Lucifer

Lucifer (LEW-sif-ər) is the King James Version rendering of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל in Isaiah 14:12. This word, transliterated hêlêl or heylel, occurs only once in the Hebrew Bible and according to the KJV based Strong’s Concordance means “shining one, light bearer”. The word Lucifer is taken from the Latin Vulgate, which translates הֵילֵל as lucifer, [Isa 14:12] meaning “the morning star, the planet Venus,” or, as an adjective, “light-bringing”. The Septuagint renders הֵילֵל in Greek as ἑωσφόρος (heōsphoros), a name, literally “bringer of dawn,” for the morning star.

Later Christian tradition came to use the Latin word for “morning star,” lucifer, as a proper name (“Lucifer”) and a by-word for Satan/the Devil in the church and in popular literature, as in Dante Alighieri’s Inferno and John Milton’s Paradise Lost. However, the Latin word never came to be used almost exclusively, as in English, in this way, and was applied to others also, including Jesus. The image of a morning star fallen from the sky is generally believed among scholars to have a parallel in Canaanite mythology.

However, according to both Christian and Jewish exegesis, in the Book of Isaiah, chapter 14, the King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar II, conqueror of Jerusalem, is condemned in a prophetic vision by the prophet Isaiah and is called the “Morning Ha” (planet Venus). In this chapter the Hebrew text says הֵילֵל בֶּן-שָׁחַר (Helel ben Shaḥar, “shining one, son of the morning”). “Helel ben Shaḥar” may refer to the Morning Star, but the text in Isaiah 14 gives no indication that Helel was a star or planet.

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Author: Wikipedia

Keywords: Lucifer, Lucifer Satan, Lucifer devil, Satan, Devil, Lucifer Venus, Venus, Morning star, Shining star, Morningstar, Venus morning star, Fallen star, Shining one, Lucifer shining one, Lucifer morning star, light bearer, Planet Venus, Daystar, Day star, King of Babylon, Devil and Satan, Fallen angel, Rebellion in heaven, Satan led a rebellion, Satan led a heavenly rebellion, Heavenly rebellion, War in heaven, angels cast out of heaven, King of the demons

Bible reference(s): Isaiah 14:12-17

Source: This article uses material from the Wikipedia article “Lucifer,” which is released under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike License 3.0.

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