“And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light.”
(2 Corinthians 11:14)
The question of how evil came to exist is a conundrum that has long plagued theologians and philosophers alike, and for many, the answer lies in one sole being—the most magnificent of all angels, perfect in beauty, and once beloved of God.
Lucifer, the Devil, Satan, Pride, or the angel of light, everybody certainly knows his name. Or at least, one of them, for, as we’ll discover throughout this article, this charming cherub (or seraph) seems to be able to take the form of anything or anyone.
In the vast pantheon of Christian and classical figures, Lucifer occupies a very unique space, simultaneously known as a majestic light-bearing angel and the infamous leader of a rebellion against God. His story is not just a tale of one cherub’s pride but the genesis that set the stage for the eternal war between good and evil. Some truly believe that he exists, describing him as a man with horns, a tail, and skin the colour of fire; others, instead, simply see and interpret him as the idea of evil. But whether he’s real or not, to fully comprehend how the concept of the Devil was created, we need to start from the very beginning.
The story of Lucifer as we know it today is vastly different from the one in the Bible, mainly because it is not one single tale with an inception and a conclusion. It’s a tapestry of many different verses, belonging to many different voices, and when we also take into consideration the enormous influence that the mediaeval and modern times had on such a mystic figure, we can understand better how his story took form. How this cacophony of ideas came to be.
For example, in the Hebrew Bible, the notion of a single, supreme evil entity and opponent to God is completely absent. The word ‘Satan’ does indeed appear occasionally; however, it refers more to a general idea of an adversary rather than a specific figure or individual. It seems to be more of a role or even a ‘job title’, which is utterly shocking. In fact, the word ‘Satan’ is also sometimes written as ‘the Satan’, emphasising even further that it denotes a title rather than a name. Moreover, it may seem elementary to say, but none of these occurrences of Satan have anything to do with the fallen angel and Devil we are so familiar with. For instance, in Job 1-2 and Zechariah 3, ‘the Satan’ appears as a kind of heavenly prosecutor within God’s court, testing or accusing humans on God’s behalf. There is no rebellion, no fall, no hellish domain, just a role within the divine order. Even the image of a war in Heaven, as mentioned before, is not found in one single passage. It’s actually a synthesis of several texts that, over the centuries, theologians and writers connected into one big narrative. The Book of Revelation 12:7-9 is surprisingly the only explicit mention of an actual battle:
“Then war broke out in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven. The great dragon was hurled down—that ancient serpent called the devil, or Satan, who leads the whole world astray. He was hurled to the earth, and his angels with him.”
Another example would be Luke 10:18:
“And he said to them: ‘I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.’”
Yet at the end of the day, even with these references, we have no complete story of Lucifer’s fall.
Another extremely important detail is also the origin of the name ‘Morning Star’, which is actually one of misinformation and a very curious mistranslation. As a matter of fact, contrary to names like ‘Satan’ or ‘the dragon’, the honorific ‘Lucifer’ is used only once in the Bible, in the Old Testament’s bookof Isaiah.
“How you are fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! How you are cut down to the ground, you who weakened the nations!”
says the prophet in chapter 14, verse 12. He does indeed mention thename ‘Lucifer’; however, contrary to what you may believe, this remark is not directed at the Devil but at the arrogant King of Babylon, whose kingdom had just been destroyed. It seems that Isaiah is mocking him for it, essentially telling him, “How the mighty have fallen!”
But why does Isaiah call him ‘Lucifer’? And what has it got to do with the Devil?
The first thing that pops up into our mind is that perhaps the prophet was trying to compare him to the fallen angel, which, having been cast down from Heaven, seems a pretty good parallel to me. However, examining the text in its original language, we discover that Isaiah was never really making this comparison in the first place. The term ‘Lucifer’ is, in fact, not in the original Hebrew text. It’s a Latin mistranslation of the word הילל בן שחר (Hêlêl ben Šāḥar), which means ‘shining one’, ‘son of dawn’, or ‘son of the morning’. And this title does not refer to the Devil but to Venus, planet of love and the ‘Morning Star’—the brightest celestial body in our solar system after the sun, visible shortly before sunrise or after sunset (called the ‘Morning Star’ when it appears before dawn and the ‘Evening Star’ when it appears after dusk).
Therefore, to answer the two questions I asked before, the prophet Isaiah was basically taunting and comparing the King of Babylon to the Morning Star to illustrate his pride and fall from grace, likening his destroyed kingdom to the brightest star in the heavens. And the verse “[…] be like the Most High” (Isaiah, 14:14) shows the level of ambition the King of Babylon strived for, something he certainly shares with the prideful Satan. However, as for the passage itself, nothing in it calls for the Devil.
So, this prompts two other questions: How did it become ‘Lucifer’? And how or why did this name ever become associated with Satan?
Like I already wrote, it was all due to a mistranslation. In the Vulgate (a late-4th-century translation of the Bible), the word ‘son of the morning’ was rewritten in Latin as ‘Lucifer’, which literally means ‘light bringer’. As for how he became linked with sin and evil, we must turn our gazes to other tomes, like the Book of Enoch, an ancient Jewish apocryphal text, written around 300-200 BCE and attributed to the great-grandfather of Noah. A book that didn’t quite make it into the final cut of the Bible and yet still altered the course of history, helping mould Lucifer’s story. This tome contains incredible material on a variety of topics, such as the origin of demons and Nephilim (believed to be the offspring of fallen angels and humans), but it’s the first section, the Book of Watchers, we’re more interested in. Within this first section, or chapter, the Watchers are described as the angels who were in charge of watching over humanity. A responsibility they carried on terribly, as, instead of keeping an eye on humans, following their leader, Shemihazah or Asael, they began to lust after human women and stray away from God’s command. The Watchers began to procreate with humans, and this union led to the birth of what I already called Nephilim, creatures of great size and power who endangered humanity. The Book of Enoch also states that the Watchers began to teach the humans forbidden knowledge, such as weaponry and sorcery, therefore instigating a rebellion exactly like the one described in the Bible.
It is then said that, facing their defiance, God took action against the rebels and punished them with imprisonment. He sanctioned the archangels to carry out the judgement, destroy the Watchers’ hybrid offspring, and cleanse the earth through a Great Flood.
In another section of the text, called the Book of Dream Visions, these angels also appear as stars, and Asael is the very first one to fall. This may be the first-ever representation of evil angels literally falling from the heavens. But, even though the word ‘Satan’ is indeed used in the tome, we must remember that the Book of Enoch is not part of the Bible. It’s an apocryphal book, which means that it’s not included nor recognised as part of the official scriptures. Part of it or not, however, no one can deny that this tome was so significant that not only is it still mentioned today, but it influenced numerous works such as the already-mentioned Book of Revelation, and it was even directly quoted in the Book of Jude (1:14-15).
I guess, over time, all these different voices and verses about a rebellious angel, a serpent, a dragon, Satan, Pride, and the Morning Star began to merge together in a babel that gave life to who we now know as Lucifer, shaping not only his character but his wicked nature as well. It did not help that works of literature, such as Dante Alighieri’s Inferno and John Milton’s Paradise Lost, further cemented this idea in the popular imagination, solidifying the connection between the name ‘Lucifer’ and the concept of evil.
So, if we actually think about it, none of it… none of the ideas and beliefs surrounding the Devil are actually true. None of them. They are just countless and countless verses woven together to form what has become the tale of Lucifer’s great fall from Heaven.
Isn’t that outstanding?
Now, as for Dante’s Divine Comedy, I’ll write about it in another article, but before we part ways, dear reader, we need to talk about Paradise Lost. The story that actually influenced the whole world, forever revolutionising how we viewed the most beautiful of the damned.
It’s important to state that John Milton wrote this poem in the wake of the English Civil War and the failure of the Puritan Commonwealth, a significant moment not only in his life but for the entire nation. Therefore, famously against the monarchy, it is said that his representation of Lucifer and God is a mirror of the situation of the time, and, though it might not have been his intent, Milton glorified a bit Satan, almost portraying him as a tragic hero.
But let’s go on.
Published in 1667, Paradise Lost is an epic poem that reimagines the biblical story of the Fall of Man, in other words, the disobedience of Adam and Eve and their expulsion from the Garden of Eden. It begins after the great celestial war that happened in Heaven in which Lucifer (later called Satan) and his angels were defeated and cast out for rebelling against God’s authority. The fallen angels, after descending for nine days straight, awaken in Hell, a fiery abyss of despair, where Lucifer rallies his followers with a mixture of pride and defiance, determined to continue his rebellion. The plan he devises involves mankind—God’s newest creation—but while he tries to find them and stay hidden from other angels, God foresees his scheme and even, surprisingly, allows it, affirming that humanity must remain free to choose obedience or disobedience on their own. Therefore, Satan journeys through chaos, reaches Earth, and enters the Garden of Eden, where, upon seeing how joyful and innocent Adam and Eve are, he becomes envious and full of pride. He then manages to tempt Eve to eat from the Tree of Knowledge, promising her divine wisdom and godlike powers, and Adam, following his companion, also takes a bite of the fruit, bringing together at last sin and death into the world.
Now, the rest of this story we all know. What I want to focus on, instead, is Lucifer, Satan, Pride, or whatever way you want to call him. Milton’s Paradise Lost revolutionised the Western imagination of the Devil. Before his poem, most portrayals of Lucifer were of a one-dimensional figure, someone who just represented the concept of evil and temptation. Milton, instead, transformed him into a complex, psychologically rich, tormented character. In his words, Satan is a charismatic rebel whose speeches express ideals of freedom, individual will, and self-determination, all traits of any tragic hero in our contemporary works.
I would say that it is one of the most intriguing and best representations of the Devil. The one where most of our beliefs surrounding the ruler of Hell come from. I know I said that Milton probably never meant for Satan to be read this way; however, I cannot help but see how realistic and human he is. A tragic hero indeed.
Someone who defied his creator’s orders, yes, for his pride but for his freedom as well. Something that, if you ask my opinion, perfectly represents humankind.
Perhaps the angel of light was right. Perhaps the agony of betrayal burnt deeper than the pain of the fall itself. And perhaps, as Milton’s Lucifer said, it may indeed be better to reign in Hell than serve an eternity in Heaven.
Up, Fallen Angel by Alexandre Cabanel (1847)
Sources:
Lucifer: The Story Behind the Infamous Fallen Angel
Paradise Lost: The Fall of Satan Explained
Understanding the Fallen Angel
My Favourite Depictions of the Devil
Lucifer: the Devil in the Middle Ages (1986)
CERVIGNI, DINO S. “DANTE’S LUCIFER: THE DENIAL OF THE WORD.” Lectura Dantis, no. 3 (1988): 51–62
The Library of the Unseen 
Penny for your thoughts…