Back in Nineveh, Tobit and Anna anxiously count the days of Tobias's absence. Anna weeps daily, convinced her son is dead. Meanwhile in Ecbatana, Tobias prepares to depart. Raguel gives him Sarah, servants, livestock, and half his wealth, with a fatherly charge to honor his new parents-in-law. The travelers set out for home.
This chapter is a study in parental anxiety and the pain of waiting. The cross-cutting between Nineveh (grief) and Ecbatana (joy) mirrors the structure of chapter 3. Anna's grief is raw and uncontrollable — she sits by the road watching for her son. The domestic realism of the farewell scenes (Raguel's practical instructions, Edna's tears) gives the narrative a novelistic quality unusual in biblical literature.
Jerome's Vulgate is compressed but preserves the emotional core. The passage of time is handled loosely — the narrative acknowledges delay without specifying exact duration. The tension between Tobit's faith ('God's angel accompanies him') and Anna's despair ('My son has perished') captures the human reality of faith under pressure.
Anna watching by the road echoes Sisera's mother at the window (Judg 5:28) — both mothers anxiously await a son, but with opposite outcomes. Raguel's farewell blessing connects to the patriarchal sendoffs in Genesis. The chapter's theme of parental grief anticipates the parable of the prodigal son (Luke 15).
Cum vero moras faceret Tobias causa nuptiarum, sollicitus erat pater eius Tobias dicens: Putas quare moratur filius meus, aut quare detentus est ibi?
While Tobias was delayed because of the wedding, his father Tobit was anxious, saying: 'Why do you think my son is delayed, or why is he detained there?
Putasne Gabelus mortuus est, et nemo reddet illi pecuniam?
Could it be that Gabael has died, and no one will return the money to him?'
Coepit autem contristari nimis ipse et Anna uxor eius cum eo; et coeperunt ambo simul flere, eo quod die statuto minime reverteretur filius eorum ad eos.
He himself began to grieve deeply, and Anna his wife with him, and they both began to weep together because their son had not returned to them on the appointed day.
Flebat igitur mater eius inremediabilibus lacrimis atque dicebat: Heu heu me, fili mi, ut quid te misimus peregrinari, lumen oculorum nostrorum, baculum senectutis nostrae, solatium vitae nostrae, spem posteritatis nostrae?
His mother wept with inconsolable tears and said: 'Alas, alas, my son! Why did we send you on this journey — you who are the light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the comfort of our life, the hope of our posterity?
Especially poignant given Tobit's literal blindness — Tobias is the light his father cannot see.
Omnia simul in te uno habentes, te non debuimus dimittere a nobis.
Having everything together in you alone, we should never have let you go from us.'
Cui dicebat Tobias: Tace et noli turbari; sanus est filius noster; satis fidelis est vir ille cum quo misimus eum.
Tobit said to her: 'Be quiet and do not be troubled. Our son is well. That man with whom we sent him is thoroughly trustworthy.'
Illa autem nullo modo consolari poterat sed cotidie exiliens circumspiciebat et circuibat vias omnes per quas spes remmeandi videbatur, ut procul videret eum, si fieri posset, venientem.
But she could not be consoled in any way. Every day she rushed out, looked all around, and walked along every road by which there seemed hope of return, so that she might see him coming from afar, if it were possible.
At vero Raguel dicebat ad generum suum: Mane hic, et ego mittam nuntium salutis de te ad Tobiam patrem tuum.
Meanwhile Raguel said to his son-in-law: 'Stay here, and I will send word of your well-being to your father Tobit.'
Cui Tobias ait: Ego novi quoniam pater meus et mater mea modo dies conputant, et cruciatur spiritus eorum in ipsis.
Tobias said to him: 'I know that my father and mother are counting the days right now, and their spirit is tormented within them.'
Cruciare — to torture, crucify. The waiting is experienced as a form of crucifixion of the spirit.
Cumque verbis multis rogaret Raguel Tobiam et ille eum nulla ratione vellet audire, tradidit ei Sarram et dimidiam partem omnis substantiae suae in pueris, in puellis, in ovibus, in capris, in bobus, in asinis, in camelis, in vestimentis et in pecunia, et salvum atque gaudentem dimisit eum a se
When Raguel had urged Tobias with many words and Tobias would not listen to him on any account, he gave him Sarah and half of all his property — in servants male and female, in sheep, goats, cattle, donkeys, camels, clothing, and money — and sent him away safe and rejoicing,
dicens: Angelus Domini sanctus sit in itinere vestro perducatque vos incolumes, et inveniatis omnia recte circa parentes vestros, et videant oculi mei filios vestros priusquam moriar.
saying: 'May the holy angel of the Lord be on your journey and lead you safely, and may you find everything well with your parents, and may my eyes see your children before I die.'
Et tenentes parentes filiam suam osculati sunt eam et dimiserunt ire,
Her parents embraced their daughter, kissed her, and let her go,
monentes eam honorare soceros, diligere maritum, regere familiam, gubernare domum et seipsam inreprehensibilem exhibere.
advising her to honor her parents-in-law, love her husband, manage the household, govern the home, and show herself beyond reproach.
The same standard Paul applies to bishops (1 Tim 3:2) — here applied to a wife entering a new household.