Shahar (god)

Fertile Crescent
myth series
Mesopotamian
Levantine
Arabian
Near Eastern Religions
The Levant

Shahar is the god of dawn in the pantheon of Ugarit. Shahar is described as a child of El along a twin, Shalim, the god of dusk. Both are gods of the planet Venus, and were considered by some to be a twinned avatar of the god Athtar. As the markers of dawn and dusk, Shahar and Shalim also represented the temporal structure of the day.[1]

Etymology

The name is a cognate of the Hebrew word Shahar (שָׁ֫חַר) meaning dawn.

Shahar in Isaiah 14:12–15

Isaiah 14:12–15 has been the origin of the belief that Satan was a fallen angel, who could also be referred to as Lucifer. It refers to the rise and disappearance of the morning star Venus in the phrase "O light-bringer, (Helel ben Shaḥar, translated as Lucifer in the Vulgate and preserved in the early English translations of the Bible) son of the dawn." This understanding of Isaiah 14:12–15 seems to be the most accepted interpretation in the New Testament, as well as among early Christians such as Origen, Eusebius, Tertullian, and Gregory the Great. It may be considered a Christian "remythologization" of Isaiah 14, as the verse originally used Canaanite mythology to build its imagery of the hubris of a historical ruler, "the king of Babylon" in Isaiah 14:4. It's likely that the role of Venus as the morning star was taken by Athtar, in this instance referred to as the son of Shahar.[2] The reference to Shahar remains enigmatic to scholars, who have a wide range of theories on the mythological framework and sources for the passage in Isaiah.[3]

Notes

  1. ↑ Hinnells, John R. (2007). A Handbook of Ancient Religions. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. p. 122.
  2. ↑ Day, John (2002). Yahweh and the gods and goddesses of Canaan. London: Sheffield Academic Press. ISBN 9780567537836.
  3. ↑ Poirier, John (1 July 1999). "An Illuminating Parallel to Isaiah XIV 12". Vetus Testamentum. 49 (3): 371–389. doi:10.1163/156853399774228047.

See also


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