“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!
The setting is God's judgment on Babylon, and at its centre comes this cry over a light that dropped out of the sky. Two questions hang over the verse: who is addressed, and how did something so bright end up on the ground?
The Name Behind "Day Star"
The familiar name "Lucifer" is not Hebrew. Older English versions read "Lucifer, son of the morning" where the ESV has "Day Star, son of Dawn":
Morrish Bible DictionaryThe name means "light-bringer" in Latin. It translates the Hebrew word helel, which is linked with "morning star." It is given in irony to the king of Babylon, because in his pride he said he would exalt his throne above the stars of God. He resembles the leader of this world in the last days (Revelation 13:1-10).
Who Is Addressed
Commentators differ here. One reading keeps the address on a man: the ruler who holds the power Nebuchadnezzar once held, and who falls at the moment Israel is delivered:
William KellyThe king of Babylon is meant here, the final holder of the power that was first placed in the hands of Nebuchadnezzar. It is the last head of the beast (Revelation 17). The context assumes that his destruction happens at the same time as the deliverance and blessing of Israel. In any full sense the scene is still future. Calling Satan "Lucifer" probably has no ground, except in the imagination of poets or the mistaken readings of early church writers.
Others hear a second voice in the passage, arguing that the words outrun any human king and describe the power standing behind him:
The Bible TreasuryEven when the prophet announces God's judgment on ancient, pagan Babylon, the Holy Spirit looks forward to the symbolic Babylon that Nebuchadnezzar's city only pictured… The prophet's language goes beyond a simple description of that pagan king and his city… Lucifer, son of the morning, seems to be a reference to what Satan was before he fell. The words of his heart, "above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will make myself like the Most High," are the pride that caused his fall.
Pride as the Root
On the reading that sees Satan here, one thing lies at the root, and everything else grows out of it:
J. T. MawsonHis sin began with pride. Out of that came the determination to be independent of God, and to be as God. He would rule a kingdom of his own, a kingdom of darkness, with the knowledge of God completely shut out. This kingdom carries the character of its founder. By its very nature it must oppose God and His kingdom in everything.
The Irony of the Fall
The order of events is what stings: he gets what he wanted, for a short time, and that is what ruins him.
F. B. HoleThe man called "the beast" will do homage to the devil and get the kingdom for a brief spell. For that same brief spell Satan will be openly acknowledged as "god," and so will seem to achieve what he has wanted from the beginning. We find a prophetic reference to it in Isaiah 14:12-14. "I will ascend… I will make myself like the Most High." Yet the result is, "How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn!" Reaching his cherished desire is the prelude to his fall.
"You Who Laid the Nations Low"
One writer holds the two readings together: the king who laid the nations low is Satan's instrument. When he falls, the whole earth feels it:
The Bible TreasuryThe king of Babylon is only Satan's instrument… And when he is laid low, the earth is at rest. Does this not look forward to millennial rest, when Satan will be bound for a thousand years? (Isaiah 14:4-20.)
The Other Morning Star
Scripture has another day-star, and the two could not be more different:
William KellyThe day-star of the prophetic word is far from being Christ. He is Christ's enemy — the king of Babylon, the enemy of the Lord of glory, destined for destruction by the power of God. In Christ we find the glory of One who is above the sun, moon, and stars. He has no need to say in His heart, "I will make myself like the Most High." For He was and is the Most High — the lowly Man who once came into this world, by suffering in atonement to put away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. He snatched at no glory that was not His. He stooped down and gave up His own glory for God's glory, obeying even to death on the cross.
Summary
- Name. "Day Star" translates helel, "light-bringer" — a title handed out in irony to a king who wanted his throne above the stars of God.
- Ambition. Pride is the root; from it grows the demand to be independent of God and to rule a rival kingdom of darkness.
- Reach. Commentators differ. Some hold that the king of Babylon is meant, the last holder of imperial power. Others hear behind him what Satan was before he fell.
- Reversal. Getting what he wanted is not the triumph but the trigger. The height he reaches measures the drop to the ground.
- Rest. When the one who laid the nations low is himself laid low, the earth is quiet. The true Morning Star, who snatched at no glory but stooped to the cross, is the One left shining.