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Verse 7
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 10:7

Dimitri of Rostov

Dimitri of Rostov17th century

Once, Tobit dispatched his younger son Tobiah to the Midian city of Ragi in order to retrieve the silver loan from Gawael. When his son did not return by the expected time, he experienced deep sorrow, and Anna, his wife, as the Holy Scriptures reveal, wept inconsolably, exclaiming, “Alas for me, my son, why did we send you on a distant journey? O light of our eyes and the support of our old age, the solace of our lives and the hope of our inheritance! In you we had everything; we should never have let you go!” Finding no solace, she wandered daily, searching the paths in hopes of seeing him approach from afar. Such profound and abiding grief, even if not eternal, struck the loving mother due to the separation from her son. This same sorrow accompanies any parting of dear ones, particularly that caused by death. For death signifies nothing less than the severing of the soul from the body, from friends, and from all those with whom it shares communion. How much anguish does this mortal separation inflict on those who love! Indeed, the parting of the beloved from their lover, and most painfully, separation through death, brings immense sorrow: the distance between friends, siblings, and parents and their children is never void of tears and deep lamentation. But should it be so? I pose this inquiry with renewed grace, seeking the answer for those who mourn from the Holy Scriptures and from our Savior Himself. Our Savior, can we rightly grieve excessively when one whom we cherish, by Your decree, is parted from us by temporal death? Our Savior responds with the same comforting words given 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 experience the loss of a child at a tender age! If you truly love them, rejoice instead that by God’s will they are ascending from this sorrowful existence to the Father in heaven. If your parental love wishes for an unbroken bond with them, know that such a bond cannot exist in this life. Yearn for them where it is possible to remain united forever, yet on earth—only as long as God permits. You do not diminish or obliterate the deceased; rather, you return your child from exile to their homeland, from captivity to freedom, from earth to heaven, from death to life—may the All-Merciful God grant this to him, and may you, after your own prolonged journey here, come to dwell eternally with him, the angels, and all the saints, glorifying the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, now and forever, and unto the ages of ages. Amen.