Lucifer

Stephen P. Willis
Melbourne, Florida

This name for Satan - as men so think - has no biblical authority whatsoever, although the Bible is commonly given as its source. There is only one mention of a Lucifer in the King James Version, and it does not refer to Satan, but to the king of Babylon. Isa. 14:12 reads: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how are thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!" A better translation of Lucifer would be "shining one" or "day star." (The British still understand this meaning of Lucifer, but it would appear few Americans do.) Verse 16 calls Lucifer a man; verse 4 says that the saying is "against the king of Babylon." A study of the context often clears misunderstandings.

Truth Magazine XXIII: 33, p. 537
August 23, 1979