Host

Host in the biblical vocabulary carries two distinct meanings. As a term for hospitality, it denotes one who receives and entertains guests—Romans 16:23 greets Gaius as host of the whole church, and Luke 10:35 refers to the innkeeper who cares for the wounded man in the parable of the Good Samaritan as a host. As a military term, host denotes an army or organized body of fighting men: the Israelite tribes marched in ordered hosts, and the Midianite army is called a host in Judges 4.

The military sense underlies one of the most significant divine titles: the LORD of hosts (YHWH ṣĕbāʾôth), which appears more than 250 times in the Hebrew scriptures. The phrase originally may have referred to the armies of Israel or to the angelic heavenly armies, but it developed into a comprehensive title for God's supreme authority over all created powers—celestial bodies, angelic beings, and earthly armies alike. The title is particularly prominent in the prophetic books (especially Isaiah, Jeremiah, and the twelve Minor Prophets) as an assertion of divine sovereignty in contexts of international upheaval.