Sabaoth : Lord of Hosts

Sabbaoth is the Lord of Hosts.

LORD OF HOSTS (יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, yhwh tseva'oth). A phrase describing Yahweh’s role as the Lord of the heavenly armies, the commander of the cosmic forces, the head of the divine council, and the leader of Israel’s armyFrom the Cambridge Paragraph Bible of the Authorized English Version, hosts refers to both human armies and angelic armies. At times also refers to the heavenly bodies.

From the Lexham Bible Dictionary: The phrase “Lord of Hosts” communicates God’s role as a warrior who fights both in the cosmic conflict against divine forces and through human historical events for His people, Israel. The phrase appears 285 times in the Old Testament, with a high concentration in the Prophets (especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi). The Septuagint most often translates the Hebrew term “hosts” (צְבָאוֹת, tseva'oth) with the Greek term “Almighty” (παντοκράτωρ, pantokratōr; Zobel, “Tseva’oth,” 216–17).

Lord of hosts” is Isaiah’s favorite name for God; he uses it at least sixty-five times. “Lord of the armies” is what it means.

Warren W. Wiersbe

“Lord of Hosts” in 1 and 2 Samuel The earliest biblical uses of the phrase “Lord of Hosts” appear in the books of 1 and 2 Samuel, where they have strong links to Shiloh (McCarter, I Samuel, 105). For example: • First Samuel 1:3 recounts how Elkanah (husband of Hannah and father of Samuel) annually goes to worship “the Lord of Hosts” at Shiloh.

SHILOH (Shīʹ lōh) Place-name, perhaps meaning “tranquil, secure.” About 30 miles north of Jerusalem sat the city which would be Israel’s religious center for over a century, being the home of Israel’s tabernacle.

TABERNACLE (Tăbʹ ẽr năk əl), TENT OF MEETING Sacred tent, portable and provisional sanctuary, where God met His people (Exod. 33:7–10).

Samuel’s early years provided another connection with Shiloh (1 Sam. 1–4). At the tabernacle Hannah vowed to the Lord that if He would give her a son she would give him back to God (1 Sam. 1). After the birth of Samuel, Hannah brought him to Shiloh in gratitude to God (1 Sam. 1:24–28). Thus, Shiloh became home for Samuel as he lived under the care of Eli, the high priest, and his two wicked sons, Hophni and Phinehas.

PENINNAH pə-ninʹə [Heb. peninnâ—‘coral’ (?)]. Second wife of Elkanah the Ephraimite (1 S. 1:2). Peninnah had both sons and daughters (vv 2, 4), and she took pleasure in tormenting Hannah, Elkanah’s first wife, who had no children (v 6) until she gave birth to Samuel (v 20)

Hannah prays for a son when she is at Shiloh, she addresses her prayer, “O Lord of hosts” (1 Sam 1:11). • First Samuel 4:4 records the people’s decision to bring “the ark of the covenant of the Lord of Hosts, who is enthroned on [above] the cherubim” (ESV), from Shiloh. • Second Samuel 6:2 records that David brought up from Baale-judah “the ark of God, which is called by the name of the Lord of hosts who sits enthroned on the cherubim” (ESV). Baale-judah is likely connected with the sanctuary of Shiloh based on traditions of Baal worship in the area before the Israelite settlement.

According to the scholar, Zobel, he suggests that in Shiloh, the phrase “Lord of Hosts” is identified with the ark of covenant because the ark is the only visible representation of the presence of the invisible God. The characteristic and name continues to accompany the ark to Jerusalem and into the temple, where it begins to be dissociated from the ark by becoming a personal qualification of Yahweh (Zobel, “Tseva’oth,” 225).

The Hebrews are beginning to learn what God had time and time again tried to teach them: “ ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ Says the Lord of hosts” (Zech. 4:6).

John A. Huffman Jr.; Lloyd J. Ogilvie

The seeking Christian must learn the hard way that it is “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts”

A. W. Tozer

The Lord of hosts—probably means that he is the sole Creator of them all, leaving no room whatever for polytheism. Another name for these beings is the sons of God or, simply, ‘gods’

Francis I. Andersen

In Psalm 24, the reading in many copies is: “The Lord of Sabaoth, He is the King of glory.” Now the translators have, for the “Lord of Sabaoth,” rendered in some places “the Lord of Hosts,” in others “the Lord the King,” and in others “the Lord Omnipotent.”