# What Does LORD of Hosts Mean?
> The LORD of hosts, YHWH Sabaoth, is the name of God over the armies of heaven. Every King James verse with the LORD of hosts, the Hebrew, and Lord of Sabaoth in Romans and James.
- Canonical: https://apologetics.wiki/god/lord-of-hosts
- Religions: none
- Denominations: none
- Beliefs: God
- Tags: god, names, hebrew
- Updated: 2026-10-13
- Author: [Paul Ambrose](https://apologetics.wiki/author/hi-its-paul) ([GitHub](https://github.com/hi-its-paul))
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import RefTable from '../../components/RefTable.astro';
import HebrewWord from '../../components/HebrewWord.astro';
import GreekCardScript from '../../components/GreekCardScript.astro';
import GreekShare from '../../components/GreekShare.astro';
import { nameStrongs, compoundStrongs, JEHOVAH_COMPOUNDS } from '../../data/god/names';
The LORD of hosts (Hebrew יְהוָה צְבָאוֹת, YHWH Sabaoth) is the name of God as commander of the hosts, the armies of heaven and of Israel. It first appears in [1 Samuel 1:3](/bible/1-samuel/1/3), where Elkanah goes up to Shiloh “to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts.” The seraphim in [Isaiah 6:3](/bible/isaiah/6/3) cry, “Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts.”
## Key Points
- Hosts is Strong’s H6635, tsaba, “a mass of persons… especially organized for war.” [(1)](#ref-1)
- David tells Goliath in [1 Samuel 17:45](/bible/1-samuel/17/45), “I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts.”
- [Psalm 24:10](/bible/psalms/24/10) answers “Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory.”
- The name is most common in Isaiah, Jeremiah, Haggai, Zechariah, and Malachi.
- The New Testament keeps the Hebrew word in “the Lord of Sabaoth” in [Romans 9:29](/bible/romans/9/29) and [James 5:4](/bible/james/5/4).
## The LORD of Hosts in the Hebrew Bible
## Frequently Asked Questions
### What Are the Hosts?
The word is used of armies, of the stars, and of the angels. [1 Kings 22:19](/bible/1-kings/22/19) sees “all the host of heaven standing by him.”
## Keep Reading
- [The Names of God in Hebrew](/god/names-of-god)
- [The Jehovah Compound Names](/god/jehovah-compound-names)
- [What Are the Attributes of God?](/god/attributes-of-god)
## Passages Quoted on This Page
### 1 Samuel 1:3
King James Version.
> And this man went up out of his city yearly to worship and to sacrifice unto the LORD of hosts in Shiloh. And the two sons of Eli, Hophni and Phinehas, the priests of the LORD, were there.
### Isaiah 6:3
King James Version.
> And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory.
### 1 Samuel 17:45
King James Version.
> Then said David to the Philistine, Thou comest to me with a sword, and with a spear, and with a shield: but I come to thee in the name of the LORD of hosts, the God of the armies of Israel, whom thou hast defied.
### Psalms 24:10
King James Version.
> Who is this King of glory? The LORD of hosts, he is the King of glory. Selah.
### Romans 9:29
King James Version.
> And as Esaias said before, Except the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we had been as Sodoma, and been made like unto Gomorrha.
### James 5:4
King James Version.
> Behold, the hire of the labourers who have reaped down your fields, which is of you kept back by fraud, crieth: and the cries of them which have reaped are entered into the ears of the Lord of sabaoth.
### 1 Kings 22:19
King James Version.
> And he said, Hear thou therefore the word of the LORD: I saw the LORD sitting on his throne, and all the host of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
### Malachi 3:1
King James Version.
> Behold, I will send my messenger, and he shall prepare the way before me: and the LORD, whom ye seek, shall suddenly come to his temple, even the messenger of the covenant, whom ye delight in: behold, he shall come, saith the LORD of hosts.
## Sources
Numbered to match the HTML References list. Item 1 is `#ref-1` under `#references`. Scripture links to the King James Version on this site.
1. [James Strong, The Exhaustive Concordance of the Bible, Hebrew and Chaldee Dictionary](https://archive.org/details/exhaustiveconcor1890stro) (1890. Public domain. The Strong’s numbers and definitions on this site’s Hebrew word pages.)
2. First Book of Samuel, 1:3; 17:45
3. [Book of Isaiah, 6:3; 6:5](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/isaiah/6/3). King James Version
4. [Book of Malachi, 3:1](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/malachi/3/1). King James Version
5. [Epistle of James, 5:4](https://apologetics.wiki/bible/james/5/4). King James Version
## See Also
- [The Jehovah Compound Names](https://apologetics.wiki/god/jehovah-compound-names) — Jehovah-jireh, Jehovah-nissi, Jehovah-shalom, Jehovah-tsidkenu, Jehovah-shammah, and the other names that join the divine name to a word, with the Hebrew, Strong’s numbers, and every King James verse.
- [The Names of God in Hebrew](https://apologetics.wiki/god/names-of-god) — Elohim, El, Eloah, El Shaddai, El Elyon, El Olam, El Roi, Adonai, YHWH, Yah, the LORD of hosts, and the Jehovah compound names, with the Hebrew, Strong’s numbers, meanings, first occurrences, and King James verses.
- [What Does Adonai Mean?](https://apologetics.wiki/god/adonai) — Adonai is the Hebrew title Lord, used of God alone. Every King James verse with Adonai, how Lord GOD is printed, and why Psalm 110:1 has a different word.
- [What Does El Elyon Mean?](https://apologetics.wiki/god/el-elyon) — El Elyon is God Most High, first in Genesis 14:18 where Melchizedek is priest of the most high God. Every King James verse that calls God the most High, with the Hebrew and Strong’s numbers.
- [What Does El Shaddai Mean?](https://apologetics.wiki/god/el-shaddai) — El Shaddai is God Almighty, the name God gives Abram in Genesis 17:1. Every King James verse with Shaddai, its Hebrew, its Strong’s number, and where the New Testament uses Almighty.
## External Links
- [Francis Brown, S. R. Driver, and Charles A. Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament](https://archive.org/details/hebrewenglishlex00browuoft) — The standard public-domain Hebrew lexicon (1906).