Isaiah 9:15

Isaiah 9:15 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
• New International Version (NIV)the elders and dignitaries are the head, the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
• English Standard Version (ESV)the elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail;
• New King James Version (NKJV)The elder and honorable, he is the head; The prophet who teaches lies, he is the tail.

Context of Isaiah 9:15

13The people did not turn back to the Lord Almighty, who had punished them. They did not ask for his help. 14So, in one day, the Lord will destroy Israel, both its head and its tail. He will cut down both palm branch and reed. The head is their leaders and important people. The tail is the prophets who teach lies. 16The leaders of this nation lead them away from what is true. They confuse the people that they are leading. 17So the Lord God is not pleased with their young men. He will not help their widows or their children who have no family. Nobody respects God and they all do evil things. They only speak about foolish things. But the Lord is still angry. His hand is ready to hit them again.

Isaiah 9:15 word by word

זָקֵ֥ן וּנְשׂוּא־פָנִ֖ים ה֣וּא הָרֹ֑אשׁ וְנָבִ֥יא מֽוֹרֶה־שֶּׁ֖קֶר ה֥וּא הַזָּנָֽב׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• The ancientזָקֵןzâqên · old: elderH2205
• and honourableנָשָׂאnâώâ' nâsâh · to lift: kindnessH5375
• and honourableפָּנֶהpânîym · face: kindnessH6440
• heהוּאhû' hîy' · he/she/itH1931
• the headרֹאשׁrô'sh · head: leaderH7218
• and the prophetנָבִיאnâbîy' · prophetH5030
• that teachethיָרָהyârâh yârâ' · to showH3384
• liesשֶׁ֫קֶרsheqer · deceptionH8267
• the tailזָנָבzânâb · tailH2180

Cross-references for Isaiah 9:15

• Isaiah 3:5People will be cruel to each other. Men will argue against one another and neighbours will fight each other. Young people will insult older people. And useless people will speak against people that they should respect.
• Isaiah 5:13Because of that, my people will go into exile in countries far away. They do not know God. Their leaders will die because they have nothing to eat. All the other people will have nothing to drink.
• 1 Samuel 9:6The servant replied, ‘There is a servant of God who lives in this town. Everything that he says will happen really happens. So people respect him very much. We should go to meet him. Perhaps he will tell us which way we should go from here.’
• Isaiah 28:17Justice and righteousness will make that foundation strong and true. But if you trust in lies, a storm of ice will destroy your safe place. A flood of water will destroy the place where you are hiding.
• Isaiah 29:10It is the Lord who has caused you to be like that. He has caused you to be completely asleep. He has shut the eyes of your prophets and he has covered the heads of your seers.
• 1 Kings 13:18The old prophet then said, ‘I am also a prophet, as you are. An angel gave me a message from the Lord. He said, “Bring the man back with you to your house. There, he can eat some food and drink some water.” ’ But what the old prophet said was a lie.
• 1 Kings 22:22The spirit said, “I will give a message to all Ahab's prophets. I will cause them to speak lies.” The Lord said, “Go and deceive King Ahab, as you have said. He will do what you say.”
• Jeremiah 5:31The prophets speak messages that are not true. The priests make their own rules for people to obey. And my people love to live like this! But when all this comes to an end, my people will be helpless!’
• Jeremiah 14:14The Lord said to me, ‘Those prophets say that they speak my messages, but they are telling lies. I did not send them. I did not give them my authority. I did not give them any messages. They are deceiving people with the visions that they talk about. When they prophesy about things, it means nothing. They only speak about their own foolish ideas.
• Jeremiah 23:9I am very upset about what the prophets are doing. My body is shaking. I move like a man who has become drunk, someone who has drunk too much wine. I am afraid because of the Lord and the holy message that he has spoken.
• Jeremiah 27:9So do not listen to your prophets, or to your diviners. Do not listen to people who use dreams or magic or the spirits of dead people to tell you what will happen. Those people tell you that you will not have to serve the king of Babylon.
• Jeremiah 28:15Then Jeremiah said to Hananiah, ‘Listen to me, Hananiah! The Lord has not sent you as his prophet. You have spoken lies to these people and they have believed you.
• Jeremiah 29:21The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says this about Kolaiah's son Ahab and Maaseiah's son Zedekiah: ‘They are speaking to you in my name, but they are prophesying lies. So I will put them under the power of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon. He will kill them while you watch.
• Ezekiel 13:1Then the Lord gave this message to me:
• Hosea 9:8God has sent his prophet to warn the people of Ephraim. But wherever he goes, people try to stop him. They speak angry words against him, even in the temple of his God.
• Malachi 2:9‘So I have caused all the people to insult you. They no longer respect you, because you do not obey my rules. When you teach my people, you are kind to some of them but you cheat others.’

Commentaries on Isaiah 9:15

• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 15The ancient - The elder; the old man. And honorable - Hebrew, The man of elevated countenance.‘ The man of rank and office. The prophet that teacheth lies - The false prophet. Of those there were many; and probably at this time many in Samaria.Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 8-21Verses 8-21 Those are ripening apace for ruin, whose hearts are unhumbled under humbling providences. For that which God designs, in smiting us, is, to turn us to himself; and if this point be not gained by lesser judgments, greater may be expected. The leaders of the people misled them. We have reason to be afraid of those that speak well of us, when we do ill. Wickedness was universal, all were infected with it. They shall be in trouble, and see no way…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 13-17God used punishment to call his people to repentance. Repentance means turning away from sin and turning back to God. His goal was not to destroy Israel, but to correct them and bring them back to himself. However, Israel had become apostate. This means they had turned away from the Lord and rejected him. They refused to repent or to seek the Lord.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 13-1713-17. Second strophe. turneth not--the design of God's chastisements; not fulfilled in their case; a new cause for punishment (Jr 2:20; 5:3).Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 9:15

• Backsliders
• Isaiah
• Israel, Prophecies Concerning
• Minister, Christian

In the dictionaries

• Ahaz
• Increase
• Kindle
• Poetry
• Prince
• Snatch
• Ezekiel
• Head
• Honorable
• Isaiah

Commentaries on Isaiah 9

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings