The name Lucifer is often used in popular culture, with even a mainstream TV show taking the name. Yet, the origin of the name is complex and has developed over the centuries.
By Sanjoo Thangjam
Being a Buddhist, I never encountered or rather never gave great emphasis on the words Heaven or Hell because to us, these two practically do not exist as our lives lie completely on Karma we did or do – the action.
Karma to put it simply or scientifically – For every action we do or did, there’s always an equal and opposite reaction to it.
But the word or name Lucifer sounds familiar to me. So I found out that he played a major role in Christian faith though they seldom used his name.
Who is Lucifer?
Some biblical scholars, however, claim Lucifer isn’t a proper name but a descriptive phrase meaning “morning star.” Still, the name stuck and the Devil is often referred to as Lucifer.
Names for the Devil are numerous: Besides Lucifer, he may be referred to as the Prince of Darkness, Beelzebub, Mephistopheles, Lord of the Flies, the Antichrist, Father of Lies, Moloch or simply Satan, according to available sources.
The book of Ezekiel includes another Biblical passage Christians refer to as proof of the Devil’s existence. It admonishes the greedy King of Tyre but also refers to the king as a cherub who was once in the Garden of Eden. As a result, some Bible translators believe the King of Tyre was a personification of the Devil.
The Devil makes more appearances in the Bible, especially in the New Testament. Jesus and many of his apostles warned people to stay alert for the Devil’s cunning enticements that would lead them to ruin. And it was the Devil who tempted Jesus in the wilderness to “fall down and worship him” in exchange for riches and glory.
As a name for the Devil in Christian theology, the more common meaning in English, “Lucifer” is the rendering of the Hebrew word הֵילֵל, hêlēl, pronunciation: hay-lale) in Isaiah given in the King James Version of the Bible.
The translators of this version took the word from the Latin Vulgate, which translated הֵילֵל by the Latin word lucifer (uncapitalized), meaning “the morning star, the planet Venus”, or, as an adjective, “light-bringing”. As a name for the planet in its morning aspect, “Lucifer” (Light-Bringer) is a proper noun and is capitalized in English. In Greco-Roman civilization, it was often personified and considered a god and in some versions considered a son of Aurora (the Dawn). A similar name used by the Roman poet Catullus for the planet in its evening aspect is “Noctifer” (Night-Bringer). (Sourced from https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucifer)
The name Lucifer is often used in popular culture, with even a mainstream TV show taking the name. Yet, the origin of the name is complex and has developed over the centuries.
Lucifer is a Latin word that means “light bearer” and was originally the name for the planet Venus, known as the “morning star.” In the Old Testament the planet Venus is referred to under this name, but there is also a secondary meaning that is connected to the word.
In the book of Isaiah the corrupt King of Babylon is given this name.
“How you are fallen from heaven,
O Day Star [Lucifer], 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;
above the stars of God
I will set my throne on high;
I will sit on the mount of assembly
in the far north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds,
I will make myself like the Most High.’
But you are brought down to Sheol,
to the depths of the Pit.” (Isaiah 14:12-15)
The king was called to be a “light bearer,” but instead tried to be like God and “fell from heaven” and was condemned to “the Pit.”
For the unnamed “king of Babylon”, a wide range of identifications have been proposed.They include a Babylonian ruler of the prophet Isaiah’s own time,the later Nebuchadnezzar II, under whom the Babylonian captivity of the Jews began,
or Nabonidus, and the Assyrian kings Tiglath-Pileser, Sargon II and Sennacherib.Verse 20 says that this king of Babylon will not be “joined with them [all the kings of the nations] in burial, because thou hast destroyed thy land, thou hast slain thy people; the seed of evil-doers shall not be named for ever”, but rather be cast out of the grave, while “All the kings of the nations, all of them, sleep in glory, every one in his own house”.Herbert Wolf held that the “king of Babylon” was not a specific ruler but a generic representation of the whole line of rulers.
Isaiah 14:12 became a source for the popular conception of the fallen angel motif. Rabbinical Judaism has rejected any belief in rebel or fallen angels. In the 11th century, the Pirkei De-Rabbi Eliezer illustrates the origin of the “fallen angel myth” by giving two accounts, one relates to the angel in the Garden of Eden who seduces Eve, and the other relates to the angels, the benei elohim who cohabit with the daughters of man (Genesis 6:1–4).
An association of Isaiah 14:12–18 with a personification of evil, called the devil, developed outside of mainstream Rabbinic Judaism in pseudepigrapha and Christian writings,particularly with the apocalypses.
Lucifer is regarded within the Latter Day Saint movement as the pre-mortal name of the devil. Mormon theology teaches that in a heavenly council, Lucifer rebelled against the plan of God the Father and was subsequently cast out.The Doctrine and Covenants reads:
And this we saw also, and bear record, that an angel of God who was in authority in the presence of God, who rebelled against the Only Begotten Son whom the Father loved and who was in the bosom of the Father, was thrust down from the presence of God and the Son, and was called Perdition, for the heavens wept over him—he was Lucifer, a son of the morning. And we beheld, and lo, he is fallen! is fallen, even a son of the morning! And while we were yet in the Spirit, the Lord commanded us that we should write the vision; for we beheld Satan, that old serpent, even the devil, who rebelled against God, and sought to take the kingdom of our God and his Christ—Wherefore, he maketh war with the saints of God, and encompasseth them round about.
After becoming Satan by his fall, Lucifer “goeth up and down, to and fro in the earth, seeking to destroy the souls of men”.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints consider Isaiah 14:12 to be referring to both the king of the Babylonians and the devil.
THE FALL OF LUCIFER IN THE BIBLE
What is the rationale for the conclusion that these latter verses refer to the fall of Lucifer? Whereas the first ten verses in this chapter speak about the ruler of Tyre (who was condemned for claiming to be a god though he was just a man), the discussion moves to the king of Tyre starting in verse 11. Many scholars believe that though there was a human “ruler” of Tyre, the real “king” of Tyre was Satan, for it was he who was ultimately at work in this anti-God city and it was he who worked through the human ruler of the city.
Some have suggested that these verses may actually be dealing with a human king of Tyre who was empowered by Satan. Perhaps the historic king of Tyre was a tool of Satan, possibly even indwelt by him. In describing this king, Ezekiel also gives us glimpses of the superhuman creature, Satan, who was using, if not indwelling, him.
Now, there are things that are true of this “king” that—at least ultimately—cannot be said to be true of human beings. For example, the king is portrayed as having a different nature from man (he is a cherub, verse 14); he had a different position from man (he was blameless and sinless, verse 15); he was in a different realm from man (the holy mount of God, verses 13,14); he received a different judgment from man (he was cast out of the mountain of God and thrown to the earth, verse 16); and the superlatives used to describe him don’t seem to fit that of a normal human being (“full of wisdom,” “perfect in beauty,” and having “the seal of perfection,” verse 12 NASB).
(The writer is a journalist based in Imphal)