Morning Star

A while back I heard that Lucifer meant morning star and shortly after that in Church we sang the hymn "Oh Morning Star", which is about Jesus, which got me thinking about why Jesus and Satan would have the same title.  The clearest passage in the Bible about what or who the morning star is, is in Revelation 22:16, where Jesus states, “I am the root and the descendant of David, the bright morning star.” This phrase is two words in the Greek that actually mean “morning" and "star”, or “star that is in the morning”.

The greek word for star used here is “aster” which is the root for astronomy, asteroid, astronaut, etc…. The greek word "proinos" means morning, but has connotations of “of the morning”, such as proinos kafes meaning morning coffee or coffee of the morning. Proinos aster is the “star of the morning”, or “morning star.”

The first part of the verse obviously points to Jesus as the messiah, or Christ, in which he is the fulfillment of the old testament prophecies. Stars represent glory, as mentioned in 1 Corinthians 15:41, which talks literally of stars. Stars are often a sign of royalty. The star fulfills the prophecy as well from Numbers 24:17 about Jesus, "There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a sceptre shall rise out of Israel." This was fulfilled at Jesus birth in Matthew 2 as what the wise men followed to find the baby Jesus. Therefore, it represented to them a new king being born. The morning star, in particular, has commonly held meaning of brightness, beauty, glory, and, as the bringer of the day, is the bringer of light, life, and joy. It prophecies the return of the king for his new unending rule. Therefore, in context, this verse appears to be talking about the last day being the dawn of salvation and the new day is new creation, that Jesus ushers in.

This phrase of morning star is only used one other time in the NT, which is also in revelation.  Revelation 2:26a,28 reads, "To the one who is victorious and does my will to the end, …I will also give that one the morning star." This is promising that Jesus will give himself to whoever perseveres and overcomes.  Basically, whoever remains faithful to the last day.

A phrase that is translated the same into English, but is different in the Greek, is used in 2 Peter 1:19, "And we have the prophetic word more fully confirmed, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts".  The Greek word used here is “Phosphorus.” This actually means "light bringer" and is the Greek name for the planet Venus in the early morning hours, when it is the last star in the sky. Venus is the brightest and closest object int he night sky after the moon.

2 Peter is written to people who are already Christian, so this is not discussing coming to faith.  It is saying that becoming a believer is the like the early morning, but the resurrection of the dead is the fullness of the day. The Word of God is our lamp, our light, until the fuller light of day dawns upon the soul. This fuller light of day is the the last day. As 1 Corinthians 13:12 says, "For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known." These three verses in the New Testament that discuss the morning star are what are drawn upon for the hymn (shown at the bottom of the page).

The angels have also been referred to as stars. The good angels are called morning stars (Job 38:7) because they are full of glory, shining bright in heaven and bear some likeness to God, who is the principle morning star. The Greek translation of the Old Testament (the Septuagint), translates that the same as the use in Revelation. The Greek word for star (aster), is also intermittently used throughout Revelation 8-12, discussing a star that fell from heaven, meaning Satan, and the dragon swept a third of the stars out of the sky, meaning the angels that fell with him.

Isaiah 14:12, also uses the English phrase morning star, "How you have fallen from heaven, morning star, son of the dawn! You have been cast down to the earth, you who once laid low the nations!"  This phrase uses the Hebrew word, "helel", which means light-bringer, which usually refers to the planet Venus in the morning, although in this case has nothing to do with the Greek/Roman goddess Venus. The Septuagint translates it as phosphorus, the same as in 2 Peter. Both of those verses (Isaiah and 2 Peter) are translated in Latin (the Vulgate) as Lucifer, which means, light-bringer, bringer of the morning, shining one, flash forth light, or light of celestial bodies. Obviously, they are talking about very different things though.

Isaiah 14 is discussing the leader of Babylon falling, but it is commonly understood to also be a reference to the fall of Satan. This is why he is referred to as Lucifer.  Also, revelation 8-12 discussing him as a star, as mentioned above, is probably a reference to this verse in Isaiah. This verse is a mythological allusion to an ancient, and mostly lost, Canaanite myth about a young god named “son of Dawn”, whose father, “Dawn” was the son of the high god El. He was expelled from heaven for overreaching his station. That myth influenced the Greek myth of Phaethon, who was a presumptuous young god thrown down to the earth by Zeus because he attempted to join the pantheon. In both myths, a young god tried to scale heaven and was cut down and sent to Hades. This relates the God's causing the fall of the king of Babylon, who tried to set himself up as a god. It also relates to Satan, who revolted in heaven and was cast down to Hell.

     

On a side note, the element Phosphorus was named after this star because it is highly reactive and unstable in its pure form, and so it glows when exposed to oxygen. It even undergoes combustion in water due to oxidation. It is what is used in the head of matches to light them.

On another side note, the Morning Star is the name of a weapon, whose head looks like star. The legend is that medieval "medics" carried them out onto the battlefield the morning after the battle and used them to put the wounded left out there out of their misery.

On a third side note, there is an investment research company named Morningstar Inc., which got its name from the last line of the book Walden, by Henry David Thoreau, “Only that day dawns to which we are awake. There is more day to dawn. The sun is but a morning star.” This is referring to new beginnings.