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Isaiah 14:12 and Lucifer

Question 1: Isaiah 14:12 a in the KJV reads: "How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning!" In the NIV and other modern versions it reads "How you have fallen from heaven, O morning star, son of the dawn!" Doesn't this make the title of the devil very similar to that of Jesus as shown in Revelation 22:16, ". . . the bright Morning Star"?

A: First, though this passage is often related to Satan, and a similar thought is expressed in Luke 10:18 by Jesus, that was not its first meaning. It's primary meaning is given in Isaiah 14:4 which says that when Israel is restored they will "take up this taunt against the king of Babylon . . ." Verse 12 is a part of this taunt song. This passage refers first to the fall of that earthly king. There is no problem with also seeing the fall of Satan here metaphorically, though such doctrine should be founded on other passages. In addition, even if the passage is seen as referring to the devil in the first instance, the title "morning star" would refer to his state prior to his fall and not after.

How does the confusion in translating this verse arise? The Hebrew of this passage reads: "heleyl, ben shachar" which can be literally translated "shining one, son of dawn." This phrase means, again literally, the planet Venus when it appears as a morning star. In the Septuagint, a 3rd century BC translation of the Hebrew scriptures into Greek, it is translated as "heosphoros" which also means Venus as a morning star.

How did the translation "lucifer" arise? This word comes from Jerome's Latin Vulgate. Was Jerome in error? Not at all. In Latin at the time, "lucifer" actually meant Venus as a morning star. Isaiah is using this metaphor for a bright light, though not the greatest light to illustrate the apparent power of the Babylonian king which then faded. One can easily see how this metaphor would be seen as a reference to the devil in later times. It is unfortunate that the KJV used only the term Lucifer as a title, thus obsuring the metaphorical reference behind it. It is worthwhile noting, however, that in the 17th century, "lucifer" could still be used of the morning star, Venus, though its primary use had shifted to a reference to the devil.

We should always be aware that words change in meaning over time, so that an interpretation which may appear obvious to us could be completely different from what would have been seen by readers from a different time.

Saved by Faith Alone (Galatians 2:16 and James 2:24)

Question 2: Galatians 2:16 and James 2:24 appear to directly contradict. Do they actually contradict one another, and what is each saying?

A: Let's compare the two texts side by side. I'll use only the key portions of each text. To get the broader context, check the entire passage out in your Bible.

"So we, too, have put our faith in Christ Jesus that we may be justified by faith in Christ and not be observing the law, because by observing the law no one will be justified." Galatians 2:16b (NIV)

"You see that a person is justified by what he does and not be faith alone." James 2:24 (NIV)

The King James Version makes the contradiction clearer. It's also more literal.

". . . that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified." Galatians 2:16b (KJV)

"Ye see then how that by works a man is justified, and not by faith only." James 2:24 (KJV)

There are several words to consider when interpreting these verses. First faith. Faith can be understood both as "belief that" or as "trust in" or some combination of those. James, for example, uses the "belief that" meaning in 2:19. He expands this into a broader inclusion of trust in 2:22. To illustrate the difference consider someone at the top of a cliff looking at a rope which provides the only way down. The first "belief" is to say: "That rope is strong enough to hold a person my size." The second "belief" is to take hold of the rope and trust your body to it. Which kind of faith did Abraham show in the covenant? He believed and he acted. He didn't just say, "Yes, I know God could do all that." He also packed his stuff and headed off to Canaan. For Abraham, "belief that" because "trust in."

The word here translated "justify" also has a breadth of meaning which is hard to represent with one word. Let me try to illustrate with a chart:

James is certainly looking at the Christian experience from a different point of view than is Paul, but except for the use of the word "justify" few of us would see a contradiction here. For example, if you compare the last part of Galatians 5 and also Galatians 6 to James, Paul is saying much the same thing. Trouble is, people read the first part of Galatians and don't bother to look at the last, which emphasizes the fruit, thus they tend to see Paul as contradictory to James. They are different for certain, but combined they provide a fuller message. I see this as important to an understanding of the Bible. I don't try to make the Bible writers say the same thing. If James and Paul said the same thing, why would we need both? But there's a difference between a variety of points of view and contradictions.

Now let's compare a couple of other translations of the passages to compare approaches to this passage:

"So, we have believed in Christ Jesus, that we might be accepted by God because of our faith in Christ--and not because we have obeyed the law. For no one will ever be saved by obeying the law." Galatians 2:16 (NLT)

"So you see, we are made right with God by what we do, not be faith alone." James 2:24 (NLT)

I like the way the Contemporary English Version renders the two passages. They seem to catch both the flexibility of the word "faith" and of the word "justify."

"So we put our faith in Christ Jesus, and God accepted us because of our faith." Galatians 2:16 (CEV)

"You can now see that we please God by what we do and not only by what we believe." James 2:24 (CEV)

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