1 Kings 22:19
King James Version
19 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.
I had been reading about the host of heaven -- from Scripture -- but never really looked into it.
Until now.
Prophet Micaiah spoke those words to the skeptical king of Israel (Ahab), when asked if the king should go against Ramothgilead.
More about that event can be read here.
What is the "host of heaven"?
Scripture defines it, from these Bible versions:
1 Kings 22:19
Amplified Bible
19 Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the host (army) of heaven standing by Him on His right hand and on His left.
1 Kings 22:19
Christian Standard Bible
19 Then Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and the whole heavenly army was standing by him at his right hand and at his left hand.
1 Kings 22:19
Common English Bible
19 Then Micaiah said, “Listen now to the Lord’s word: I saw the Lord enthroned with all the heavenly forces stationed beside him, at his right and at his left.
1 Kings 22:19
Complete Jewish Bible
19 Mikhay’hu continued: “Therefore hear the word of Adonai. I saw Adonai sitting on his throne with the whole army of heaven standing by him on his right and on his left.
1 Kings 22:19
Contemporary English Version
19 Micaiah replied:
Listen to this! I also saw the Lord seated on his throne with every creature in heaven gathered around him.
1 Kings 22:19
Douay-Rheims 1899 American Edition
19 And he added and said: Hear thou therefore the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on the right hand and on the left:
1 Kings 22:19
Easy-to-Read Version
19 But Micaiah said, “Listen to this message from the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. All of heaven’s army was standing around him, some on his left side and some on his right side.
1 Kings 22:19
Evangelical Heritage Version
The Lord’s Proclamation Against Ahab
19 Then Micaiah said:
Now hear this word from the Lord.
I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and the whole army of heaven was standing around him, on his right and on his left.
1 Kings 22:19
Expanded Bible
19 But Micaiah said, “Hear the ·message from [L word of] the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with his heavenly ·army [hosts] standing near him on his right and on his left.
1 Kings 22:19
Good News Translation
19 Micaiah went on: “Now listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne in heaven, with all his angels standing beside him.
1 Kings 22:19
International Children’s Bible
19 But Micaiah continued to speak. He said, “Hear the message from the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. His heavenly army was standing near him on his right and on his left.
1 Kings 22:19
International Standard Version
19 But Micaiah responded, “Therefore, listen to what the Lord has to say. I saw the Lord, sitting on his throne, and the entire Heavenly Army was standing around him on his right hand and on his left hand.
1 Kings 22:19
Living Bible
19 Then Micaiah said, “Listen to this further word from the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, and the armies of heaven stood around him.
1 Kings 22:19
The Message
19-23 Micaiah kept on: “I’m not done yet; listen to God’s word:
I saw God enthroned,
and all the angel armies of heaven
Standing at attention
ranged on his right and his left.
1 Kings 22:19
Names of God Bible
19 Micaiah added, “Then hear the word of Yahweh. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and the entire army of heaven was standing near him on his right and his left.
1 Kings 22:19
New American Standard Bible
19 And Micaiah said, “Therefore, hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne, and all the [a]angels of heaven standing by Him on His right and on His left.
1 Kings 22:19
New English Translation
19 Micaiah[a] said, “That being the case, listen to the Lord’s message. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne, with all the heavenly assembly standing beside him on his right and on his left.
1 Kings 22:19
New International Reader's Version
19 Micaiah continued, “Listen to the Lord’s message. I saw the Lord sitting on his throne. All the angels of heaven were standing around him. Some were standing at his right side. The others were standing at his left side.
1 Kings 22:19
New International Version
19 Micaiah continued, “Therefore hear the word of the Lord: I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the multitudes of heaven standing around him on his right and on his left.
1 Kings 22:19
New Life Version
19 Micaiah said, “So hear the word of the Lord. I saw the Lord sitting on His throne. All those in heaven were standing by Him on His right and on His left.
1 Kings 22:19
New Living Translation
19 Then Micaiah continued, “Listen to what the Lord says! I saw the Lord sitting on his throne with all the armies of heaven around him, on his right and on his left.
Melachim Alef 22:19
Orthodox Jewish Bible
19 And he said, Shema Devar Hashem: I saw Hashem sitting on his kisse, and all the Tzva HaShomayim standing by Him on His right hand and on His left.
1 Kings 22:19
The Voice
Micaiah: 19 You should heed the Eternal’s message. I saw a vision of the Eternal One sitting on His throne with the heavenly army surrounding Him on all sides.
1 Kings 22:19
World English Bible
19 Micaiah said, “Therefore hear Yahweh’s word. I saw Yahweh sitting on his throne, and all the army of heaven standing by him on his right hand and on his left.
In SUMMARY, "all the host of heaven" means:
all the host (army) of heaven
the whole heavenly army
all the heavenly forces
the whole army of heaven
every creature in heaven
all the army of heaven
All of heaven’s army
the whole army of heaven
heavenly ·army [hosts]
all his angels
His heavenly army
the entire Heavenly Army
the armies of heaven
all the angel armies of heaven
the entire army of heaven
all the [a]angels of heaven
all the heavenly assembly
All the angels of heaven
all the multitudes of heaven
All those in heave
all the armies of heaven
all the Tzva HaShomayim
the heavenly army
all the army of heaven
We get an understanding that the "host of heaven" is GOD's army, composed of angels.
What power can GOD give ONE angel?
On such angel can slay 185,000 soldiers in one night:
2 Kings 19:35
King James Version
35 And it came to pass that night,
that the angel of the Lord went out,
and smote in the camp of the Assyrians
an hundred fourscore and five thousand:
and when they arose early in the morning,
behold,
they were all dead corpses.
And if you want to know the number of angels that JESUS can call upon, know this:
Matthew 26:53
King James Version
53 Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father,
and he shall presently give me
more than twelve legions of angels?
A legion is composed of 4,000 to 6,000 soldiers.
Multiply that by what ONE angel can do.
Of course, we're measuring legions by human standards.
We have no idea GOD's power.
Related material:
The MIGHT, POWER, and GLORY of GOD
Bible DISCOVERY 11: The NATURE of GOD
The MOMENTARILY frightened PROPHET (on Elijah and Ahab)
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