Daystar

The day-star names a figure of light's arrival used in 2 Peter to mark the inward dawning that the prophetic word anticipates.

A Heart-Risen Light

Peter likens the prophetic word to a lamp held in a dark place, and aims its work at a coming dawn: "And we have the word of prophecy [made] more sure; to which you⁺ do well that you⁺ take heed, as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns, and the day-star arises in your⁺ hearts" (2 Pet 1:19).

The lamp belongs to the present darkness; the day-star belongs to the dawn that closes that darkness. Its location is interior — "in your⁺ hearts" — and its motion is a rising. Prophecy is the lamp; the day-star's arising is what the lamp serves until.

This is the only place in the UPDV where the figure carries the name "day-star," but it stands in the same family as the Morning Star, where the same dawn-light becomes a self-title of Christ ("I am ... the bright, the morning star," Rev 22:16) and a promised gift to the overcomer (Rev 2:28).