Editors’ Note:
We received last week an interesting question regarding our use of the word “Lucifer.” We are sharing our response with you:
In the Hebrew, the word translated as “Lucifer” in the King James Bible and many other translations, is “helel,” or “heylel,” and means, according to Strong’s, Young’s, and other commentaries, “lightbringer,” “shining one,” “morning star”,” or “shining star of the dawn.”
The word “Lucifer” is the Latin translation of the Hebrew word, “helel,” or “heylel,” conveying exactly the same meaning. So it is appropriate to use this word, describing the cherub who later became “Satan.” God uses many times names to describe the character of an individual. “Satan,” by the way, is the English translation of the Hebrew word, “sawtwan.”
Most words in the English language, designating names, are TRANSLATIONS from the Hebrew and the Greek — they are NOT the original words. Even “Christ” is a translation of the Greek word, “khristos.” It means, “the Anointed One.”
Also, the expressions are still different, when looking at other languages. In German, for instance, the word for “khristos,” is “Christus.” The Germans pray to the “Vater,” English-speaking people pray to the “Father,” but in the Greek language, the word is, “pater” (spelled “pat-ayr.”). Jesus and Paul, by the way, used the Aramaic expression, “abba”, many times.
