Revelation 22:16 (KJV) I Jesus have sent mine angel to testify unto you these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, and the bright
and morning star. (Greek a·ster′)
The SAB has this verse listed as an absurdity, though I can't imagine why. Specifically they seem to think the statement about the morning star is absurd. I think skeptics tend to take the Bible literally in every instance because it is much easier to dismiss it as such. Jesus saying he is a star in a literal sense is absurd.
Stars are used in the Bible to represent persons, angelic or human. Joseph's dream where his parents were the sun and moon and his 11 brothers were 11 stars, for example (Genesis 37:9, 10), as well as the "morning stars" who joyfully cried out at the founding of the earth. (Job 38:7)
Jesus spoke of himself as "the bright morning star" and promised his followers that he would give them "the morning star." (Revelation 22:16; 2:26, 28)
The morning star or daystar represents the dawn of a new day. At certain seasons the brightest of the stars in the eastern horizon announced the coming of the dawn, and so the morning or daystar was a figurative representation of something new.
Some confusion regarding this was caused by the use of the Latin word Lucifer at Isaiah 14:4, 12-13. Jerome's Latin Vulgate translated the Hebrew word Heylél which means "shine; shining one" into the Latin Lucifer which means "light bearer; bringer of dawn." Since the King James Version is heavily influenced by the Latin Vulgate they used the term Lucifer which was thereafter often confused as a name which applies to Satan. Actually the term is being applied there to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian dynasty, who thought to exalt their throne above the stars of God.
Nebuchadnezzar was the shining one, or bringer of a new dawn in the sense that he would destroy God's earthly representation on earth for their faithlessness. Babylon's conquest of Jerusalem put an end to the Judean kings and began the appointed times of the nations, a time when God would have no kingly representation until the coming of Jesus, a new King.
The term also appeared in the Greek (pho·spho′ros) translated morning star or daystar at 2 Peter 1:19 in a similar way, representing the possibility of a new dawn in the heart of Christians paying attention to the inspired scripture.
The SAB has this verse listed as an absurdity, though I can't imagine why. Specifically they seem to think the statement about the morning star is absurd. I think skeptics tend to take the Bible literally in every instance because it is much easier to dismiss it as such. Jesus saying he is a star in a literal sense is absurd.
Stars are used in the Bible to represent persons, angelic or human. Joseph's dream where his parents were the sun and moon and his 11 brothers were 11 stars, for example (Genesis 37:9, 10), as well as the "morning stars" who joyfully cried out at the founding of the earth. (Job 38:7)
Jesus spoke of himself as "the bright morning star" and promised his followers that he would give them "the morning star." (Revelation 22:16; 2:26, 28)
The morning star or daystar represents the dawn of a new day. At certain seasons the brightest of the stars in the eastern horizon announced the coming of the dawn, and so the morning or daystar was a figurative representation of something new.
Some confusion regarding this was caused by the use of the Latin word Lucifer at Isaiah 14:4, 12-13. Jerome's Latin Vulgate translated the Hebrew word Heylél which means "shine; shining one" into the Latin Lucifer which means "light bearer; bringer of dawn." Since the King James Version is heavily influenced by the Latin Vulgate they used the term Lucifer which was thereafter often confused as a name which applies to Satan. Actually the term is being applied there to Nebuchadnezzar and the Babylonian dynasty, who thought to exalt their throne above the stars of God.
Nebuchadnezzar was the shining one, or bringer of a new dawn in the sense that he would destroy God's earthly representation on earth for their faithlessness. Babylon's conquest of Jerusalem put an end to the Judean kings and began the appointed times of the nations, a time when God would have no kingly representation until the coming of Jesus, a new King.
The term also appeared in the Greek (pho·spho′ros) translated morning star or daystar at 2 Peter 1:19 in a similar way, representing the possibility of a new dawn in the heart of Christians paying attention to the inspired scripture.
