Ruth 2:16

2:16 Make sure you pull out ¹  ears of grain for her and drop them so she can gather them up. Don’t tell her not to!” ² 

Ruth 3:12

3:12 Now yes, it is true that ³  I am a guardian, ⁴  but there is another guardian who is a closer relative than I am.

[2:16]  ¹ tn The infinitive absolute precedes the finite verb for emphasis. Here שָׁלַל (shalal, “pull out”) is a homonym of the more common Hebrew verb meaning “to plunder.” An Arabic cognate is used of drawing a sword out of a scabbard (see BDB 1021 s.v.).

[2:16]  ² tn Heb “do not rebuke her” (so NASB, NRSV); CEV “don’t speak harshly to her”; NLT “don’t give her a hard time.”

[3:12]  ³ tc The sequence כִּי אָמְנָם כִּי אִם (ki ’omnam ki ’im; Kethib) occurs only here in the OT, as does the sequence כִּי אָמְנָם כִּי (Qere). It is likely that כִּי אִם is dittographic (note the preceding sequence כִּי אָמְנָם). The translation assumes that the original text was simply the otherwise unattested וְעַתָּה כִּי אָמְנָם, with אָמְנָם and כִּי both having an asseverative (or emphatic) function.

[3:12]  ⁴ tn Sometimes translated “redeemer” (also later in this verse). See the note on the phrase “guardian of the family interests” in v. 9.