Heavenly host
The Heavenly host (Template:Langx ṣəḇāʾōṯ, "armies") refers to the army (or host) of God, as mentioned in Abrahamic texts; the Hebrew and Christian Bibles, and the Quran in particular.
The Bible typically describes the Heavenly host as being made up of angels, and gives several descriptions of angels in military terms, such as their encampment (Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".), command structure (Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".; Matt.13:41; Rev.7:2), and participation in combat (Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".; Rev.12:7). Other passages indicate other entities make up the divine army, namely stars (Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".,Script error: No such module "Bibleverse"., Script error: No such module "Bibleverse".).[1]Template:Fcn In Christian theology, the heavenly host participate in the war in Heaven.
In the Quran, the heavenly hosts aid Muslims in the battle against the polytheistic enemies of Muhammad.
Hebrew Bible
In the Hebrew Bible, the name Yahweh and the title Elohim (literally 'gods' or 'godhood', usually rendered as 'God' in English translations) frequently occur with the word tzevaot or sabaoth ("hosts" or "armies", Hebrew: צבאות) as YHWH Elohe Tzevaot ("YHWH God of Hosts"), Elohe Tzevaot ("God of Hosts"), Adonai YHWH Tzevaot ("Lord YHWH of Hosts") or, most frequently, YHWH Tzevaot ("YHWH of Hosts"). This name is traditionally transliterated in Latin as Sabaoth, a form that will be more familiar to many English readers, as it is used in the King James Version of the Bible.[2]
In the Book of Joshua 5:13–15, Joshua encounters a "captain of the host of the Lord" in the early days of his campaigns in the Promised Land. This unnamed heavenly messenger is sent by God to encourage Joshua in the upcoming claiming of the Promised Land:
Quran
The Quran mentions God's army (Template:Langx) in Template:Cite quran, Template:Cite quran, and Template:Cite quran; angels sent down by God to aid the believers in battle,[3] comparable to the heavenly host (Sabaoth) mentioned in the Books of Samuel.[4][5]
The term junud refers explicitly to hosts of spirits. The evils spirits too have their host called the "junud iblīs" (the invisible hosts of Satan).[6][7] The Quran describes the angelic host intervening on behalf of the Muslims during the Battle of Badr to fight against the šayāṭīn (devils)[8]
In Islamic theology and philosophy, the battle of these two hosts are reflected in the internal struggle of the "human heart" (qalb) (Ja'far ibn Sa'id and al-Ghazali).[9] Unlike Christianity, dualistic tendencies are usually minimized in Islamic tradition, and God is ultimately in control of both hosts; enabling a choice to side with either of these created beings.
Baháʼí Faith
The term "Lord of Hosts" is also used in the Baháʼí Faith as a title of God.[10] Bahá'u'lláh, claiming to be the Manifestation of God, wrote tablets to many of the kings and rulers of the world inviting them to recognize him as the Promised One of all ages and faiths, some of which were compiled and published in English as The Summons of the Lord of Hosts.[11]
Ugarit
Karel van der Toorn says the Ugaritic texts put the council of heavens (Template:Sc) in synonymous parallelism with the assembly of the stars (Template:Sc) and the sons of El (Template:Sc), meaning the gods.[12]
See also
References
External links
Template:Angels in Abrahamic religions Template:Christian theology Template:Characters and Names in Quran
- ↑ Dahood, Psalms II, 1968, p 141
- ↑ Jewish Encyclopedia: Host of Heaven New York, May 1, 1901
- ↑ Reynolds, G. S. (2009). Angels. In K. Fleet, G. Krämer, D. Matringe, J. Nawas and D. J. Stewart (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Islam Three Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23204
- ↑ Reynolds, G. S. (2009). Angels. In K. Fleet, G. Krämer, D. Matringe, J. Nawas and D. J. Stewart (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Islam Three Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23204
- ↑ Serdar, Murat. "Hıristiyanlık ve İslâm’da Meleklerin Varlık ve Kısımları." Bilimname 2009.2 (2009).
- ↑ Reynolds, G. S. (2009). Angels. In K. Fleet, G. Krämer, D. Matringe, J. Nawas and D. J. Stewart (eds.), Encyclopaedia of Islam Three Online. Brill. https://doi.org/10.1163/1573-3912_ei3_COM_23204
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Ateşçi, Cemre. Imam al-Ghazali’s understanding of human ontology and behavior. MS thesis. İbn Haldun Üniversitesi, Medeniyetler İttifakı Enstitüsü, 2019.
- ↑ The Summons of the Lord of Hosts Baháʼí Reference Library
- ↑ The Summons of the Lord of Hosts, Page 1 Baháʼí Reference Library
- ↑ Script error: No such module "Citation/CS1".