HOSTS, armies — the plural in the divine title YHWH TZEVA'OT, 'Jehovah of hosts' (or 'of armies'), which makes its FIRST appearance in the Bible at 1 Samuel 1:3, on the lips of Elkanah's family at Shiloh. The 'hosts' are the armies of heaven and earth, the whole marshaled power of creation, of which Jehovah is commander. The title then rings through the prophets and the Psalms as the name of the God who fights for his people — and it enters, fittingly, at a sanctuary, in an act of worship. → first discussed at 1 Samuel 1:3