The Name Lucifer

Many years ago while looking through some footnotes in an old Bible my wife bought at a garage sale I found an entry on the name most people believe refers to Satan. It is assumed to be the name he was given or used before he and one third of the other angels rebelled against God.

In this short discourse I would like to examine some facts as they are presented in the only portion of the Holy Scriptures that even make mention of or allude to the name of Satan as being … "Lucifer." The only place in the K.J.V. where the word Lucifer is used is in Isaiah 14:12.

If one would read the context of this whole chapter, (Isaiah 14) it speaks explicitly of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon … not Satan. Notice in (verse 4) the directive given leads to only one man … "Thou shalt take up this proverb against the king of Babylon, and say, How hath the oppressor ceased! the golden city ceased!"

The verse in question, Isaiah 14:12 in the K.J.V. reads … "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" … I believe the word Lucifer (heylel in Hebrew ... meaning, the morning star brightness) is alluding to the king of Babylon and is only using the bright morning star as a mocking comparison.

This verse in the 1917 Jewish edition of the English Version of the Hebrew Bible reads … "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Light-bringer, son of the morning!" Whenever Hebrew Scripture speaks of the fallen angel (the spiritual being called "the devil" in the Greek New Testament) he is always called "Satan" in Hebrew … never Lucifer.

Most other versions of the Bible generally agree with the translation of the Hebrew word "heylel" (translated as Lucifer in the K.J.V.) as meaning the morning star Venus … the Light-bringer … which shines in the eastern sky early in the morning as the light of day begins to break.

Compare (verse 12) in the Amplified Bible which agrees with the Hebrew Bible … "How have you fallen from heaven, O light-bringer and daystar, son of the morning! How you have been cut down to the ground, you who weakened and laid low the nations O blasphemous, satanic king of Babylon!"

The king of Babylon in all his royal glory and majesty is really the one spoken of or alluded to by how he outshines (like the morning star) all the rest of the kings of the earth. Only Solomon and his kingdom surpassed Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon in power and glory.

But Isaiah is presenting a very different image of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon. It is a comparison of the bright morning star Venus with the once magnificent king of Babylon. Nebuchadnezzar is now exhibited and shown as having fallen from his throne; his brightness and glory now dimmed like a star in the morning daylight.

The words of (verse 14) are a continuation of the speech of the dead in Hell, (verses 9 & 10) to the king of Babylon, taunting the great king Nebuchadnezzar, in the change which had taken place … as if it's almost incredible, that he should be deposed from his glory and fall from his lofty almost heaven like throne.

This verse is not meant to be understood as being the fall of Satan, although he was once an angel of light, and sometimes transforms himself into one. Satan is never anywhere in Scripture called Lucifer, nor is he here in this scripture.

And yet this name Lucifer has been, and I know not why, applied to Satan, the chief of the fallen angels; who is neither the bringer of morning light nor a magnificent earthly king.

Satan is in fact just the opposite of it's meaning, which is "the bringer of light." Satan is the "prince of darkness" not light. He is commonly called by the name Lucifer by men as often as the names Satan and the Devil, but only by those who are mistaken in this one verse's meaning.

For the Holy Spirit, (speaking through Isaiah) were to call this arch-enemy of God and man, the light-bringer would be strange indeed. But the truth is, the text speaks nothing at all concerning neither Satan nor his fall; which many learned men have with great confidence mistakenly deduced from this text.

It is plainly meant to refer to the king of Babylon almost in jest. In fact (verse 16) asks the question … "is this the man" … clearly speaking of the king.

This Scripture is not to be understood as the fall of Satan; although I will admit, there may be … an allusion to it.



Comments welcome.