"How art thou fallen from heaven
O day-star, son of the morning! (Helel ben Shahar)
How art thou cast down to the ground,
That didst cast lots over the nations!
And thou saidst in thy heart:
'I will ascend into heaven,
Above the stars of God (El)
Will I exalt my throne;
And I will sit upon the mount of meeting,
In the uttermost parts of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High (Elyon).'
Yet thou shalt be brought dow to the nether-world,
To the uttermost parts of the pit."
- Isaiah 14:12-15
In Christian tradition, this passage is proof for the fall of Lucifer. However, it may be that this passage is an allusion to a Canaantie or Phoenician myth about Helel, who is the son of the god Shahar. Helel sought the throne of the chief god and was cast down into the abyss because of this. El, Elyon, and Shahar are members of the Canaanite pantheon, while the "mount of meeting" is the abode of the gods, which corresponds to Mount Olympus in Greek mythology. There is a Ugaritic poem about two divine children, Shachar (dawn) and Shalim (dusk), who were born as the result of the intercourse of the god El with mortal women. There are, however, no Canaanite sources that tell about Helel ben Shahar or a revolt against Elyon.
Many Apocalyptic writers interpreted this passage as referring to Lucifer, and wrote about the fall of the angels. 1 Enoch refers to the falling angels as stars (see the watchers) and may be the beginning of the overlap between the story of the watchers and Isaiah.
The name 'Lucifer' means light-bearer, and is not used in the New Testament, where the "bearer of light" is Christ. He was once one of the Seraphim (sometimes called the fiery, flying serpents).
Later authors, such as St. Jerome, associate Ezekial 28:13-15 with Lucifer, the greatest of the fallen angels. It has been argued that this passage was actually addressed to Nebuchadrezzar.
"You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your adornment:
Carnelian, chrysolite, and amethyst;
Beryl, lapis lazuli, and jasper;
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald;
And gold beautifully wrought for you,
Mined for you, prepared the day you were created.
I created you as a cherub
With outstretched shielding wings;
And you resided on God's holy mountain;
You walked among stones of fire.
You were blameless in your ways,
From the day you were created
Until wrongdoing was found in you
By your far-flung commerce
You were filled with lawlessness
And you sinned.
So I have struck you down
From the mountain of God,
And I have destroyed you, O shielding cherub,
From among the stones of fire."
Later interpretations of the fall tell that Lucifer was upset because God the Father made Lucifer's brother, Jesual, the Son. From his head, he gave birth to Sin, and by copulating with her, fathered Death. He was then cast out of heaven.
There are characters similar to Lucifer in other mythologies. In Egypt, there is a serpent god, Sata, whi is father of lightning and who likewise fell to earth. A Babylonian god, Zu, was also a lightning god who fell as a fiery flying serpent.
O day-star, son of the morning! (Helel ben Shahar)
How art thou cast down to the ground,
That didst cast lots over the nations!
And thou saidst in thy heart:
'I will ascend into heaven,
Above the stars of God (El)
Will I exalt my throne;
And I will sit upon the mount of meeting,
In the uttermost parts of the north;
I will ascend above the heights of the clouds;
I will be like the Most High (Elyon).'
Yet thou shalt be brought dow to the nether-world,
To the uttermost parts of the pit."
- Isaiah 14:12-15
In Christian tradition, this passage is proof for the fall of Lucifer. However, it may be that this passage is an allusion to a Canaantie or Phoenician myth about Helel, who is the son of the god Shahar. Helel sought the throne of the chief god and was cast down into the abyss because of this. El, Elyon, and Shahar are members of the Canaanite pantheon, while the "mount of meeting" is the abode of the gods, which corresponds to Mount Olympus in Greek mythology. There is a Ugaritic poem about two divine children, Shachar (dawn) and Shalim (dusk), who were born as the result of the intercourse of the god El with mortal women. There are, however, no Canaanite sources that tell about Helel ben Shahar or a revolt against Elyon.
Many Apocalyptic writers interpreted this passage as referring to Lucifer, and wrote about the fall of the angels. 1 Enoch refers to the falling angels as stars (see the watchers) and may be the beginning of the overlap between the story of the watchers and Isaiah.
The name 'Lucifer' means light-bearer, and is not used in the New Testament, where the "bearer of light" is Christ. He was once one of the Seraphim (sometimes called the fiery, flying serpents).
Later authors, such as St. Jerome, associate Ezekial 28:13-15 with Lucifer, the greatest of the fallen angels. It has been argued that this passage was actually addressed to Nebuchadrezzar.
"You were in Eden, the garden of God;
Every precious stone was your adornment:
Carnelian, chrysolite, and amethyst;
Beryl, lapis lazuli, and jasper;
Sapphire, turquoise, and emerald;
And gold beautifully wrought for you,
Mined for you, prepared the day you were created.
I created you as a cherub
With outstretched shielding wings;
And you resided on God's holy mountain;
You walked among stones of fire.
You were blameless in your ways,
From the day you were created
Until wrongdoing was found in you
By your far-flung commerce
You were filled with lawlessness
And you sinned.
So I have struck you down
From the mountain of God,
And I have destroyed you, O shielding cherub,
From among the stones of fire."
Later interpretations of the fall tell that Lucifer was upset because God the Father made Lucifer's brother, Jesual, the Son. From his head, he gave birth to Sin, and by copulating with her, fathered Death. He was then cast out of heaven.
There are characters similar to Lucifer in other mythologies. In Egypt, there is a serpent god, Sata, whi is father of lightning and who likewise fell to earth. A Babylonian god, Zu, was also a lightning god who fell as a fiery flying serpent.
Lucifer: From Latin, Lux, Light, and Fero, to bear, - A Light Bearer. There is a name “Lucifuge” also employed occasionally, from Lux, Light, and Fugio, to fly from, - He who shuns the Light.
by Someone December 23, 2003
The creator who watches over us from heaven.
by someone June 23, 2004
by someone February 06, 2003
by Someone November 24, 2003
The Apocryphal Book of Enoch gives the following description of this monster's origins:
'And that day will two monsters be parted, one monster, a female named Leviathan in order to dwell in the abyss of the ocean over the fountains of water; and (the other), a male called Behemoth, which holds his chest in an invisible desert whose name is Dundayin, east of the garden of Eden.' - 1 Enoch 60:7-8
Leviathan was a large whale-like sea creature, who may have had 7 heads according to some legends. A lengthy description of him comes from the Book of Job:
'His strong scales are his pride,
Shut up as with a tight seal.
One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.
They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like
the eyelids of the morning.
Out of his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
In his neck lodges strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immovable.
His heart is as hard as a stone,
Even as hard as a lower millstone.
When he raises himself up, the mighty fear;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.
He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.
The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
Nothing on earth is like him,
One made without fear.
He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the sons of pride.'
- Job 42:15-32
Also, according to Isaiah 27:1, on the Day of Judgement the Lord will slay Leviathan:
'In that day the Lord will punish,
With His great, cruel, mighty sword
Leviathan the Elusive Serpent--
Leviathan the Twisting Serpent;
He will slay the Dragon of the sea.'
According to a passage in the T.B. Baba Bathra (75a), at the time of the resurrection, Gabriel will fight against Leviathan and overcome.
However, in Psalms 74:26 God is praised as having crushed the heads of Leviathan:
'it was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan,
who left him as food for the denizens of the desert'
In Paradise Lost, Milton mentions Leviathan twice referring to his enormous size.
By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim the ocean-stream.
-Paradise Lost i, 200-203
Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait,
Tempest the ocean. There Leviathan,
Hugest of living creatures, on the deep
Stretched like a promontory, sleeps or swims,
And seems a moving land, and at his gills
Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out, a sea.
-Paradise Lost vii, 411-416
'And that day will two monsters be parted, one monster, a female named Leviathan in order to dwell in the abyss of the ocean over the fountains of water; and (the other), a male called Behemoth, which holds his chest in an invisible desert whose name is Dundayin, east of the garden of Eden.' - 1 Enoch 60:7-8
Leviathan was a large whale-like sea creature, who may have had 7 heads according to some legends. A lengthy description of him comes from the Book of Job:
'His strong scales are his pride,
Shut up as with a tight seal.
One is so near to another
That no air can come between them.
They are joined one to another;
They clasp each other and cannot be separated.
His sneezes flash forth light,
And his eyes are like
the eyelids of the morning.
Out of his mouth go burning torches;
Sparks of fire leap forth.
Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
As from a boiling pot and burning rushes.
His breath kindles coals,
And a flame goes forth from his mouth.
In his neck lodges strength,
And dismay leaps before him.
The folds of his flesh are joined together,
Firm on him and immovable.
His heart is as hard as a stone,
Even as hard as a lower millstone.
When he raises himself up, the mighty fear;
Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin.
He regards iron as straw, Bronze as rotten wood.
The arrow cannot make him flee;
Slingstones are turned into stubble for him.
Clubs are regarded as stubble;
He laughs at the rattling of the javelin.
His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
He makes the depths boil like a pot;
He makes the sea like a jar of ointment.
Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
One would think the deep to be gray-haired.
Nothing on earth is like him,
One made without fear.
He looks on everything that is high;
He is king over all the sons of pride.'
- Job 42:15-32
Also, according to Isaiah 27:1, on the Day of Judgement the Lord will slay Leviathan:
'In that day the Lord will punish,
With His great, cruel, mighty sword
Leviathan the Elusive Serpent--
Leviathan the Twisting Serpent;
He will slay the Dragon of the sea.'
According to a passage in the T.B. Baba Bathra (75a), at the time of the resurrection, Gabriel will fight against Leviathan and overcome.
However, in Psalms 74:26 God is praised as having crushed the heads of Leviathan:
'it was You who crushed the heads of Leviathan,
who left him as food for the denizens of the desert'
In Paradise Lost, Milton mentions Leviathan twice referring to his enormous size.
By ancient Tarsus held, or that sea-beast
Leviathan, which God of all his works
Created hugest that swim the ocean-stream.
-Paradise Lost i, 200-203
Wallowing unwieldy, enormous in their gait,
Tempest the ocean. There Leviathan,
Hugest of living creatures, on the deep
Stretched like a promontory, sleeps or swims,
And seems a moving land, and at his gills
Draws in, and at his trunk spouts out, a sea.
-Paradise Lost vii, 411-416
Leviatan: From Hebrew, LVIThN (usually written Leviathan instead of Leviatan), - the Crooked or Piercing Serpent or Dragon.
by Someone December 23, 2003
by Someone November 09, 2002