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NASB | 2 Kings 21:3 For he rebuilt the high places which Hezekiah his father had destroyed; and he erected altars for Baal and made an Asherah, as Ahab king of Israel had done, and worshiped all the host of heaven and served them. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | 2 Kings 21:3 For he rebuilt the high places [for the worship of pagan gods] which his father Hezekiah had destroyed; and he set up altars for Baal and made an [image of] Asherah, just as Ahab king of Israel had done, and he worshiped all the [starry] host of heaven and served them. |
Bible Question: Who or what are the "host of heaven?" The word for host comes from army - so I'm wondering if the host of heaven may include celestial beings or angels? Might this be a also be a reference to mythology? |
Bible Answer: From what I have been able to garner after thirty years of reading and studying the bible, the 'host of heaven' is God and His Angels. Now, according to 2 Kings 21:3. What the author is alluding to here is that Ahab and his subjects worshipped the planets, such as those that the Greeks worshipped. This is a reference to mythology. When Paul entered Athens he alluded to the scholars of that city that they worshipped the hosts of heaven, and he also alluded to the fact that they worshipped an 'unknown God'. Paul stated that this was God the Father. But the gods that they city of Athens worshipped were the host of heaven. |