Would it surprise you to find out that the Bible actually refers to Jesus Christ himself as Lucifer?
Ask the average person on the street and they will tell you that Lucifer is the Devil, a fallen angel, cast out of heaven for some unknown sin who became Satan and took up residence ruling Hell. As is so often the case, there is much more to the story than what the word on the street might have us believe.
The concept of Lucifer actually presents an interesting linguistic and theological challenge that requires a review of words in at least three different languages, possibly four.
The word “Lucifer” appears five times in the Bible, but you won’t find him/it at all in your brand-new New International Version (NIV) bible or several other more recent translations.
To find Lucifer, you’re best stop is in a King James Version of the Bible. Look at Isaiah 14:12. That’s the only place in most English-language Bibles you’ll find mention of a Lucifer, if you are able to find one at all.
Why there, and why not in any newer Bibles?
Let’s examine what Isaiah, one of the key prophets of the Old Testament, has to say in chapter 14, verses 12-14. First, here’s what the NIV says:
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.'”
Now, here’s the King James Version:
“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! For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God: I will sit also upon the mount of the congregation, in the sides of the north: I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will be like the most High.”
So where did Lucifer come from? Blame it on St. Jerome.
The book of Isaiah and the entire Old Testament was originally written in Hebrew, hundreds of years before the birth of Christ. Around the year 382, some three and a half centuries after the crucifixion of Jesus, a monk named Jerome was commissioned by the church in Rome to translate the entire Bible into Latin. For centuries, this bible, known as “Jerome’s Vulgate” simply “the Vulgate,” was the official Bible of Christianity. In Latin, the word “lucifer” translates as “bright star” or “morning star.” So, naturally, Jerome and his fellow monks used the word “lucifer” in Isaiah chapter 14 and a couple of other places.
Now flash forward to the early 1600s. Newly-crowned King James of England is looking for a way to consolidate disputing theological camps within his kingdom. What better way than to create a new bible, in the common tongue, one that everyone can use? Using the Vulgate and other materials available at the time – but probably little to no early Hebrew texts — the translators of the King James Version identified the word “lucifer” as a proper name in that chapter of Isaiah, rather than translate it as morning star.
Hundreds of years later, as the Dead Sea Scrolls and other early Hebrew texts become available, Bible translators decide that a better English translation of Isaiah 14:12 would be to drop the word Lucifer and go back to using “star.
So what, then, is the Isaiah 14 passage really all about? Is it about an angel being cast out of heaven? Well, it could be, but it could also refer to that nasty old king of Babylon: the same kingdom that wiped out the kingdom of Israel, threw Daniel into a lion’s den and ignored the writing on the wall.
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.”
Now, back to where we started: what’s this about referring to Jesus as “lucifer?” How can that be?
Remember now, “lucifer” refers to a “bright star” and the author of 2 Peter uses just that phrase, writing in Koine Greek where it originally is “phosphoros,” as a reference to the Christ. Here’s 2 Peter 1:19 in the NIV:
And we have the word of the prophets made more certain, and you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a light shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts.
The King James translators chose to translate the word “lucifer” in the second epistle of Peter, rather than use it as a proper name. But in Latin, 2 Peter 1:19 still includes the word “lucifer” in many latin translations.
