The Mad Star

Isaiah 14:12 “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!”

(Even if one is not a KJB’er, stick around because my translation notes are relatively short & their is edification for all believers in this post. I do not include macrons or symbols above the hebrew or greek words, I do not know how on this website, but the words are accompanied by Strong’s Concordance reference numbers)

Anyone who has engaged in the KJB vs the rest debate should be familiar with the issue of modern translations & Isaiah 14:12. A majority of modern translations substitute “Lucifer” with “morning star” or “day star.”

The primary debate is that both substitute terms used by many modern translators refer to the Lord Jesus Christ in the New Testament (2 Peter 2:9; Rev 22:16). That is evidence enough against modern translations from my estimation. I will offer something more though.

In the Bible, God provides the proper names of people & places. Sometimes He gives us the name meaning along with the name, but for most proper names the English reader has to refer to a concordance. Why would modern translators chose only one name (Lucifer) out of the entire Bible & only give the name meaning, but not the name itself? That is inconsistent.

Lucifer appears once in scripture in the KJB, Geneva & Wycliffe Bible. The hebrew word is “heylel” (H1966). Strong’s concordance says it means “morning star,” refer back to the paragraph above. One question for both KJB’ers or MT’ers should be, how is the name Lucifer a name for the devil? In Isaiah 14, it speaks of the King of Babylon? There are several reasons (the examples at the end of this article also infer it), but for beginners in Isaiah 14 we can tell God speaks of more than the King of Babylon:

Isaiah 14:29 “Rejoice not thou, whole Palestina, because the rod of him that smote thee is broken: for out of the serpent’s root shall come forth a cockatrice, and his fruit shall be a fiery flying serpent.”

Thus, Isaiah 14 speaks of the fall of the King of Babylon & includes breaking the Assyrian (Babylon included Assyria in their empire)–then we have the mention of the “serpent’s root.” Full stop. Let us address the common scholarly claim that Satan is not the same Satan throughout scripture. They claim the proper name is instead a general term for an adversary & Satan refers different entities throughout scripture. Satan is the same Satan & the serpent is Satan:

Revelation 12:9 “And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.”

Revelation 20:9 “And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,”

Now for a very interest thing involving the Geneva Bible. For starters, the KJB translators did not claim all prior English translations bad translations; in fact, their goal was to make “one principal good one.” They succeeded, for even MT advocates use the KJB as the standard for comparison. James White wrote The King James Only Controversy–not the NIV or ESV or NLT or NASB controversy.

In the Geneva Bible, which also uses the name Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12, there is an interesting expository footnote which includes, “…for the morning star that goeth before the sun, is called Lucifer, to whom Nebuchadnezzar is compared.”

Here is how that exposition ties in: the name heylel (H1966) is a derivative of halal (H1984). The term halal is used 165 times & the KJB translators rendered it most often as “praise,” but also sometimes as “glory” or “shine” (amongst 13 different renderings). The interesting thing in relation to the Geneva footnote is that KJB translators rendered halal as “mad” (as in insane) several occasions. Well…what happened to Nebuchadnezzar?

Daniel 4:33 “The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar: and he was driven from men, and did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hairs were grown like eagles’ feathers, and his nails like birds’ claws.”

Thus, the reason I used the term The Mad Star for the title.

Another interesting note in the study; the Romans called the planet, a”star” to them–Lucifer (one source–The Days of the Week by Isidore, bishop of Seville). If one looks up at the night sky & regards all the lights as stars; some stars have an erratic pattern (you could say mad pattern) in respect to other stars. In Jude 1:13 we encounter the phrase “…wandering stars…” which is planetes (G4107) aster (G792).

Like when the Lord Jesus turned water into wine, I saved the best for last in this article:

John 2:10 “And saith unto him, Every man at the beginning doth set forth good wine; and when men have well drunk, then that which is worse: but thou hast kept the good wine until now.”

I will transition from translations & interesting notes to the prime edification of Isaiah 14. To say prime edification–the material has to do with our Lord Jesus Christ. Whether it is a prophecy or portrait of the Lord Jesus Christ in the OT or as in the case of Isaiah 14–a contrast.

In Isaiah 14:19 Lucifer/the King of Babylon is referred to as an “..abominable branch…” ; whereas Jesus the King of kings:

Isaiah 11:1 “And there shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Branch shall grow out of his roots:”

Zechariah 6:12 “And speak unto him, saying, Thus speaketh the LORD of hosts, saying, Behold the man whose name is The BRANCH; and he shall grow up out of his place, and he shall build the temple of the LORD:”

John 2:19 “Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”

Also concerning the King of Babylon/Lucifer in the Isaiah 14:9 “Hell from beneath is moved for thee to meet thee at thy coming…” in contrast to the Lord Jesus:

Mark 16:19 “So then after the Lord had spoken unto them, he was received up into heaven, and sat on the right hand of God.”

In Isaiah 14:13-14, Lucifer exalts himself, whereas the Lord Jesus Christ:

Philippians 2:6 “Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:

7 But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:

8 And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross.

9 Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name:

10 That at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth;

11 And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.”

Note that Lucifer said in his heart: “.. I will exalt my throne above the stars of God…” (Isaiah 14:13). There are many places in scripture where stars & angels can be connected (e.g. Rev 12:4 with Rev 12:9 or Job 38:7 which includes “morning stars”–boqer (H1242) kowkab (H3556) in that case). Thus, exalting himself above the angels of God. That is a contrast with our Lord Jesus Christ:

Hebrews 1:6 “And again, when he bringeth in the firstbegotten into the world, he saith, And let all the angels of God worship him.”

Hebrews 2:9 “But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.”

Finally, even if MT’s render the name Lucifer as “morning star” or “day star” as a reference to the physical star or planet that we can observe rise in the sky; note the contrast to the where the true day star (the Lord Jesus Christ) arises:

2 Peter 1:19 “We have also a more sure word of prophecy; whereunto ye do well that ye take heed, as unto a light that shineth in a dark place, until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts:”

Luke 17:20 “And when he was demanded of the Pharisees, when the kingdom of God should come, he answered them and said, The kingdom of God cometh not with observation:

21 Neither shall they say, Lo here! or, lo there! for, behold, the kingdom of God is within you.”

Praise the Lord Jesus Christ.