[B-Greek] Tobit 5:5

Susan Jeffers susan at read-the-bible.org
Wed Apr 9 09:20:57 EDT 2003


Greetings B-Greekers!

I'm teaching an online Introduction to Biblical Studies course using the 
NRSV with Apocrypha, and, for the first time, I'm having my students read 
some of the Apocryphal/Deuterocanonical books. Someone asked a question 
about Tobit 5:5, the part that the NRSV renders "and I have come here to 
work" -- this student is a Spanish speaker and points out that the Spanish 
(Jerusalem Bible I assume) says "ando en busca de trabajo" and commented 
about it.

So of course I wanted to check the Greek, and was surprised to find that 
neither my print LXX (Ralhfs) nor any of the Greek editions in BibleWorks 5 
have this part of the verse.  In fact, scanning through the first 10 verses 
of chapter 5, the NRSV is considerably longer than any of the Greek texts I 
have available.  I assume this is because, as the introduction to Tobit in 
the NRSV Study Bible (Oxford) points out, the NRSV translation is based on 
the Greek text of Codex Siniaticus.

So here are my questions:

(1) can anyone point me to an online text for Siniaticus for Tobit, so I 
can see what the NRSV is translating?

(2) failing that, can anyone tell me the Greek of Siniaticus for Tobit 5:5, 
"and I have come here to work"  -- or even the whole verse?

(3) can anyone offer an explanation for "why Siniaticus"?  From this 
limited sample it appears the RSV is following Ralfs et al.

(4) if anyone else uses the NRSV for teaching the Apocrypha and knows of 
other things (pitfalls?) I should be aware of, please EMail me offline.

Thanks for all your help!  I feel so blessed to be living at a time when 
those who want to study the Bible in Greek can so readily be in 
communication with one another, and so blessed by your assistance!

Susan Jeffers

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EMail: susan at read-the-bible.org
Peace Church Bible Study Home Page: www.read-the-bible.org



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