How The Devil Ended Up Being Called Lucifer

Lucifer! Now there's a scary name known to most of us. Why do we connect it to Satan, the Devil or the Prince of darkness? It all started with the Bible and a Latin translation some 1800 years ago.

The children of Israel were enslaved for seventy years during the years of the Assyrian and Babylonian empires toward the end of the eighth and the beginning of the seventh centuries before Christ. In chapter 14  the prophet predicts the fall of the two empires and salvation for the people of Israel. In his oracle about Babylonia we come across a very strange passage from which comes the name Lucifer.

"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; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the 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 far reaches of the pit.

Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: 'Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?'

All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot - Isaiah 14:12-19, ESV.

So where is Lucifer? The new King James Version, following the earlier KJV, translates v. 14 this way:

"How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!How you are cut down to the ground, You who weakened the nations!"

 Lucifer? It's Latin for Bearer of Light, the Latin name for Venus, goddess of love, fertility, war, etc. (Greek: Aphrodite). She was the goddess of many names. She's also known in the Bible as Ishtar or Astarte, Astaroth and the Queen of heaven, that frivolous and promiscuous goddess, beloved by men and gods. See Judges 10:6, 1 Sam. 7:3-4, 12:10, 31:10, Jeremiah 7:18 and Jeremiah 44:17-25.


Every 19 years or so the planet we know as Venus appears on our horizon as the sun is setting. The Latin speaking peoples called this star Vesperus, the evening star. In a few weeks the same planet appears just before sunrise. Thinking this was a different wandering star (planet means wanderer), they named it the Day Star or Light Bearer. Brightest of the stars after the sun and moon, they considered this to be the goddess Venus who brings light and love.

So how do we end up relating Lucifer to the devil? For starters Isaiah prophesies that the people of Israel will take up this "taunt" against the king of Babylon. The point to be made is mockery in the form of a parable, a Mashal in Hebrew. What we seem to have is a parable drawn from the mythology of the Babylonians, Assyrians and Canaanites. Does it speak about the rebellion of the devil in heaven and his being cast out of the heavens above only to be confined to the earth and the deep pits of Sheol? There are some who believe this to be an accurate description of that event before Adam and Eve were in the garden. That is doubtful, but often said. In any event, that exegesis and interpretation is disputed.

Jesus did speak about Satan's fall when he said, "I saw fall Satan like lightning from heaven" (Luke 10:18).  He also calls the devil the ruler of this world (John 12:31, 16:11). The Apostle John writes that "the devil has been sinning from the beginning" (1 John 3:8).

John's Revelation tells about the war in heaven when the dragon and his angels were defeated and thrown down to the earth where he continues the war (Revelation 12:7-9).

One thing is certain. The devil is real. He is truly the "ruler of this world" and the source of evil, death and rebellion against God. Jesus met him head on when the henchmen of the Sanhedrin captured Jesus and dragged him to their mock trial. He said, "But this is your hour, and the power of darkness"(Luke 22:53). The ruler of this world had no claim on Jesus, of course (John 14:30). In that hour that same ruler was defeated on the cross. And now we who have been called to faith in Jesus are delivered "from the domain of darkness and transferred to the kingdom of the Father's beloved Son (Colossians 1:13).

As we await our final deliverance, freedom and resurrection, we continue to pray, "Our Father, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen."