Tobit 6

How to read these pages: the text itself comes first, verse by verse, in the volume's own translation. Beneath each verse stands its Meaning — a rendering of what the passage's terms name in the inner life, drawn from the correspondences the text itself uses. The text is never altered; the meaning is offered, not imposed.

King James Version

1And as they went on their journey, they came in the evening to the river Tigris, and they lodged there.

And as they went on their journey, they came in the evening — the fading of the state — to the river Tigris — the rapid current of thought — and they lodged there: the first night of the journey beside the swift river of life.

2And when the young man went down to wash himself, a fish leaped out of the river, and would have devoured him.

And when the young man went down to wash himself, a fish leaped out of the river, and would have devoured him — a power of the deep rising against the traveller at the very moment of washing.

3Then the angel said unto him, Take the fish. And the young man laid hold of the fish, and drew it to land.

Then the angel said to him: Take the fish. And the young man laid hold of the fish, and drew it to land — the threatening power seized, not fled: what rose to devour is taken in hand.

4To whom the angel said, Open the fish, and take the heart and the liver and the gall, and put them up safely.

To whom the angel said: Open the fish, and take the heart and the liver and the gall, and put them up safely — the devourer opened, and its inward parts kept as medicine: nothing in the deep is wasted under guidance.

5So the young man did as the angel commanded him; and when they had roasted the fish, they did eat it: then they both went on their way, till they drew near to Ecbatane.

So the young man did as the angel commanded him; and when they had roasted the fish, they did eat it; then they both went on their way, till they drew near to Ecbatane — the rest of the power becoming nourishment, and the journey resumed.

6Then the young man said to the angel, Brother Azarias, to what use is the heart and the liver and the gal of the fish?

Then the young man said to the angel: Brother Azarias, to what use is the heart and the liver and the gall of the fish? — the traveller asking the meaning of what he carries: why is never left unasked on this road.

7And he said unto him, Touching the heart and the liver, if a devil or an evil spirit trouble any, we must make a smoke thereof before the man or the woman, and the party shall be no more vexed.

And he said to him: Touching the heart and the liver, if a devil or an evil spirit trouble any — the adversarial sense-state troubling a faculty — we must make a smoke of it before the man or the woman, and the party shall be no more vexed: the heart of the conquered deep-power, burned as incense, drives out the vexing state.

8As for the gall, it is good to anoint a man that hath whiteness in his eyes, and he shall be healed.

As for the gall, it is good to anoint a man who has whiteness in his eyes, and he shall be healed — the bitter part kept for the father's blinded sight: the cure carried unknowingly toward the sorrow at home.

9And when they were come near to Rages,

And when they were come near to Rages — the journey bending first aside, to the house where the other sorrow waits.

10The angel said to the young man, Brother, to day we shall lodge with Raguel, who is thy cousin; he also hath one only daughter, named Sara; I will speak for her, that she may be given thee for a wife.

The angel said to the young man: Brother, today we shall lodge with Raguel, who is your cousin; he also has one only daughter, named Sara; I will speak for her, that she may be given you for a wife — the guide announcing the marriage before the money, the healing of the house before the errand of the road.

11For to thee doth the right of her appertain, seeing thou only art of her kindred.

For to you does the right of her appertain, seeing you only are of her kindred — inheritance as belonging: the union already written in the order of the house.

12And the maid is fair and wise: now therefore hear me, and I will speak to her father; and when we return from Rages we will celebrate the marriage: for I know that Raguel cannot marry her to another according to the law of Moses, but he shall be guilty of death, because the right of inheritance doth rather appertain to thee than to any other.

And the maid is fair and wise: now therefore hear me, and I will speak to her father; and when we return from Rages we will celebrate the marriage; for I know that Raguel cannot marry her to another according to the law of Moses — Moses, the deliverer-lawgiver faculty — but he shall be guilty of death, because the right of inheritance appertains to you rather than to any other.

13Then the young man answered the angel, I have heard, brother Azarias that this maid hath been given to seven men, who all died in the marriage chamber.

Then the young man answered the angel: I have heard, brother Azarias, that this maid has been given to seven men, who all died in the marriage chamber — the report of the adversary's work reaching the traveller as fear.

14And now I am the only son of my father, and I am afraid, lest if I go in unto her, I die, as the other before: for a wicked spirit loveth her, which hurteth no body, but those which come unto her; wherefore I also fear lest I die, and bring my father’s and my mother’s life because of me to the grave with sorrow: for they have no other son to bury them.

And now I am the only son of my father, and I am afraid, lest if I go in unto her, I die, as the others before; for a wicked spirit loves her, which hurts nobody but those who come unto her; wherefore I also fear lest I die, and bring my father's and my mother's life because of me to the grave with sorrow; for they have no other son to bury them — fear reasoning honestly: love for the parents set against the call to the marriage.

15Then the angel said unto him, Dost thou not remember the precepts which thy father gave thee, that thou shouldest marry a wife of thine own kindred? wherefore hear me, O my brother; for she shall be given thee to wife; and make thou no reckoning of the evil spirit; for this same night shall she be given thee in marriage.

Then the angel said to him: Do you not remember the precepts which your father gave you, that you should marry a wife of your own kindred? Wherefore hear me, O my brother; for she shall be given you to wife; and make no reckoning of the evil spirit; for this same night shall she be given you in marriage — the father's counsel recalled as the answer to the son's fear; the adversary dismissed from the reckoning.

16And when thou shalt come into the marriage chamber, thou shalt take the ashes of perfume, and shalt lay upon them some of the heart and liver of the fish, and shalt make a smoke with it:

And when you shall come into the marriage chamber, you shall take the ashes of perfume, and shall lay upon them some of the heart and liver of the fish, and shall make a smoke with it — the conquered power's heart offered as incense at the threshold of the union.

17And the devil shall smell it, and flee away, and never come again any more: but when thou shalt come to her, rise up both of you, and pray to God which is merciful, who will have pity on you, and save you: fear not, for she is appointed unto thee from the beginning; and thou shalt preserve her, and she shall go with thee. Moreover I suppose that she shall bear thee children. Now when Tobias had heard these things, he loved her, and his heart was effectually joined to her.

And the devil — the adversarial sense-mind — shall smell it, and flee away, and never come again any more; but when you shall come to her, rise up both of you, and pray to the Divine Mind who is merciful, who will have pity on you, and save you: fear not, for she is appointed unto you from the beginning — the first principle, before anything took form; and you shall preserve her, and she shall go with you. Moreover I suppose that she shall bear you children. Now when Tobias had heard these things, he loved her, and his heart was effectually joined to her — love awakened by hearing: the heart joined before the eyes have seen.

Companion volume to The Why Bible — the King James Apocrypha, rendered in its spiritual meanings. First final edition, October 2026.