The character of so-called “Lucifer” is also based on yet another misinterpretation. The name Lucifer is derived from the Latin words lux/lucis (light), and ferre (bring, or to bear), which translates as “light-bearer,” “morning star,” “day star,” or “shining one.” It is a designation that is influenced by the following passage:
O how you have fallen from heaven, you shining one [lucifer], son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the earth, you who were disabling the nations.—Isaiah 14:12
However, what is not commonly understood about this passage is that it does not actually refer to the devil. At the beginning of this proverb (Isaiah 14:4), it is reported that this particular taunt was directed at “the king of Babylon.” This is who the “son of the dawn” originally referred to. Therefore, the word that is sometimes translated as “Lucifer” (from the original Hebrew word he lel) was not originally a name. The author was actually conveying the point that although the king may have once been as glorious as the morning star, his shinning splendor had been brought to an end. It was during a later time that the character of Lucifer as a fallen light-bearer, who was the one-and-only devil, developed. This deviation did not occur until the New Testament era (2 Corinthians 11:14), where Satan is described as an “angel of light” (aggelon photos), who was seen falling “like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18).
O how you have fallen from heaven, you shining one [lucifer], son of the dawn! How you have been cut down to the earth, you who were disabling the nations.—Isaiah 14:12
However, what is not commonly understood about this passage is that it does not actually refer to the devil. At the beginning of this proverb (Isaiah 14:4), it is reported that this particular taunt was directed at “the king of Babylon.” This is who the “son of the dawn” originally referred to. Therefore, the word that is sometimes translated as “Lucifer” (from the original Hebrew word he lel) was not originally a name. The author was actually conveying the point that although the king may have once been as glorious as the morning star, his shinning splendor had been brought to an end. It was during a later time that the character of Lucifer as a fallen light-bearer, who was the one-and-only devil, developed. This deviation did not occur until the New Testament era (2 Corinthians 11:14), where Satan is described as an “angel of light” (aggelon photos), who was seen falling “like lightning from heaven” (Luke 10:18).
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