Isaiah 14:12
in Isaiah 14How you have fallen from heaven, O day star, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O destroyer of nations.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
How art thou fallen from heaven, O day-star, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, that didst lay low the nations!
KJV
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! how art thou cut down to the ground, which didst weaken the nations!
⋯
This verse in Isaiah 14
Commentary
19 notes on this verseHow art thou fallen from heaven,.... This is not to be understood of the fall of Satan, and the apostate angels, from their first estate, when they were cast down from heaven to hell, though there may be an allusion to it; see Luk 10:18 but the words are a continuation of the speech of the dead to the king of Babylon, wondering at it, as a thing almost incredible, that he who seemed to be so established on the throne of his kingdom, which was his heaven, that he should be deposed or fall from it.
This site's exposition
How you have fallen from heaven
on Isaiah 14:12-15
"I will make myself like the Most High" reaches past any mortal throne. With Luke 10:18 and Ezekiel 28 beside it the text bears the fall of Satan behind the king. The name Lucifer is the Vulgate's Latin for the Hebrew helel, "day star," and the text allows both readings.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers5 voices
It is most clearly proved by these words that he who formerly was Lucifer and who "arose in the morning" has fallen from heaven. For if, as some suppose, he was a being of darkness, why is he said to have formerly been Lucifer or lightbearer? Or how could he "rise in the morning" who had in him no light at all?… So he was light once … when "his glory was turned into dust."
How can we possibly suppose that what is said in many places by Scripture, especially in Isaiah, about Nebuchadnezzar is said about a human being? For no human being is said to have "fallen from heaven" or to have been "Lucifer" or the one who "arose every morning."
For greater ease of understanding we translated this phrase as follows: "How you have fallen from heaven, Lucifer, who arose in the morning." But if we were to render a literal translation from the Hebrew, it would read, "How you have fallen from heaven, howling son of the dawn." Lucifer is also signified with other words. And he who was formerly so glorious that he was compared to a bearer of lightning is now told that he must weep and mourn. Just as Lucifer scatters the darkness, it says, glowing and shining with a golden hue, so also your stepping forth to the peoples and the public seemed like a shining star. But you who spoke with arrogance, who wounded the nations, fell to the earth. I have obtained so great a power that heaven should stand still for me, and the stars above deserve to be thrown under my feet. Nevertheless, the Jews wanted to be understood as the heaven and stars of God, inasmuch as it continues, "I will sit in the mount of the covenant," that is, in the temple where the laws of God are hidden, "and on the sides of the north," that is, in Jerusalem. For it is written, "Mount Zion, the sides of the north." Nor was his pride satisfied with desire for the heavens, but it would break forth with such madness that he would claim for himself likeness to God.
Lucifer fell, Lucifer who used to rise at dawn; and he who was raised in a paradise of delight had the well-earned sentence passed upon him: "Though you exalt yourself as the eagle, and though you set your nest among the stars, thence will I bring you down, says the Lord." For he had said in his heart, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God," and "I will be like the Most High."
(Verse 12) However, it is signified by other words, Lucifer; and it is said to him that he should weep and mourn, who once was so glorious, that he was compared to the brightness of Lucifer. As, it says, Lucifer dispelling the darkness, burning and ruddy he shines forth; so also your advancement among the people and the public seemed similar to a bright star; but you have fallen to the earth, O wounded conqueror of nations.
12 more voices on this verse
The Church Fathers3 voices
The Word clearly demonstrates many things in this passage: the lunacy of that spirit, his fall from what was good to what was bad, and the result of his fall. Having pronounced many terrible threats against humanity he realized that they had the possibility of falling into evil by virtue of their own free will. Therefore he turned them from a good state to a bad one, leading the many souls by the lure of desire to every fashion of evil. There was no device he did not attempt. With the myths of the gods and impure stories he tempted his victims with the things they loved and the things that gave them pleasure.… Soon, according to the blessed apostle, they no longer pondered the works of God that still illumined the heavens.
It was by a kind of strength that man offended, so as to require to be corrected by weakness: for it was by a certain "pride" that he offended; so as to require to be chastened by humility. All proud persons call themselves strong people. Therefore have many [others] "come from the East and the West" and have attained "to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac and Jacob, in the kingdom of heaven." Therefore, how was it that they so attained? Because they would not be strong. What is meant by "would not be strong"? They were afraid to presume of their own merits. They did not "go about to establish their own righteousness," that they might "submit themselves to the righteousness of God." … Behold! you are mortal; and you bear about you a body of flesh that is corrupting away: "And you shall fall like one of the princes. You shall die like human beings" and shall fall like the devil. What good does the remedial discipline of mortality do you? The devil is proud, as not having a mortal body, as being an angel. But as for you, who have received a mortal body, and to whom even this does no good, so as to humble you by so great weakness, you shall "fall like one of the princes." This then is the first grace of God's gift, to bring us to the confession of our infirmity, that whatever good we can do, whatever ability we have, we may be that in him; that "he that glories, may glory in the Lord." "When I am weak," he says, "then am I strong."
For example, what is said in Isaiah, "How he is fallen from heaven, Lucifer, son of the morning!" and the other statements in that context that speak of the king of Babylon are of course to be understood of the devil. However, the statement that is made in the same place, "He that sent orders to all nations is crushed on the earth," does not altogether fitly apply to the head himself.
The Medieval Church2 voices
Second, they reproach him with the glory he has lost. Both as to the dignity of the king: O Lucifer, beautiful among all other kings, in the morning, monarch before all others; and as to the power of war: how are you fallen to the …
The first among the Angels, Lucifer, presuming upon his private good, sought private excellence, wishing to be raised above the others; and therefore he fell together with the rest who consented to him. Falling, moreover, he became impenitent, obstinate and blinded and excluded from the …
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
Fallen - From the height of thy glory. Lucifer - Which properly is a bright star, that ushers in the morning; but is here metaphorically taken for the mighty king of Babylon.
), that they might not be able to make head against him. Such vast and victorious armies did he bring into the field, that, which way soever he looked, he made the earth to tremble, and shook kingdoms (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — leading-punctuation
Did ever any man fall from such a height of honour and power into such an abyss of shame and misery?" This has been commonly alluded to (and it is a mere allusion) to illustrate the fall of the angels, who were as morning stars ( Job xxxviii.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens+odd-straight-quotes
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
O Lucifer, son of the morning - The Versions in general agree in this translation, and render הילל heilel as signifying Lucifer, Φωσφωρος, the morning star, whether Jupiter or Venus; as these are both bringers of the morning light, or morning stars, annually in their turn. And although the context speaks explicitly concerning Nebuchadnezzar, yet this has been, I know not why, applied to the chief of the fallen angels, who is most incongruously denominated Lucifer, (the bringer of light!) an epithet as common to him as those of Satan and Devil.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
Lucifer--"day star." A title truly belonging to Christ (Re 22:16), "the bright and morning star," and therefore hereafter to be assumed by Antichrist. GESENIUS, however, renders the Hebrew here as in Eze 21:12;
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
How art thou fallen from heaven - A new image is presented here. It is that of the bright morning star; and a comparison of the once magnificent monarch with that beautiful star. He is now exhibited as having fallen from his place in the east to the earth. His glory is dimmed; his brightness quenched. Nothing can be more poetic and beautiful than a comparison of a magnificent monarch with the bright morning star! Nothing more striking in representing his death, than the idea of that star falling to the earth! Lucifer - Margin, ‘Day-star’ (הילל hēylēl, from הלל hâlal, “to shine”). The word in Hebrew occurs as a noun nowhere else. In two other places Eze 21:12; Zec 11:2, it is used as a verb in the imperative mood of Hiphil, and is translated ‘howl’ from the verb ילל yālal, “to howl” or “cry.” Gesenius and Rosenmuller suppose that it should be so rendered here. So Noyes renders it, ‘Howl, son of the morning!’ But the common translation seems to be preferable. The Septuagint renders it, Ἑωσφόρος Heōsphoros, and the Vulgate, ‘Lucifer, the morning star.’ The Chaldee, ‘How art thou fallen from high, who wert splendid among the sons of men.’ There can be no doubt that the object in the eve of the prophet was the bright morning star; and his design was to compare this magnificent oriental monarch with that. The comparison of a monarch with the sun, or the other heavenly bodies, is common in the Scriptures. Son of the morning - This is a Hebraism (see the note at Mat 1:1), and signifies that that bright star is, as it were, the production, or the offspring of morning; or that it belongs to the morning. The word ‘son’ often thus denotes possession, or that one thing belongs to another. […]
Modern Voices1 voice
It is the prince of the world; but it is also a usurper. So he will apprehend vaguely what the vision will give to him vividly; no less than all that strange story of treason in heaven and the great desertion by which evil damaged …
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
the stirring of your psalteries The psalteries and harps that used to play before you.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
11 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| אֵ֛יךְ | ʾeikh | how! | H349 → | 82 times |
| נָפַ֥לְתָּ | nafalta | you have fallen | H5307 → | 435 times |
| מִשָּׁמַ֖יִם | mishamayim | from heaven | H8064 → | 421 times |
| הֵילֵ֣ל | heilel | O shining one | H1966 → | |
| בֶּן־ | ben- | son of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| שָׁ֑חַר | shachar | dawn | H7837 → | 23 times |
| נִגְדַּ֣עְתָּ | nigda'ta | you have been cut down | H1438 → | 22 times |
| לָאָ֔רֶץ | laaretz | to the ground | H776 → | 2504 times |
| חוֹלֵ֖שׁ | cholesh | O defeater | H2522 → | |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | over | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| גּוֹיִֽם׃ | goyim | [the] nations | H1471 → | 561 times |
אֵ֛יךְhow!
ʾeikhH349 →82 times
נָפַ֥לְתָּyou have fallen
nafaltaH5307 →435 times
מִשָּׁמַ֖יִםfrom heaven
mishamayimH8064 →421 times
הֵילֵ֣לO shining one
heilelH1966 →
בֶּן־son of
ben-H1121 →4930 times
שָׁ֑חַרdawn
shacharH7837 →23 times
נִגְדַּ֣עְתָּyou have been cut down
nigda'taH1438 →22 times
לָאָ֔רֶץto the ground
laaretzH776 →2504 times
חוֹלֵ֖שׁO defeater
choleshH2522 →
עַל־over
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
גּוֹיִֽם׃[the] nations
goyimH1471 →561 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Luke 10:18So He told them, “I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.
it leads to
- Revelation 9:1
Then the fifth angel sounded his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, and it was given the key to the pit of the Abyss.
Reached by 2 separate paths from here.
- Revelation 12:7–9
Then a war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back.
- John 12:31
Now judgment is upon this world; now the prince of this world will be cast out.
- John 16:11
and in regard to judgment, because the prince of this world has been condemned.
- Hebrews 2:14
Now since the children have flesh and blood, He too shared in their humanity, so that by His death He might destroy him who holds the power of death, that is, the devil,
- Revelation 9:1
Through
2 Peter 1:19We also have the word of the prophets as confirmed beyond doubt. And you will do well to pay attention to it, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day…
it leads to
- Revelation 22:16
“I, Jesus, have sent My angel to give you this testimony for the churches. I am the Root and the Offspring of David, the bright Morning Star.”
- Isaiah 9:2
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.
- Psalms 119:105
Your word is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path.
- Revelation 22:16
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
On this chapter
About Isaiah
This page draws on 17 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Augustine of Hippo, EXPLANATIONS OF THE PSALMS 39 (38): 18; Augustine of Hippo, CHRISTIAN INSTRUCTION 3:37; Bonaventure, Breviloquium, Part 2, Chapter 7; Eusebius of Caesarea, PROOF OF THE GOSPEL 4:9; GK Chesterton, The Everlasting Man, The Escape from Paganism (1925); Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; Jerome, Commentary on Isaiah; Jerome, LETTER 22.4; John Calvin, Commentary on the Book of the Prophet Isaiah; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible; Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 1:5; Origen of Alexandria, ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 4:3.9 and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Isaiah.