Zebaot
The Hebrew word Zebaot (צבאות, 'Heere', 'Heerscharen', also Zebaoth or Zevaot , see spelling of biblical names in German ; Greek-Latin Sabaoth ) is an attribute of the divine name YHWH (יהוה צבאות) in the Tanach .
Hebrew Bible
Zebaot does not appear in the Torah (five books of Moses) . In the other biblical scriptures the word occurs frequently, almost exclusively as a sovereign attribute of God in the combination YHWH Zebaot (יהוה צבאות).
It remains unclear whether it is about the armies of Israel or the host of cosmic powers and angelic beings (e.g. 1 Sam 1,3 EU ; Isa 6,3 EU ). However, some indications for possible clarification of this question can be found in the prophetic-visionary descriptions of the presence of God by Ezekiel (e.g. Ez 38,13 EU ) or Daniel . In Isaiah 3,1 ( Isa 3,1 EU ) it says: “ 1 For behold, the Lord, the LORD of hosts (יהוה צבאו nimmt), takes away from Jerusalem and from Judah support and staff, every support of the bread and every support of the Waters: 2 hero and warrior, judge and prophet and fortune-teller and elders; 3 the chief of fifty men, and the respected, and the counselor, and the skilled magician, and the conjurer. “Here it is made clear that mitות does not mean the armies of Israel. (כי הנה האדון יהוה צבאות מסיר מירושלם ומיהודה משען ומשענה כל משען־לחם וכל משען־מים גבור ואיש מלחמה שור ואיש מלחמה שפנופט ונבווא קסםו חפנופנ שורו) ינבו. In Jeremiah ( Jer 27.4 EU ) God instructs the prophet to bring a message to the king of Judah, Zedekiah . In this message God describes himself as YHWH Zebaot, God of Israel (יהוה צבאות אלהי ישראל). The message also says: ועתה אנכי נתתי את־כל־הארצות האלה ביד נבוכדנאצר מלך־בבל עבדי וגם את־חית השדה נתתי לו לעבדו "But now I have given all these lands into the hand of my servant Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon and also the animals in the field, that they should be subject to him. ”Here, too, it is clear that God cannot be the leader of the Israeli army. YHWH, the God of Israel, leads all armies, including those of Israel's enemies. In verse 8, YHWH promises that he will fight all who should oppose the rule of Nebuchadnezzar II . So YHWH is the leader of the army of Babel (וְהָיָה הַגּוֹי וְהַמַּמְלָכָה, אֲשֶׁר לֹא-יַעַבְדוּ אֹתוֹ אֶת-נְבוּכַדְנֶאצַּר מֶלֶךְ-בָּבֶל, וְאֵת אֲשֶׁר, ל-יִתֵּן ור ו ו ו וה ִתֵּןו ו ו ו ו ו ו ו ו ו ו ֹו ו ו ו ו ו ו ֹו ו ֹו ו ֹו ו ֹו ֹו ו ֹו ו ֹו ו ו ֹו ֹו ֹו ו ו ו ֹו ו ֹו ו ו ו ו ֹו ֹו ו ו ו ו ו ו ו ו ו יְהוָה, עַד-תֻּמִּי אֹתָם, בְּיָדוֹ). He will punish those who oppose the rule of the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, with sword, famine and plague.
In exceptional cases, armies of foreign kings can also be meant, e.g. B. Ps 68,13 EU : The kings of armies ("Zebaot") flee .
Greek Old Testament
In the first editions of the Greek Old Testament ( Septuagint ) the holy name was taken over without translation - the consonants YHWH appear as Hebrew letters (יהוה) in the middle of the Greek text. In later copies of the Septuagint, the Tetragrammaton in the Greek text was replaced by the words kyrios ("Lord") or theos ("God"), which, however, does not fully do justice to the meaning of the original text (instead of YHWH Sebaoth appears in these editions Kyrie Sabaoth ). Often in the Septuagint Zebaot is translated quite freely as pantocrator ("all ruler").
Greek New Testament
The Revelation of John describes great hosts of spirit creatures who stand directly before God and whom God commands (e.g. Rev 19,14 EU ). The word Sabaoth is left untranslated in some places (e.g. Rom 9.29 EU or Jak 5.4 EU ), elsewhere it is reproduced as pantocrator , following the example of the Septuagint .
Latin Bible (Vulgate)
Sebaoth also takes the Latin translation of the Bible untranslated from the Hebrew or Greek text in some places (e.g. Rom 9.29 EU , Jak 5.4 EU ).
German Bible translations
Martin Luther wrote in his translation of the Old and New Testaments, Mr. Zebaoth . In the standard translation it says Lord of the Armies , in the Catholic liturgy ( Sanctus ) Lord of all powers and authorities . The New World Translation of the Holy Scriptures, a Bible translation by Jehovah's Witnesses , uses the term Jehovah of Hosts .
literature
- Georg Beer : Sabaoth . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume IA, 2, Stuttgart 1920, Sp. 1533-1535.
Web links
- Siegfried Kreuzer: Zebaoth. In: Michaela Bauks, Klaus Koenen, Stefan Alkier (Eds.): The Scientific Biblical Lexicon on the Internet (WiBiLex), Stuttgart 2006 ff.