Is Isaiah 14 About a Sovereign or Satan?
According to church tradition, Isaiah 14 gives readers a glimpse into the origin of Satan. In the form of a prophetic taunt, Isaiah assumes the voice of a self-important individual, saying, “I will ascend [to] the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God” (14:13). Ultimately, this pompous personage is “brought down to Sheol” (14:15). Later Christian interpreters identified this rhetoric as a reference to the devil’s start as the angel Lucifer whose chutzpah got him cast from heaven. Yet if Bible readers utilize other passages in Scripture for interpretive aid (rather than assuming the accuracy of patristic assertions), they can be certain that Isaiah 14 does not allude to Satan.
As early as Origen (4th century CE), Christian commentators have understood Isaiah 14 to be referring to the devil. Speaking of Isaiah 14:12— “How you have fallen from the heavens, morning star, son of dawn”—the early church father claimed, “By these words [Satan] is shown to have fallen from heaven, who formerly was Lucifer, and who used to arise in the morning…. Even the Savior [Jesus] Himself teaches us, saying of the devil, ‘Behold, I see Satan fallen from heaven like lightning’” (On First Principles 1.5.5). Origen cites Luke 10:18 to support his contention that Isaiah speaks of Satan (click here to see why this link to Isaiah misunderstands the Messiah’s message), but his interpretation is at odds with the prophetic text itself, which specifies “the king of Babylon” (14:4) as the taunted person. Origen has a response to this seeming contradiction. Assuming the Babylonian king to be Nebuchadnezzar, he writes, “What is said in many places, and especially in Isaiah, of Nebuchadnezzar, cannot be explained of that individual. For the man Nebuchadnezzar neither fell from heaven, nor was he the morning star, nor did he arise upon the earth in the morning” (On First Principles 4.1.22). Since the king of Babylon did not literally rise up to the heavens and fall therefrom, Origen believes that Isaiah must be talking about Satan.
However, a look at the Bible’s other prophetic texts would have disabused Origen of his allegorical assumption. Isaiah proclaims, “You say in your heart (אָמַרְתָּ בִלְבָבְךָ; amarta vilvavekha), ‘I will ascend [to] the heavens; I will raise my throne above the stars of God (לְכוֹכְבֵי־אֵל; lekhokhvei-el)… yet to Sheol you will be brought down (תּוּרָד; turad)” (14:13, 15). Similarly, the prophet Obadiah says in a taunt “concerning Edom” (1:1), “[You who] says in his heart (אֹמֵר בְּלִבּוֹ; omer belibo), ‘Who can bring me down [to] earth (יוֹרִדֵנִי אָרֶץ; yorideni arets)?’ Even if you soar like the eagle, even if your nest is set among the stars (כּוֹכָבִים; kokhavim), from there I will bring you down (אוֹרִידְךָ; oridedekha),’ declares the Lord” (Obad 1:3-4). As this comparison shows, Israel’s prophets commonly used the hyperbolic language of haughty peoples being raised to stars only to have God bring them down. Since Obadiah is certainly not decrying the prince of darkness, there is no reason to think that Isaiah’s nearly identical rhetoric refers to Satan.
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