HOST
dastard
deed
could
be
approved
only
in
the
heat
of
patriotic
fanaticism
(Jg
i"
5").
In
OT
times
it
can
hardly
be
said
that
inns
in
the
later
sense
existed.
The
ordinary
traveller
was
provided
for
by
the
laws
of
hospitality.
The
TnalSn
of
Gn
42"
etc.
was
probably
nothing
more
than
a
place
where
caravans
were
accustomed
to
halt
and
pass
the
night.
A
building
of
some
kind
may
be
intended
by
the
'
lodge
of
wayfaring
men'
in
the
wilderness
(Jer
9^).
For
gSruth
(Jer
41")
we
should
probably
read
gidrdth,
'folds'
(cf.
Jos.
Ant.
X.
ix.
5).
Great
changes
were
wrought
by
Greek
and
Roman
Influence,
and
there
can
be
no
doubt
that
in
NT
times,
especially
in
the
larger
centres
of
population,
inns
were
numerous
and
well
appointed.
The
name
pandocheion
=Arab.
funduq,
shows
that
the
inn
was
a
foreign
importation.
Those
on
the
highways
would
in
some
respects
resemble
the
khans
of
modern
times,
and
the
buildings
that
stood
for
centuries
on
the
great
lines
of
caravan
traffic,
before
the
sea
became
the
high-way
of
commerce.
These
were
places
of
strength,
as
well
as
of
entertainment
for
man
and
beast.
Such
was
probably
the
inn
of
the
Good
Samaritan
(Lk
10'*),
identified
with
Khan
Hadrur,
on
the
road
to
Jericho.
The
inns
would
be
frequented
by
men
of
all
nationalities
and
of
all
characters.
Rabbinical
references
show
that
their
reputation
was
not
high.
It
was
natural
that
Christians
should,
for
their
own
safety,
avoid
the
inn,
and
practise
hospitality
among
themselves
(1
P
i"
etc.).
In
Lk
2'
'inn'
{Jcaialuma)
probably
means,
as
it
does
in
Mk
14i<
and
Lk
22",
the
guest-chamber
in
a
private
house.
Such
g^est-chambers
were
open
freely
to
Jews
visiting
Jerusalem
at
the
great
feasts
(Aboth
R.
Nathan,
cap.
34).
It
is
reasonable
to
suppose
that
they
would
be
equally
open
on
an
occasion
like
the
registration,
requiring
the
presence
of
such
numbers.
If
Joseph
and
Mary,
arriving
late,
found
the
hoped-for
guest-chamber
already
occupied,
they
might
have
no
resort
but
the
khan,
where,
in
the
animal's
quarters,
Jesus
was
born.
In
modem
Palestine
hotels
are
found
only
at
important
places
on
the
most
popular
routes
of
travel.
W.
EwiNO.
HOST.
—
See
next
art.
and
Army.
HOST
OP
HEAVEN.
—
The
phrase
'host
(or
army)
of
heaven
'
occurs
in
OT
in
two
apparently
different
senses
—
referring
(1)
to
stars,
(2)
to
angels.
1.
The
'liost
of
heaven'
is
mentioned
as
the
object
of
idolatrous
worship;
it
is
frequently
coupled
with
'sun
and
moon,'
the
stars
being
obviously
meant;
where
'
sun
and
moon'
are
not
specifically
mentioned,
the
phrase
may
be
used
as
including
them
as
well.
Dt
4"
speaks
of
this
worship
as
a
special
temptation
to
Israel;
it
has
been
appointed
or
allotted
to
all
the
peoples,'
i.e.
the
heathen,
and
is
absolutely
inconsistent
with
the
worship
of
J";
the
penalty
is
stoning
(17').
The
references
to
it
suggest
that
it
became
prominent
in
Israel
in
the
7th
cent.
B.C.,
when
Manasseh
introduced
it
into
the
Temple
(2
K
21');
its
abolition
was
part
of
Josiah's
reform
(23'-
«■
").
The
mention,
in
the
last
verse,
of
'
the
altars
which
were
on
the
roof
of
the
upper
chamber
of
Ahaz'
suggests
that
the
worship
was,
in
fact,
older
than
the
reign
of
Manasseh,
and
had
been
practised
by
Ahaz;
it
was
carried
on
upon
the
roofs
of
houses
(Jer
19",
Zeph
1'),
so
that
2
K
23'^
may
well
refer
to
it.
Is
17*
mentions
'sun-pillars'
as
characteristic
of
the
idolatry
of
the
reign
of
Ahaz
(unless
the
words
are
a
later
addition),
and
there
are
possible
traces
of
nature-worship
in
earlier
periods
in
Am
5^,
and
in
the
names
Belh-shemesh,
Jericho,
which
suggest
sun-
and
moon-worship.
2
K
171',
which
speaks
of
the
worship
of
the
host
of
heaven
as
prevalent
in
the
Northern
Kingdom,
is
a
'Deuteronomic'
passage,
which
can
hardly
be
pressed
Mstorically.
Whilst,
then,
there
are
early
traces
of
nature-worship,
the
systematized
idolatry
of
'the
host
of
heaven
'
belongs
to
the
period
of
special
Assyrian
and
HOST
OF
HEAVEN
Babylonian
influence;
astrology
and
kindred
beliefs
were
characteristic
of
the
religions
of
these
countries.
The
phrase
is
used
in
other
contexts
of
the
stars
as
the
armies
of
J",
innumerable,
ordered,
and
obedient
(Gn
2',
Ps
33',
Is
34«
4512,
Jer
33").
Is
40»
('bringeth
out
their
host
by
number;
he
calleth
them
all
by
name')
comes
very
near
to
a
personification.
In
Dn
S"
we
read
of
the
assault
ofthe'littlehorn'onthe'hostofheaven'
and
their
'prince.'
This
may
be
only
a
hyperbolical
expression
for
blasphemous
pride,
but
it
strongly
suggests
the
influence
of
the
Babylonian
'
dragon
myth,'
in
which
heaven
itself
was
stormed;
cf.
Rev
12'
13',
where
the
Beast
blasphemes
God,
His
tabernacles,
and
them
that
dwell
in
heaven;
i.e.
the
angelic
host
(so
Bousset),
at
least
in
the
idea
underlying
the
conception.
Hence
in
Dn
S"
we
are
probably
right
in
seeing
a
reference
to
the
stars
regarded
as
animate
warriors
of
J",
their
'
captain
';
cf
.
the
poetical
passages
Jg
S'"
(the
stars
in
their
courses
fighting
against
Sisera)
and
Job
38'
(the
morning
stars,
coupled
with
the
'sons
of
God,'
singing
for
joy);
in
these
passages
it
remains
a
question
how
far
the
personi-fication
is
merely
a
poetic
figure.
It
is
at
least
possible
that
a
more
literally
conceived
idea
lies
behind
them.
In
Is
2421
we
read
of
the
'host
of
the
height'
('high
ones
on
high
'),
whom
J"
shall
punish
in
the
Day
of
Judgment,
together
with
the
kings
of
the
earth.
The
passage,
the
date
of
which
is
very
doubtful,
is
strongly
eechatological,
and
the
phrase
must
refer
to
supramundane
foes
of
J",
whether
stars
or
angels;
again,
a
reference
to
the
dragon
myth
is
very
possible.
2.
Passages
such
as
these
lead
to
the
consideration
of
others
where
'host
of
heaven'
='
angels.'
The
chief
is
1
K
22"
(Micaiah's
vision);
cf.
Ps
103a,
Lk
2".
Though
this
actual
phrase
is
not
often
used,
the
attendant
ministers
of
J"
are
often
spoken
of
as
an
organized
army
(Gn
322,
Jos
5»,
2
K
6",
Job
25').
Cf.
in
this
connexion
the
title
'
Lord
of
hosts
(Sabaoth),'
which,
though
it
may
have
been
used
originally
of
J"
as
the
leader
of
the
armies
of
Israel,
admittedly
came
to
be
used
of
Him
as
ruler
of
the
celestial
hosts
(see
Lord
of
Hosts).
There
are
passages
where
the
phrase
'host
of
heaven'
is
am-biguous,
and
may
refer
either
to
stars
or
to
angels
(Dn
4",
Neh
9',
Ps
148^
[where
it
connects
angels
and
sun,
moon,
and
stars]).
3.
It
remains
to
consider
the
connexion
between
the
two
uses
of
the
phrase.
It
has
been
supposed
by
some
to
be
purely
verbal,
stars
and
angels
being
independently
compared
to
an
army;
or
it
has
been
suggested
that
the
stars
were
'the
visible
image'
of
the
host
of
angels.
But
a
study
of
the
passages
quoted
above
will
probably
lead
to
the
conclusion
that
the
connexion
is
closer.
The
idolaters
evidently
regarded
the
stars
as
animate;
prophets
and
poets
seem
to
do
so
too.
When
this
is
done,
it
lies
very
near
at
hand
to
identify
them
with,
or
at
least
assimilate
them
to,
the
angels.
In
the
ancient
myths
and
folklore,
the
traces
of
which
in
the
Bible
are
Increasingly
recognized,
stars
and
angels
play
a
large
part,
and
the
conception
of
the
two
is
not
kept
distinct.
Later
thought
tended
to
identify
them
(Enoch
18'2
21'
etc..
Rev
9'-
";
cf.
Is
14",
Lk
10").
Hence
the
one
use
of
the
phrase
'
host
of
heaven'
ran
naturally
into
the
other,
and
it
seems
impossible
to
draw
a
sharp
line
of
distinction
between
the
two.
As
we
have
seen,
there
are
passages
where
it
is
ambiguous,
or
where
it
seems
to
imply
the
personification
of
the
stars,
i.e.
their
practical
identification
with
angels.
While
there
is
no
reason
why
the
spiritual
teachers
of
Israel
should
not
have
countenanced
this
belief
at
a
certain
stage
and
to
a
certain
point,
and
should
not
have
adopted
in
a
modified
form
the
eschatology
in
which
it
figured,
it
is
of
course
clear
that
the
conception
was
kept
free
from
its
grosser
and
superstitious
features.
Whatever
it
may
have
been
in
the
popular
mind,
to
them
it
is
little
more
than
a
metaphor,
and
nothing
either
distantly
resembling
the
fear
or
the
worship
of
the
stars
receives
any
countenance
in
their
teaching.
It
Is,
however,
worth
while
insisting
