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anon49823460
Guest
(This may be a dumb question but…) In the old testament Mass readings recently, the scriptures refer to the “Lord of hosts”. What is “of hosts”?
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puzzleannie
Guest
a host in this context is an uncountable number of people, literally an endless army, and as used in the Mass the prayer becomes one to the Lord of the uncountable number of the faithful, on earth, in heaven and waiting for heaven in purgatory.
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anon49823460
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Thanks!
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LilyM
Guest
When I was a kid I used to think of Eucharistic Hosts … needless to say this was very perplexing on a whole bunch of levels 
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Gottle_of_Geer
Guest
The title
- Jehovah Tsebaoth
can be found in the hymn Te Deum Laudamus, which is traditionally ascribed to St. Ambrose of Milan; it appears in the form Sabaoth.
- 1. the “angels” (the Hebrew word malakh means “messenger”, whether human or “other”; angelos allows for either meaning; unlike angelus & “angel”)
- 2. the stars
- 3. the sons of god/of gods/of God (the phrase bene Elohim can be understood in all & any of these senses)
led by God as His heavenly army: the psalm in Habakkuk 3, which goes back to the 13th century BC, shows Him doing so.
- Genesis 6
- 1 Kings 22
- Job 1; 2; 38
- which leads on to the contexts in which the cherubim are found: they are His worshippers; attendants; throne-bearers; His throne. The cloud imagery used for His throne in the Psalms is applied to the Glorified Christ in Acts 1. IOW - Jesus Christ is the Lord ascending to His Throne, to which the Father has “highly exalted Him” (Philippians 2 - & compare Romans 1 & Ephesians 4)
One way of describing kingship was to compare the king to a shepherd, as in Psalm 23. The stars are compared in the book of Isaiah to a flock of sheep, every one of which is known to God. Christ the Good Shepherd in John 10 is Christ the King & Creator of the angels Who knows His own by name in heaven & on earth. This is one reason the gospels don’t say in so many words “Jesus is God” - by applying to Him titles used in the OT for the God is Israel, & having Him do what God did, they show Who He is; that’s why He walks on the water & why He stills the storm - God does so in the Psalms, just as God is “the Shepherd of Israel”.
The Kingship of Christ is one of the leading themes of John as well as of the other gospels, & His Lordship of angels as well as men is part of it. This is why the gospels - especially (?) John - talk about election, & why St.Paul speaks of “the elect angels”: all these ideas come together in Christ, Who is the Subject of all of Scripture & the Lord of all of creation, not of Israel & the NT Church alone.
So despite the differences & discontinuities, there is a real genetic continuity between OT & NT, between Israel & the Church; which is part of the reason the Church has kept the OT. The NT is filled with OT ideas, which have deep roots in Israel’s past:
- Rev. 4 & 5 are a Christian version of the heavenly court
- Rev. 12 is a Christian adaptation of the idea of God as leader of the heavenly armies;
- as is 19.11 ff.
So when translations of the OT or the Mass translate “God of hosts” as “God Almighty”, the translation is correct as far as it goes, but it does not convey all the meaning of “Sabaoth” - God exercises all power (He is Almighty); but He also exercises dominion (He is Lord): “God Almighty” does not quite catch the second shade of meaning: one can be Almighty, without having creatures to be Lord of. The God Whom we adore is our Creator, as well as Almighty.
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