Star, Morning

The morning star — the bright planet Venus, the last and brightest light visible just before the sun rises — is used as a title for Christ in Revelation 22:16: "I am the root and offspring of David, and the bright and morning star." The title condenses several themes: Christ as the light that heralds the coming day of salvation, the one who fulfills the Davidic promise, and the one who overcomes darkness. The promise to the overcomers at Thyatira is that Christ will give them "the morning star" (Rev. 2:28), meaning himself.

Peter speaks of the prophetic word as a light shining in a dark place "until the day dawn, and the day star arise in your hearts" (2 Pet. 1:19), using the same image for the internal illumination of faith. In Isaiah 14:12 "son of the morning" (helel ben shahar, translated "Lucifer" in the KJV) is used of the king of Babylon in a fall from glory — a passage later applied typologically to Satan's pride, making the morning star a title also associated with the fallen adversary, in stark contrast to Christ's possession of it by right.