Synopsis of the Chapter
The mother of Tobias sighs for his return; Raguel sends Tobias away with his daughter Sarah, gives them half of his goods, and gives Sarah counsels to love her husband, honor her parents-in-law, and govern the household well.
Verse 4: Light of Our Eyes, Staff of Our Old Age ¶
4. Alas, alas for me, my son, why did we send you to travel, the light of our eyes? (For the father was blind, the mother's sight was failing from old age: therefore their son was for them like eyes, so that through him they could see, read, and do what needed to be seen, read, and done. She also calls him) The staff of our old age. (Thus Scipio was called at Rome, because he supported his elderly and dim-sighted father, like a staff, and led and guided him along the way.) And the consolation of our life; (for children console the old age of parents, and its miseries and sufferings.) And the hope of our posterity — for he was their only son, on whom the entire continuation of the family depended. For parents wish to leave children after them, so that they may as it were remain surviving in them, and live in the memory of men, as Sirach teaches, chapter XXX, 4 and following.
Verse 10: He Gave Him Sarah and Half of All His Property ¶
10. He gave him Sarah, and half of all his property in servants, etc. — The Hebrews add more fully: Raguel gave him Sarah his daughter, half of his riches, and male and female servants, and flocks, and cattle, and donkeys, and camels, and linen and precious garments, and vessels of silver and gold. The Greek has: He gave him bodies, cattle, and silver. Bodies, that is, slaves or servants, who, since they lack freedom, seem to be nothing but bodies, enslaved to their master's service. Thus Aristotle, Rhetoric I, Demosthenes, Philippic III, and Strabo, book I, call slaves somata, that is, bodies.
Verse 11: May the Holy Angel of the Lord Be on Your Journey ¶
11. May the holy Angel of the Lord be on your journey, and may he lead you unharmed. — Hence it is again clear that Gabelus and the ancient Hebrews believed that an Angel was assigned for guardianship, to guide them on the journey.
Verse 13: Admonishing Her to Honor Her Parents-in-Law ¶
13. Admonishing her to honor her parents-in-law — as parents; hence the Greek adds: Because they are now your parents. Raguel here gives his daughter Sarah counsels of virtue and salvation. The first is that she honor her parents-in-law, namely the elder Tobias and Anna; the second, that she love her husband, inasmuch as she has now become one flesh with him, and consequently one person, one heart, one soul, one will. This love enables a wife to overcome bravely her husband's temperament different from her own, his anger, vices, misfortunes, and any adversities, of which many occur in marriage. Hence St. Monica would advise wives that through marriage they should consider themselves the handmaids of their husbands, says St. Augustine, book IX of the Confessions, chapter IX. Third, that she govern the household, namely the children, male and female servants, so that all are kept in duty, harmony, peace, and mutual charity. Fourth, that she manage the home by remaining in it, not wandering here and there, preparing meals for everyone, procuring furnishings, provisions, clothing, and other necessities, as did that strong woman praised by Solomon, Proverbs XXXI. See what was said there. Fifth, that she show herself irreproachable, not only in conjugal fidelity and chastity, but also through restraint of the tongue, justice, prudence, and courtesy in dealing both with members of the household and with outsiders. St. Paul gives the same counsels to wives in his letter to Titus, chapter II, verses 4 and 5: "That they may love their husbands, love their children, be prudent, chaste, keepers of the home, kind, submissive to their husbands." See what was said there. St. Peter hands down similar precepts for spouses, epistle I, chapter III; indeed so do Plato, book VI of the Laws, Xenophon in the Economics, and Plutarch, On Marriage Precepts.
Finally, in the Greek, Edna (for so the text has instead of Anna), the mother of Sarah, thus addresses her son-in-law Tobias in farewell: May the Lord of heaven, beloved brother, restore you to your family, and grant me to see your children from my daughter Sarah, and to rejoice before the Lord. Behold, I entrust my daughter to you as a kind of deposit; do not cause her any distress. Then it adds: And Tobias himself after this set out, giving thanks to God that He had given him a prosperous journey, and he blessed Raguel and Edna his wife (that is, he prayed all good things for them) and continued on, until they approached Nineveh.