Lord of Hosts
Lord of Hosts
in Isaias 9:9, as in many other passages of the Bible, designates God as supreme over untold armies of spiritual and other agencies, which He can employ to give effect to His purposes. The angels, the stars, as well as armies of men are represented in the Bible as subject to Him. The Septuagint Version sometimes simply translates the expression Lord of Hosts by a word which means the Omnipotent. In the text referred to, Isaias says that God, Who is Almighty, will bring about the fulfillment of His prophecy concerning Emmanuel.
Fuente: New Catholic Dictionary
Lord of Hosts
The title Jehovah is often found embodied in the expression ‘the Lord of Hosts’ and ‘the Lord of Sabaoth,’ the former of which is a translation of the latter. [The French translation (Ostervald) has l’ Eternel des armecs, hence, no doubt, is derived the questionable title ‘the God of battles’ Luther has Herr Zebaoth. Where we read of ‘the God of Forces,’ in Dan 11:38, a different word is used, which literally means strength. Dr. Sayce compares the Assyrian title Bil Kissati, ‘lord of legions.’] this title first appears in 1Sa 1:3. The LXX sometimes retains (compare Rom 9:29; Jam 5:4), and sometimes renders it , and sometimes , Almighty. Occasionally the name Elohim is substituted for Jehovah in this connection, as in Psa 80:7; Psa 80:14; Psa 80:19; Amo 5:27.
In Exo 12:41, the Israelites are called ‘the Hosts of the Lord,’ and hence it has been supposed that the title above mentioned signifies the captain or defender of the hosts of Israel. Others regard the expression as referring to God’s governments of the ‘host of heaven,’ i.e. the stars; whilst others connect it with the fact that God is attended by hosts of angels who are ever ready to do his pleasure.
This title is often used in the m in or prophets, and with especial reference to God’s majesty, sometimes also with reference to his care for Israel, as, for example, in 2Sa 7:26;46:7; 48:8; Zec 2:9. Probably the name would indicate to a Jew that God was a Being who had many material and spiritual agencies at his command, and that the universe of matter and the world of mind were not only created, but also ordered and marshalled, [The collocation, as distinct from the creation, of the heavenly bodies, is dwelt up on with great forge by Dr. Chalmers in his Bridgewater Treatise.] by Him; who ‘telleth the number of the stars, and calleth them all by their names’ (Psa 147:4; compare Isa 40:26).
Fuente: Synonyms of the Old Testament
Lord Of Hosts
LORD OF HOSTS (Jahweh lsbth) appears in the OT as a title of God 282 times, of which all but 36 are found in the Prophetical writings. There is considerable uncertainty as to what the term hosts signifies, and it seems best to suppose that its meaning underwent modifications in the course of time. We can, perhaps, distinguish three stages.
1. It is possible that at one time the title suggested the idea of Jahweh as the leader of the Israelite forces. In favour of this view is the fact that the word tsbth outside this phrase always refers to bodies of men, and usually to Israelite forces. There is no doubt that in the early stages of the history of the nation the popular view of the functions of Jahweh was concentrated to a large extent on this point that He was the guider and commander of the armies in warfare; and the same idea lingered late, and lies at the bottom of the objection to the institution of the monarchy which is put in Samuels mouth (cf. 1Sa 8:20 with 1Sa 12:12). In the same way, David, as he taunts Goliath, says to him, I come in the name of the Lord of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel (1Sa 17:45). And once more there is evidently a special connexion between the title Lord of hosts and the Ark which is regarded as the habitation of Jahweh in His capacity as War-God (cf. 1Sa 4:3; 1Sa 4:6-8; 1Sa 4:5-6). But this explanation of the origin of the title, as Delitzsch pointed out, is greatly invalidated by the fact that we do not find it in the period in which we should expect it to be most common, that is, in the wars of the Wandering in the Wilderness.
2. So we are brought to another view, which may merely mark a later stage: the hosts are the spiritual forces which stand at Gods disposal. So in Jos 5:13-14, when Joshua asks the unknown warrior whether he is on their side or on that of their enemies, the implied answer of the Divine stranger is that he belongs to neither side, but is come as captain of the Lords host to succour His people. For the idea of the angelic host engaged in the service of God, cf. 2Sa 24:16, 1Ki 22:19, 2Ki 6:17; and in the NT Mat 26:52, Luk 2:13, Heb 1:14.
3. The third stage is reached in the prophets, esp. Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and Malachi, where the title assumes a far wider meaning and embraces all the forces of the universe. The term host of heaven is commonly used of the heavenly bodies to which the later kings paid idolatrous worship (cf. also Gen 2:1, Psa 33:6). As the Idea of the omnipotence of God grew loftier and wider, the elemental forces of nature were regarded as performing service to their Creator. So the sun is Gods minister (Psa 19:4-5), and even so early as the Song of Deborah the stars are represented as joining by Gods behest in the battle against the invader (Jdg 5:20). Hence the term Lord of hosts becomes with the prophets the highest and most transcendental title of God, and is even rendered by the LXX [Note: Septuagint.] in a certain number of passages Lord of the forces (of nature). It serves as a constant reminder of the illimitable width of Gods sway, and as such it acquires a close connexion with the other great attribute of God, His holiness. Hence we get the summit of the OT creed in the angelic song of praise, Isa 6:3, Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts: the fulness of the whole earth is his glory.
In the NT, with the exception of a quotation from Isa 1:9 in Rom 9:29, the term occurs only in Jam 5:4 (in both passages EV [Note: English Version.] has the form Lord of Sabaoth), where it is singularly appropriate in the passionate denunciation of the oppression practised by the unscrupulous landowners, recalling as it does the spirit of the Hebrew prophets.
H. C. O. Lanchester.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Lord of Hosts
A name or title of God frequently used in the Old Testament, always translated Yahweh of Hosts ( , Yehowah cebha’oth) in the American Standard Revised Version, since Yehowah, never ‘Adhonay, is used in this phrase. Evidently the meaning of the title is that all created agencies and forces are under the leadership or dominion of Yahweh, who made and maintains them (Gen 2:1; Isa 45:12). It is used to express Yahweh’s great power. See GOD, NAMES OF, III., 8.