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The word "Lucifer" in Isaiah 14:12 presents a minor problem to
mainstream Christianity. It becomes a much larger problem to Bible literalists,
and becomes a huge obstacle for the claims of Mormonism. John J. Robinson
in A Pilgrim's Path, pp. 47-48 explains: "Lucifer makes his appearance in the fourteenth chapter of the Old Testament book of Isaiah, at the twelfth verse, and nowhere else: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How art thou cut down to
the ground, which didst weaken the nations!"
The first problem is that Lucifer is a Latin name. So how did it find
its way into a Hebrew manuscript, written before there was a Roman
language? To find the answer, I consulted a scholar at the library of the Hebrew
Union College in Cincinnati. What Hebrew name, I asked, was Satan given in
this chapter of Isaiah, which describes the angel who fell to become the
ruler of hell?
The answer was a surprise. In the original Hebrew text, the
fourteenth chapter of Isaiah is not about a fallen angel, but about a fallen
Babylonian king, who during his lifetime had persecuted the children of Israel.
It contains no mention of Satan, either by name or reference. The Hebrew
scholar could only speculate that some early Christian scribes,
writing in the Latin tongue used by the Church, had decided for themselves that
they wanted the story to be about a fallen angel, a creature not even
mentioned in the original Hebrew text, and to whom they gave the name "Lucifer."
Why Lucifer? In Roman astronomy, Lucifer was the name given to the
morning star (the star we now know by another Roman name, Venus). The morning
star appears in the heavens just before dawn, heralding the rising sun.
The name derives from the Latin term lucem ferre, bringer, or bearer, of
light." In the Hebrew text the expression used to describe the Babylonian king
before his death is Helal, son of Shahar, which can best be translated
as "Day star, son of the Dawn." The name evokes the golden glitter of a proud
king's dress and court (much as his personal splendor earned for King Louis
XIV of France the appellation, "The Sun King").
The scholars authorized by ... King James I to translate the Bible
into current English did not use the original Hebrew texts, but used
versions translated ... largely by St. Jerome in the fourth century. Jerome
had mistranslated the Hebraic metaphor, "Day star, son of the Dawn," as
"Lucifer," and over the centuries a metamorphosis took place. Lucifer
the morning star became a disobedient angel, cast out of heaven to rule
eternally in hell. Theologians, writers, and poets interwove the myth
with the doctrine of the Fall, and in Christian tradition Lucifer is now
the same as Satan, the Devil, and --- ironically --- the Prince of Darkness.
So "Lucifer" is nothing more than an ancient Latin name for the
morning star, the bringer of light. That can be confusing for Christians who
identify Christ himself as the morning star, a term used as a central
theme in many Christian sermons. Jesus refers to himself as the morning
star in Revelation 22:16: "I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you
these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and
the bright and morning star."
And so there are those who do not read beyond the King James version
of the Bible, who say 'Lucifer is Satan: so says the Word of God'...."
Henry Neufeld (a Christian who comments on Biblical sticky issues)
went on to say, "this passage is often related to Satan, and a similar
thought is expressed in Luke 10:18 by Jesus, that was not its first meaning.
It's primary meaning is given in Isaiah 14:4 which says that when Israel
is restored they will "take up this taunt against the king of
Babylon . . ." Verse 12 is a part of this taunt song. This passage refers first to the fall of that earthly king...
How does the confusion in translating this verse arise? The Hebrew of
this passage reads: "heleyl, ben shachar" which can be literally
translated "shining one, son of dawn." This phrase means, again literally, the
planet Venus when it appears as a morning star. In the Septuagint, a 3rd
century BC translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, it is translated as
"heosphoros" which also means Venus as a morning star.
How did the translation "lucifer" arise? This word comes from
Jerome's Latin Vulgate. Was Jerome in error? Not at all. In Latin at the
time, "lucifer" actually meant Venus as a morning star. Isaiah is using this metaphor for a bright light, though not the greatest light to illustrate the
apparent power of the Babylonian king which then faded."
Therefore, Lucifer wasn't equated with Satan until after Jerome.
Jerome wasn't in error. Later Christians (and Mormons) were in
equating "Lucifer" with "Satan". So why is this a problem to Christians? Christians now generally believe that Satan (or the Devil or Lucifer who they equate with Satan) is a being who has always existed. Therefore, they also think that the 'prophets' of the Old Testament believed in this creature. The Isaiah scripture is used as proof (and has been used as such for hundreds of years now). As Elaine Pagels explains though, the concept of Satan has evolved over the years and the early Bible writers didn't believe in or teach such a doctrine.
The irony for those who believe that "Lucifer" refers to Satan is
that the same title ('morning star' or 'light-bearer') is used to refer to
Jesus, in 2 Peter 1:19, where the Greek text has exactly the same term: 'phos-
phoros' 'light-bearer.' This is also the term used for Jesus in Revelation
22:16.
So why is Lucifer a far bigger problem to Mormons? Mormons claim that
an ancient record (the Book of Mormon) was written beginning in about
600 BC, and the author in 600 BC supposedly copied Isaiah in Isaiah's
original words. When Joseph Smith pretended to translate the supposed 'ancient
record', he included the Lucifer verse in the Book of Mormon.
Obviously he wasn't copying what Isaiah actually wrote. He was copying the King
James Version of the Bible. Another book of LDS scripture, the Doctrine &
Covenants, furthers this problem in 76:26 when it affirms the false
Christian doctrine that "Lucifer" means Satan. This incorrect
doctrine also spread into a third set of Mormon scriptures, the Pearl of Great
Price, which describes a war in heaven based, in part, on Joseph Smith's
incorrect interpretation of the word "Lucifer" which only appears in Isaiah.
A Mormon apologist responds:
The author of The Polytheism Of The Bible And The Mystery Of Lucifer,
F.T. DeAngelis, comments on this page as follows:
"It seems minor, but - the actual term used in the Greek Septuagint
version of Isaiah 14:12 (given that there is no ONE way of accurately
transliterating) is Eo(u)s phoros, morning star/DAWN god of light.
Eos or Eous phoros [not Heos (as your website claims) or phos phorus (as a
Christian website I visited shows)] - although there is a Greek term
and English... phosphoro(u)s. Your [site] is pretty accurate.
The actual name, "Lucifer," goes back to the Greeks, before the
Romans. Socrates and Plato talk about this "god of light"; surprisingly, not
in the context of Eos (god of Dawn), but -- as a morning star -- juxtaposed
with the sun (Helios) and Hermes. This information can be found in Plato's
Timaeus (38e) and in Edith Hamilton's Mythology."
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On a lighter note, Arthur Clarke, in his fictional book 2061
correctly uses the word "Lucifer". He uses it as a name for a new sun in the solar system which is correct since the new sun is a second 'morning star'
of 'original' 'light-bearing' substance--not some evil being of religious mythology.
David Grinspoon comments on the historical aspects of the word as
follows: "The origin of the Judeo-Christian Devil as an angel fallen from
heaven into the depths of hell is mirrored in the descent of Venus from shining
morning star to the darkness below. This underworld demon, still feared today
by people in many parts of the world, is also called Lucifer, which was
originally a Latin name for Venus as a morning star." (Venus Revealed
p. 17)
Immortal Kiss,
~Vicutus~
Used with kind permission by Vicutus Sekhemu
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