οὗ ἐπορεύθην εἰς τὴν Ἐλυμαΐδα.
10 I didn’t know that there were sparrows in the wall. My eyes were open and the sparrows dropped warm dung into my eyes, and white films came over my eyes. I went to the physicians, and they didn’t help me; but Achiacharus nourished me, until I went into Elymais.
11 Καὶ ἡ γυνή μου Ἄννα ἠριθεύετο ἐν τοῖς γυναικείοις, καὶ ἀπέστελλε τοῖς κυρίοις.
11 My wife Anna wove cloth in the women’s chambers,
12 Καὶ ἀπέδωκαν αὐτῇ καὶ αὐτοὶ τὸν μισθὸν, προσδόντες καὶ ἔριφον.
12 and sent the work back to the owners. They on their part paid her wages, and also gave her a kid.
13 Ὅτε δὲ ἦλθε πρὸς μέ, ἤρξατο κράζειν· καὶ εἶπα αὐτῇ, πόθεν τὸ ἐρίφιον; μὴ κλεψιμαῖόν ἐστίν; ἀπόδος αὐτὸ τοῖς κυρίοις· οὐ γὰρ θεμιτόν ἐστι φαγεῖν κλεψιμαῖον.
13 But when it came to my house, it began to cry, and I said to her, “Where did this kid come from? Is it stolen? Give it back to the owners; for it is not lawful to eat anything that is stolen.”
14 Ἡ δὲ εἶπε, δῶρον δέδοταί μοι ἐπὶ τῷ μισθῷ· καὶ οὐκ ἐπίστευον αὐτῇ· καὶ ἔλεγον ἀποδιδόναι αὐτὸ τοῖς κυρίοις, καὶ ἠρυθρίων πρὸς αὐτήν· ἡ δὲ ἀποκριθεῖσα εἶπέ μοι, ποῦ εἰσιν αἱ ἐλεημοσύναι σου, καὶ αἱ δικαιοσύναι σου; ἰδοὺ γνωστὰ πάντα μετὰ σοῦ.
14 But she said, “It has been given to me for a gift more than the wages.” I didn’t believe her, and I asked her to return it to the owners; and I was ashamed of her. But she answered and said to me, “Where are your alms and your righteous deeds? Behold, you and all your works are known.”
What the Fathers said
Passages from the Church Fathers that expound or quote this chapter, verbatim from the public-domain Schaff edition (19th-century English translations).
How these were chosen
“Commentary” is the opening of a homily or exposition on this chapter (John Chrysostom’s homilies, Augustine’s tractates, sermons and expositions of the Psalms). “Quotes” are sentences where the edition’s own footnotes identify a quotation of a verse here, kept only when the wording matches the verse. Only works whose authorship is not in doubt are used. Psalms follow the Hebrew/English numbering (Augustine numbers them as the Septuagint does: his Psalm 50 is Psalm 51 here).
… of theft; he did not like to hear the sound of any stolen thing in his house; and she, maintaining what she had done, reproached her husband; and when he said, "Restore it if it be stolen;" she answered insultingly, "Where are thy righteous deeds?" How great was her blindness who maintained the theft; and how clear a light he …
Read in context · Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers, series 1, vol. 6 (1888)