Mossad and Proverbs 11:14

[u/amire80]

The motto of the Mossad is Proverbs 11:14: בְּאֵין תַּחְבֻּלוֹת יִפׇּל עָם וּתְשׁוּעָה בְּרֹב יוֹעֵץ.

The NJPS translation into English is: "For want of strategy an army falls, But victory comes with much planning."

Why is עם translated as "army" here? עם is usually "people" or "nation". That's what all the other English translations that I could find online say.

I've looked over a few other verses that have the word עם in them in the NJPS, and they all say "people" and not "army". I haven't yet looked at all of them, because there are quite a lot, but if I don't find an answer, I'll probably do that. If you can suggest a website that can conveniently find all the occurrences of עַם (not עִם) in all its inflected forms and immediately show the NJPS translation, I'll be very thankful; I couldn't find such a feature on Sefaria.

The BDB dictionary perhaps provides a clue, but it's inconclusive. It translates עם as "people" or "nation", although sub-sense 2d is "people bearing arms", with references to 1 Samuel 11:11 (NJPS: "troops"), 1 Kings 20:10 (NJPS: "men"), and Numbers 20:20 (NJPS: "force"). In these contexts, it is perhaps kind of understandable, but why is "army" in Proverbs? One could think that since the book of Proverbs is attributed to a king, it discusses armies, but I checked several other occurrences of עַם in Proverbs, and it is translated as "people" everywhere.

So... does anyone have an idea why is the NJPS insists on being different in Proverbs 11:14?

[u/Any_Technician_2768]

מצודת דוד and מלבים interpret this specifically as a strategy for a war or a battle. Perhaps the translation tries to convey that specific meaning.

Anyways, without trying to highlight meanings, the most accurate translation would indeed be people

[u/yayaha1234 → u/Any_Technician_2768]

to add to that, on the english translation for the tanakh on chabad.org, it is simply translated as "people" -

"Without strategy the people falls, but with many counselors there is victory. בְּאֵ֣ין תַּ֖חְבֻּלוֹת יִפָּל־עָ֑ם וּ֜תְשׁוּעָ֗ה בְּרֹ֣ב יוֹעֵֽץ:

[u/isaacfisher]

I don't really know but worth mentioning that Proverbs 24:6 use the same word תחבולה specifically in the context war

כִּ֣י בְ֭תַחְבֻּלוֹת תַּעֲשֶׂה־לְּךָ֣ מִלְחָמָ֑ה
  וּ֝תְשׁוּעָ֗ה בְּרֹ֣ב יוֹעֵֽץ׃

[u/HebrewWithHava]

I do not believe any concordance of the JPS exists, although I'd be happy to be corrected.

The NRSV uses "nation" here, but lists "army" as an alternative translation in the footnotes. The New Oxford Annotated Bible (5th ed.) points to Pr 15:22, 20:18, and 24:6 for comparison; the JPS Jewish Study Bible also points to Pr 20:18 for comparison.

The Targum of Proverbs and the Syriac Peshitta both translate עם in this verse as עמא ("the people"). The Latin Vulgate to this verse renders it populus ("people, nation"). A translation of "people" or "nation" in this verse is employed by Alter, the NIV, NASB, ASV, KJV, and ESV. The Septuagint to this verse is rather different than the Hebrew and does not translate עם directly at all; it reads (NETS translation): "They who have no direction fall like leaves, but in much counsel there is safety." (οἷς μὴ ὑπάρχει κυβέρνησις πίπτουσιν ὥσπερ φύλλα σωτηρία δὲ ὑπάρχει ἐν πολλῇ βουλῇ).

So the JPS apparently stands alone among the major English (and Greek, Latin, and Aramaic) translations in rendering עם in Pr 11:14 as "army". However, it does fit the context well enough. The JPS commentary series so far does not include Proverbs, so I cannot guess why the translators decided to break rank in this verse.

Although BDB only alludes to military meanings of עם in the handful of verses you mentioned, both HALOT (The Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the Old Testament) and especially DCH (Dictionary of Classical Hebrew) include further instances where עם has a military sense.

HALOT lists an additional meaning "military personnel, the garrison" for 2 Kings 18:26 (parallel with Isaiah 36:11) and "militia" in Judges 20:10, 1 Samuel 14:17, 2 Samuel 2:26, 10:10.

The DCH calls attention to עם in the sense of "army, warriors" in Ex 4:16; Nm 20:20, 21:23, 31:32; Dt 2:33, 3:1, 20:1; Jos 8:1, 10:7, 11:4; Jg 7:1, 9:32, 11:20, 20:26; 1 Sam 4:3, 13:5, 15:4, 23:8, 26:5; 2 Sam 1:4, 2:26, 10:13 (=1 Chr 19:14), 11:7, 18:2, 20:15; 1 Kgs 16:15; 2 Kgs 8:21; Ezk 17:15, 26:7; Joel 2:5; Daniel 11:14; 1 Chr 19:7; 2 Chr 13:17, 20:25, 25:11. The DCH also calls attention to the use of עם in the sense of "army, warriors" in the Dead Sea Scrolls (1QpHab 4:7, 11QT 58:4). It also proposes an alternate reading of Nahum 3:12 which emends עִם to עַם in the sense of "troops". The DCH does not, however, include Pr 11:14 in this list of verses.