The Host of Heaven and the Divine Army: a reassessment

Quine, Cat

Abstract

That YHWH was perceived to command a divine army in the heavens brooks no argument. Traditionally, the phrase "host of heaven" (‫השׁמים‬ ‫)צבא‬ has been associated with this divine army. This article, however, reassesses the relevant evidence and argues that the host of heaven are not portrayed in this role. The biblical texts contain numerous references to YHWH's divine army, but these forces are never called a host (‫.)צבא‬ Rather, the diversity of terminology employed in reference to YHWH's army suggests that it possessed no fixed terminology. It may well be that the biblical authors deliberately did not use the term "host" in order to avoid associating YHWH's divine army too closely with the weaknesses of the human armies.

Citation

Quine, C. (2019). The Host of Heaven and the Divine Army: a reassessment. Journal of Biblical Literature, 138(4), 741-755. https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1384.2019.3

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2019
• Online Publication Date: Dec 1, 2019
• Publication Date: Dec 1, 2019
• Deposit Date: Aug 19, 2019
• Publicly Available Date: Jun 2, 2021
• Journal: Journal of Biblical Literature
• Print ISSN: 0021-9231
• Electronic ISSN: 1934-3876
• Publisher: Society of Biblical Literature
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 138
• Issue: 4
• Pages: 741-755
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.15699/jbl.1384.2019.3
• Keywords: Religious studies; Literature and Literary Theory
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/2446876
• Publisher URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.15699/jbl.1384.2019.3?seq=1
• Related Public URLs: https://www.sbl-site.org/publications/publishingwithsbl.aspx