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Verse 5
Theosis · English Bible
Tobit

Tobit 10

Old TestamentTheosis · English Bible

1Now Tobit his father counted every day: and when the days of the journey were expired, and they came not, 2then Tobit said, Are they detained? or is Gabael dead, and there is no man to give him the money? 3Therefore he was very sorry. 4Then his wife said unto him, My son is dead, seeing he stayeth long; and she began to bewail him, and said, 5Now I care for nothing, my son, since I have let thee go, the light of mine eyes. 6To whom Tobit said, Hold thy peace, take no care, for he is safe. 7But she said, Hold thy peace, and deceive me not; my son is dead. And she went out every day into the way which they went, and did eat no meat in the daytime, and ceased not whole nights to bewail her son Tobias, until the fourteen days of the wedding were expired, which Raguel had sworn that he should spend there. Then Tobias said to Raguel, 8Let me go, for my father and my mother look no more to see me. 9But his father in law said unto him, Tarry with me, and I will send to thy father, and they shall declare unto him how things go with thee. 10But Tobias said, No; but let me go to my father. 11Then Raguel arose, and gave him Sara his wife, and half his goods, servants, and cattle, and money: 12and he blessed them, and sent them away, saying, The God of heaven give you a prosperous journey, my children. 13And he said to his daughter, Honour thy father and thy mother in law, which are now thy parents, that I may hear good report of thee. And he kissed her. Edna also said to Tobias, The Lord of heaven restore thee, my dear brother, and grant that I may see thy children of my daughter Sara before I die, that I may rejoice before the Lord: behold, I commit my daughter unto thee, of special trust; wherefore do not entreat her evil.

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Tobit 10:5

Dimitri of Rostov

Dimitri of Rostov17th century

Once, Tobit sent his younger son, Tobiah, to the Midian city of Ragi to collect the silver he had lent to Gawael. When Tobiah did not return on the scheduled day, Tobit became deeply distressed. His wife, Anna, as recorded in Sacred Scripture, wept bitterly, lamenting, “Alas for me, my son, why did we send you on such a distant journey? O light of our eyes and support in our old age, the solace of our lives and the hope of our future! We had you alone for all things; we should not have let you go!” Finding no solace, she wandered daily, scanning every path for any sign of his return. The profound sorrow caused by the separation from her beloved son was tremendous, even if not endless. Such sorrow mirrors the pain experienced by lovers parted from one another, particularly through death. For death represents the severing of the soul from the body, as well as the separation from loved ones and all those with whom one shares a bond. Oh, the anguish that separations bring! The parting of the beloved from the lover, and especially by death, brings deep sorrow: the distance between friends, between siblings, and between parents and their children is always accompanied by tears. Should it be this way? Allow me to pose this question graciously and seek the answer for those in mourning within the Divine Scriptures, directly from our Savior. Tell us, O Savior, is it fitting to grieve profoundly when someone dear to us is parted from us through temporal death by Your design? Our Savior responds as He did to His grieving apostles: “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid” (John 14:27). “Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid,” O parents who lose your children in their youth! If you love them, take joy in the knowledge that by God's decree they are ascending from this troubled existence to the Father in heaven. If your parental love craves an unbreakable bond with them, it cannot be fulfilled here. Long for that eternal union where togetherness is possible forever, but on this earth—as long as God allows. You do not lose, nor do you obliterate the departed; rather, you entrust your child from exile to the Fatherland, from shackles to freedom, from earth to heaven, from death to life—a life that may the All-Merciful God grant him, and may you, after your long journey there, attain the same and live eternally with him, the angels, and all the saints, glorifying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever and unto ages of ages. Amen.