How you are fallen from heaven: For the initial word How…! see the comments on verse 4b. You are fallen from heaven is a figurative expression, pointing to the downfall of the Babylonian king. It reflects his arrogance in believing he was equal to God (see verse 14). Although the description only speaks of “falling,” the context indicates that Yahweh brought him down from his proud position. The Hebrew word translated heaven can refer to the sky as well as to the dwelling place of God and the angels.
O Day Star, son of Dawn: Babylonia’s king had thought of himself as above the sky (verse 13), so these names are meant to be sarcastic, mocking him as though he was the important morning star, now fallen from the sky. Day Star and son of Dawn probably refer to the planet Venus, the morning star (so Septuagint). Good News Translation and Revised English Bible render these terms as “bright morning star.” King James Version follows the Vulgate by using the term “Lucifer,” but translators should not do this. The ancient story about a divine being who was expelled from God’s presence in heaven may be behind these terms (see Psa 82.6-7; Ezek 28.12-19). New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh in a footnote remarks that they refer to a “character in some lost myth.” We recommend the rendering of Good News Translation and Revised English Bible here.
How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low!: The introductory word How is not explicit in the Hebrew text, but it can be implied from the beginning of the verse. You are cut down to the ground is another figurative way of portraying the Babylonian king’s downfall. Instead of cut down, several versions use “thrown” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible). This passive verb may be made active by rendering the whole line as “How true it is that the LORD has brought/thrown you down to the ground.”
You who laid the nations low expands on the pronoun you at the beginning of the sentence. In some languages it will be necessary to place this clause closer to the initial you, as in the first translation example below. The verb laid … low refers to the way in which Babylonia’s king destroyed others. There is irony in this statement since he who brought others low has now been laid low himself.
Translation possibilities for this verse are:
• “See how you are brought down from the heavens, O bright morning star! See how you, who laid others nations low, are now cut down to the ground!
• “Look at you! Bright morning star, [son of the dawn,] you have fallen from the heavens! Look at you! You who cut down other nations have been cut down to the ground yourself!
Quoted with permission from Ogden, Graham S. and Sterk, Jan. A Handbook on Isaiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2011. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .