Helel
Hêlêl (pronounced Helal) was the Babylonian and Canaanite god of the morning star and son of Shaḥar , god of the sunrise.
Word origin
In the Vulgate and the King James Bible , Lucifer appears in Isaiah 14: 12-14 as a translation of the Greek word ῾Εωσφόρος ( Heosphorus , bearer of the dawn), an epithet of Venus . The Hebrew original of this text is (הילל בן שחר hillel ben schachar 'Hêlêl, son of dawn').
In the translation of the Septuagint , “Hêlêl ben Shahar” is given as “the brilliant son of the dawn” and is given as daybreak or morning. This was compared in Isaiah's prophetic vision to the star that influenced the mythical fate of the king of Babylon. The prophet combined the boastful pride of the Babylonian king and his subsequent overthrow into a legend that equated the king with the morning star.
Helel and Lucifer
However, in the Jewish religious tradition the figure that means Helel and is translated as Lucifer in Christianity and is based on an allegory of a setting morning star (Venus) has nothing to do with the Christian fallen angel Lucifer , but refers to the fall of the Babylonian Kingdom and its king, Nebuchadnezzar , who is compared to the morning star, which is outshone by the sun that represents Israel. This means that the Babylonian Empire is going to end while the people of Israel still shine, despite the power and cruelty that Nebuchadnezzar did to the people of Israel, like the Babylonian Exile . The idea that Lucifer was the fallen angel Satan , who was banished from heaven, relates to this downfall story . Revelation (12.9 EU ). This myth was later carried over to Satan.
In Judaism , Hêlêl is not interpreted as Satan, but Helel and Shahar coincide with Babylon, whose gods they are.
The Helal Myth
Hêlal was the son of Šaḥar and a mighty warrior (fighter, warrior) who wanted to imitate Eljon, the highest. He wanted to climb above the clouds, higher than all the stars of the gods, up to the far north on the assembly mountain and there to be enthroned above them all. But it didn't come to that, instead he was pushed (presumably by Eljon and his colleagues) down into the depths. Hermann Gunkel explains this myth as the interpretation of the natural phenomenon that the morning star shines the brightest of all stars, but cannot be seen at night and during the day it does not manage to withstand the rays of the sun. He Hêlal is the last to fall, because the morning star remains visible the longest. The Greeks had a similar story that tells of the early death of Phaethon (Φαέθων, the shining one), son of Eos . He is also seen as the morning star.
literature
- Gary Thomas Meadors: The identification of Helel Ben-Shaḥar in Isaiah 14:12. (= Dissertation, Grace College Theological Seminary 1976). OCLC 17870275 .
Web links
- LUCIFER (Φωσφόρος) on jewishencyclopedia.com
- Jesse Norman: The difference between Lucifer and Satan. at jnormanii.wordpress.com