Tobit 7:11-13
New Catholic Bible
Raguel said to him, “I will do so. She is yours, in accordance with what is prescribed in the Book of Moses, and heaven itself decrees that she be given to you. Take your kinswoman; from now on you belong to her and she belongs to you. She is given to you from today forever. May the Lord of heaven look upon you favorably tonight, my child, and grant you mercy and peace.”
12 Then Raguel summoned his daughter Sarah, and when she came to him, he took her by the hand[a] and gave her to Tobiah with these words: “Take her as your wife in accordance with the law and the decree written in the Book of Moses. Take her and bring her safe and sound to your father. And may the God of heaven bless both of you with peace and prosperity.” 13 Then, after summoning her mother and instructing her to bring him a scroll, he drew up and affixed his seal to a marriage contract[b] stating that he gave Sarah to Tobiah as his wife according to the decree of the law of Moses.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Tobit 7:12 Took her by the hand: the Vulgate stipulates that the father should place the hand of his daughter in the hand of her spouse. This gesture is unknown to the Bible; used in the marriage ceremonies of Greeks and Romans, it has passed into the Christian rite. God of heaven: an expression of late post-Exilic times that intends to stress the sublime character and the power of God (see Dan 2:18-19, 37, etc.). And . . . prosperity: the Vulgate (Tob 7:15) gives a fuller blessing whose words have been included in the Nuptial Blessing in the marriage rite: “May the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob be with you; may he join you together and fulfill his blessing in you.”
- Tobit 7:13 Marriage contract: the Mosaic Law did not contemplate marriage certificates, but they were introduced by custom; examples of them are found in the fifth century B.C. among the Aramaic papyri of Elephantine.
