Who was Lucifer?

[CheeseKing]

There are 2 sides on this. The most common view says that Lucifer was Satan, while other may say that it is a name of a babylonian king. I would like to hear your views and see why you believe him to be one of these. His name was only mentioned once, a name meaning "shining one, son of dawn".

Isaiah 14:12 "How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of morning!"

[EnterHisPresence]

While it's true, that God was addressing the king of Babylon as noted in Is 14:3, we know that in vs 12 God is comparing the king to Satan aka Lucifer. Look at what vs 12 says... 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! First the king has never been in Heaven that he could be cast down to earth. The word ground in vs 12 would probably have been better translated "earth." “Ground” is in the King James Version the translation of 'ădhāmāh, “the soil,” the ground so called from its red color, frequently also translated “earth” and “land."

Ezekiel 28:1-2, 11-17 is another comparison of Satan with an earthly ruler. These verses state, “The word of the LORD came to me; ‘Son of man, say to the ruler of Tyre, this is what the Sovereign LORD says: In the pride of your heart you say, I am a god; I sit on the throne of a god in the heart of the seas…” Ezekiel 28:11 continues the lament to the king of Tyre: “You were a model of perfection, full of wisdom and perfect in beauty, you were in Eden, the garden of God…You were anointed as a guardian cherub, for I so ordained you. You were on the holy mount of God…Your heart became proud on account of your beauty, and you corrupted your wisdom because of your splendor. So I threw you to the earth.”
The king of Tyre may have aspired to be a god and to sit on the throne of God, he was never anointed as a guardian cherub in the Garden of Eden, nor was there ever a time when he was on the holy mount of God. Satan, however, had been in the Garden of Eden and he had been on the holy mount of God. He is also the one who had been thrown down to earth. Jesus verified the fact that Satan had been cast down when he said in Luke 10:18, “I saw Satan fall like lightening from heaven.”

[zarxs]

Cheese it was either this site or another where I posted a really good presenation on this very subject. I wonder if I could find it again.

Here is part of the confusion...

In latin Shinning one translates to Lucifer.

In English Shinning one translates to Shinning one not Lucifer.

To clarify "Lucifer" is a Latin word.

[zarxs]

found it...

It was recently brought to my attention that the NIV and KJV disagreed on the use of the term "Morning Star" in several places. So I decided to do a little research. I found some interesting things. Here is one use...

NIV
Isa 14:12 How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!

KJV
Isa 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!

Isaiah 14:12
KJV: Lucifer
NIV: Morning Star

Research: Hebrew word H2122, used only once in the Bible. Closest literal translation or meaning is actually "Shineing One." Since the word is only used once in the entire Bible context of use is important. Based on the context of the passage, context of the Book of Isaiah (book of prophecy). The immediate context is spoken of affectionately. The "Shinning One" being spoken of is being raised up in the eyes of God, later caste down. This is much more likely to mean the King of Babalyon who God used to Crush the Jews enemies and later crush the wayward Jews when they would not turn back to God, then it is to be Satan. The King was spoken of often in the book of Isaiah used in this context. The KJV choice to use the word Lucifer which is Latin for "shineing one" which does not have to mean Satan, is very interesting because while it is an exact translation its a translation into Latin rather than into English. The NIV translates it to "Morning Star" while similar to "Shinning One" in terms of emotional appeal to Hebrew speakers, doesn't hold the same emotional appeal to Modern English speaking Christians. Whats more the word "Morning Star" already existed in Hebrew and they chose not to use it. So which would be more correct? In my opinion neither... Today, Lucifer only means "shineing one" in Latin and in English it mean Satan this is missleading because of the words previous flexible meaning in Latin. "Morning Star" is a little better as it captures the flexability and emotional appeal however it's not a literal translation either and I think the literal translation functions just fine. Personally I would have just translated it literally to "Shineing One" and left it at that.

What do you folks think?