It is a story we are all familiar with. In Christianity, Satan was once an angel named Lucifer. But Lucifer fell from Heaven, and decided to malevolently retaliate against God. Since then, Satan has roamed the earth building up an army of evil spirits called demons. But how much of this fairytale is biblical?
As I have mentioned before, Satan is a creation of the early church. Satan never appears in the Old Testament. The closest we have is “The Satan” in Job, who does slightly parallel the figure from the aforementioned Christian fable. The Satan, literally the Adversary or Executioner, is a member of God’s divine council. His role is to test, tempt, or accuse human beings.
But Job never refers to the satan as Lucifer. And the name Lucifer only appears in one verse in a handful of translations (KJV is the primary culprit). Yet, if you ask anyone in our modern world to define Lucifer, the answer will be “Satan.”
It’s a rather odd and uncommon question to ask. My inspiration for this post is that I call one of my coworkers “Satan,” who in turn calls me Lukecifer. It’s a cool nickname and one that I wholly embrace (pun intended)… perhaps even more so now that I have done my research. Plus, it is always fun to deconstruct the tiniest lies Christianity has embedded in our culture.
The Passage in Question: Isaiah 14:12
“How did you come to fall from the heavens,
morning star, son of the dawn?
How did you come to be cut to the ground,
conqueror of nations?” Isaiah 14:12 CJB
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! Isaiah 14:12 KJV
Notice a difference? I sure do. Fundamentalists have a rather toxic love for the King James Version; it’s the oldest English version we have, so it must be the most accurate! Although the Shakespearean tone does make the Psalms more emotional, it falters in numerous ways. Isaiah 14:12 is one, breeding a baseless story that has become accepted as the norm.
It seems that the translator(s) of the KJV either did not know how to interpret Lucifer, forgot to translate it, or just thought it might sound cool. The text in its original Hebrew reads “helel ben-shahar.”1 Scholars frequently translate the word helel as “shining one,” “day star,” or “morning star.”2 The Septuagint, the earliest Greek translation of the Hebrew Bible we have, renders it heosphoros, meaning “dawn-bringer.”3
This is strikingly similar to the issue with the Adversary in Job. Both Satan and Lucifer in Job and Isaiah, respectively, seem to be nouns that were simply not translated. Satan in Job comes from the Hebrew ha-satan, while Lucifer in Isaiah comes from the Latin luceo, meaning “to shine.”4 That the name Lucifer comes from Latin, rather than Greek, Hebrew, or Aramaic, should be our first immediate clue that Christianity’s Satan/Lucifer theology is rather defective.
Here we encounter an issue of biblical literalism and dogmatism. Fundamentalists believe every word of the Bible, especially the English Bible, should be taken literally. Moreso, fundamentalists believe every word of the Bible deals with the mythical cosmic war between God and Satan. Thus, Isaiah 14:12, rather than dealing with astronomical metaphor, is depicting the literal fall of Lucifer, an angel, to the leader of the underworld, Satan. Far-fetched, isn’t it?
Finding Lucifer: Context is Key
The proper way we should read this verse is by examining it in light of the context of the full chapter. Perhaps more significantly, we need to read it as its original audience would have. Isaiah’s first Hebrew and Greek audiences would have never assumed the author is discussing Satan. The Lucifer title in 14:12 succinctly translates to, “Day Star, son of the Dawn.” Virtually all scholars agree that the author is describing the morning star, Venus.5
The major clue we find for interpreting the whole of Isaiah 14 is within in verse four. After a compassionate section describing Yahweh’s promise to the land of Jacob, the author states, “you will take up this taunt-song against the king of Bavel (Babylon).” The song begins, with our key verse centered right between a dichotomy of Sheol and the heavens. The author compares the evil Babylonian king to the morning star, which has “come to be cut to the ground” (Isa. 14:12). The chapter continues to explain how the great king, thinking he is god, will be sent to the depths of Sheol when he dies.
Ishtar or Lucifer?
As with all biblical research, it is helpful to compare and contrast the text with other literature that originated during this historical period. One helpful example is the Mesopotamian myth of Istar’s Descent to the Netherworld. The protagonist of this story, Istar or Ishtar (arguably from where the holiday name “Easter” is derived), is the Akkadian goddess of love, fertility, and sex.6 Istar is also frequently associated with the planet Venus.7 The Roman goddess Venus, for whom the planet is named, is Ishtar’s later, Roman counterpart, sharing the title of goddess of love, fertility, and sex.
An ancient tablet contains the story of Ishtar’s Descent to the Netherworld. The story describe Ishtar’s visitation of her sister, Ereshkigal, who then holds Ishtar captive in the underworld. Finally, with the world suffering from the lack of her presence and thus, love and fertility, the god Ea intervenes and persuades Ereshkigal to release Ishtar. This myth has frequently been used to explain the disappearance and reappearance of Venus from the night sky.
While Ishtar’s Descent to the Netherworld does not provide a perfect parallel for interpreting Isaiah 14:12, it does give us a hint as to why the Lucifer/Satan origin story became the accepted tradition. The problem we encounter in interpreting this verse is that Lucifer is a hapax legomenon, that is, a term which has only been recorded once.8 We find no other use of the term elsewhere in the Bible or extrabiblical literature of its time.
Why is any of this important?
The Bible is a powerful book; in many ways, it has shaped the world we live in. But Christianity abuses its power. It is quite obvious that the Christian religion fosters cultural, historical, and literary ignorance. Modern beliefs and convictions are seemingly jammed into the biblical narrative; for what purpose, other than to gain notoriety? This is just a small example of the church infecting Scripture with presuppositional thinking. Sadly, the same process results in Christians using the Bible to defend racism and push anti-LGBT+ propaganda.
Pastors who preach that Lucifer fell from heaven and became public enemy #1 should not be leading congregations of believers. This concept might make for a cheesy Christian Marvel movie, but it has nothing to do with faith, mitigating suffering, or living like Christ. As I stated, the danger of pushing this message is that it boosts ignorance. Christians trust their pastors to be experts in theology; instead, we are stuck with the doctrinal brainwashing of Jonathan Edwards centuries ago.
There are far more important things to be discussing with believers. Mythical, biblical fairy-tales are not one. If we give pastors and church leaders the authority to preach small messages like this, then it is no surprise that messages will also be taught on “God hating the gays.” This is not the way it should be. This is not what the authors of Scripture had in mind. The Bible intends to provide insight for spiritual healing; instead, we get pastors preaching farcical tales that have nothing to do with our lives on earth.
Conclusion
In the now-traditional understanding of Isaiah 14:12, Lucifer parallels the Icarus myth I discussed in my previous post. Lucifer was, according to mainstream Christianity, the name of Satan as an angel in heaven, and he was the greatest of them all. However, thanks to a severe increase in pride and hubris, Satan flew too close to God and fell to the underworld. While this makes for a neat Christian mythology, it is not biblical.
Lucifer is not synonymous with Satan. Lucifer is a word that was not translated, possibly due to the translators’ ignorance, the fact that the term is a hapax legomenon, or to fit the theology of the time. In the most literal sense, Lucifer is a reference to the morning star, Venus. The passage, or the chapter from whence it belongs, does not reference the fall of an angel called Lucifer. It certainly does not speak of the Christianized concept of a devil.
1 Youngblood, Ronald F. “Fallen Star.” Br, 12, 1998. 25, https://go.openathens.net/redirector/liberty.edu?url=https://www.proquest.com/magazines/fallen-star/docview/214716404/se-2.
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid., 26.
4. Peter Goeman, “Why Lucifer is Not Satan’s Name,” The Bible Sojourner, 2023, https://petergoeman.com/why-lucifer-is-not-satans-name/.
5. Quick, Laura. “Hêlēl Ben-Šaḥar and the Chthonic Sun: A New Suggestion for the Mythological Background of Isa 14:12-15.” Vetus Testamentum 68, no. 1 (2018): 129. https://www.jstor.org/stable/26566810.
6. Ibid., 131.
7. Ibid.
8. Ibid, 139.