Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
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.
Vulgate Text: Tobias 10:1-13
1. When Tobias was delaying because of the wedding, his father Tobias was anxious, saying: Why do you think my son is delayed, or why is he detained there? 2. Do you think Gabelus has died, and no one will return the money to him? And he himself began to be exceedingly grieved, and his wife Anna with him: and they both began to weep together, because their son had not returned on the appointed day. 3. But their son had not returned to them. 4. Therefore his mother wept with inconsolable tears, and said: Alas, alas for me, my son, why did we send you to travel, the light of our eyes, the staff of our old age, the consolation of our life, the hope of our posterity? 5. Having all things together in you alone, we should not have let you go from us. 6. Tobias said to her: Be silent, and do not be troubled, our son is safe; that man with whom we sent him is faithful enough. 7. But she could in no way be consoled, but every day she would rush out and look around, and go about all the roads by which there seemed hope of return, so that she might see him coming from afar, if it were possible. 8. But Raguel said to his son-in-law: Stay here, and I will send a messenger about your welfare to your father Tobias. 9. Tobias said to him: I know that my father and mother are now counting the days, and their spirit is tormented within them. 10. And when Raguel with many words urged Tobias, and he would in no way agree to listen to him, he gave him Sarah, and half of all his property, in male servants, female servants, cattle, camels, cows, and much money, and dismissed him safe and joyful from himself, 11. saying: May the holy Angel of the Lord be on your journey, and may he lead you unharmed, and may you find all things well with your parents, and may my eyes see your children before I die. 12. And the parents, taking their daughter, kissed her, and let her go: 13. admonishing her to honor her parents-in-law, to love her husband, to govern the household, to manage the home, and to show herself irreproachable.
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.