Most modern translations begin a new paragraph with verse 17, as Good News Translation does, but some have a new paragraph begin with verse 18 (see Jerusalem Bible). It is even possible to divide verse 18 and to take the first part as constituting a conclusion to the previous section. A new paragraph would then begin after the first clause took … back into town (see Moffatt). If this is done, it will be important to introduce the following clause with “Then Ruth showed to her mother-in-law how much she had gathered.” A break in the structure at this point obviously requires a more specific indication of who does what, and proper nouns must be used in place of pronouns, even as in some of the ancient versions. So Septuagint.
Showed her mother-in-law how much she had gathered is the reading of the Hebrew text in a few manuscripts, but all other manuscripts have “her mother-in-law saw what she had gleaned.” The reading found in TEV is attested by two Hebrew manuscripts, according to C. H. H. Wright, The Book of Ruth in Hebrew with a Critically Revised Text, 1864, ad loc. Moreover, this reading is followed by the Syriac and Vulgate versions. The difference in the two readings involves merely a different way in which the vowels of the Hebrew verb are understood. Although the majority reading is no doubt more original, So Barthélemy, page 133. it is better to follow in this instance the text employed in Good News Translation, since this produces a far smoother sequence of events. It avoids the suggestion that after Ruth took the grain back into the town, her mother-in-law discovered how much she had gleaned, with the implication that Ruth did not tell her exactly what she had done.
She also gave her the food renders what is literally in Hebrew: “she brought out and gave her.” “Brought out” does not indicate the place from which she took the food. The term “cupboard” has been suggested, So Brown-Driver-Briggs, s.v. yatsaʾ (“food from one’s cupboard”). but there is no indication whatsoever as to what place is involved. It would be possible to translate the clause simply as “she also showed her mother-in-law the food that was left over from the meal.” So rightly Dhorme and BJ.
The last clause of the Hebrew text of verse 18 is literally “gave her what food she had left over after being satisfied.” This is a reference to what has already been stated in verse 14. A literal rendering of the Hebrew text may, however, lead to misunderstanding, since it could imply in some languages that Ruth was inconsiderate of Naomi and therefore had only reserved for Naomi what she did not want. It is better, therefore, to translate as “gave her the remainder of the food,” “gave her what she had left over from lunch” (New American Bible), or “gave her what she had saved from her meal” (New English Bible). New English Bible employs a very useful device of placing the modifying clause concerning the food earlier in the verse and stating in the last clause merely “gave it to her.”
Quoted with permission from de Waard, Jan and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on Ruth. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1978, 1992. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .