English Standard Version
Isaiah 9:16
16for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up.
Isaiah 9:16 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.
- New International Version (NIV)Those who guide this people mislead them, and those who are guided are led astray.
- New King James Version (NKJV)For the leaders of this people cause them to err, And those who are led by them are destroyed.
- New Living Translation (NLT)For the leaders of the people have misled them. They have led them down the path of destruction.
Context of Isaiah 9:16
14So the Lord cut off from Israel head and tail, palm branch and reed in one day— 15the elder and honored man is the head, and the prophet who teaches lies is the tail; for those who guide this people have been leading them astray, and those who are guided by them are swallowed up. 17Therefore the Lord does not rejoice over their young men, and has no compassion on their fatherless and widows; for everyone is godless and an evildoer, and every mouth speaks folly. For all this his anger has not turned away, and his hand is stretched out still. 18For wickedness burns like a fire; it consumes briers and thorns; it kindles the thickets of the forest, and they roll upward in a column of smoke.
Read all of Isaiah 9Isaiah 9:16 word by word
וַיִּֽהְי֛וּ מְאַשְּׁרֵ֥י הָֽעָם־הַזֶּ֖ה מַתְעִ֑ים וּמְאֻשָּׁרָ֖יו מְבֻלָּעִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Isaiah 9:16
- Isaiah 3:12My people—infants are their oppressors, and women rule over them. O my people, your guides mislead you and they have swallowed up the course of your paths.
- Matthew 15:14Let them alone; they are blind guides. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit."
- Matthew 23:16"Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.'
- Numbers 6:23"Speak to Aaron and his sons, saying, Thus you shall bless the people of Israel: you shall say to them,
- 1 Kings 8:55And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying,
- 2 Chronicles 30:27Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people, and their voice was heard, and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven.
- Hebrews 7:7It is beyond dispute that the inferior is blessed by the superior.
Commentaries on Isaiah 9:16
- Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 16For the leaders of this people - Note, Isaiah 3:12. Hebrew They that call this people blessed‘ - referring more particularly to the false prophets. They that are led of them - Hebrew, They that are called blessed by them.‘ Are destroyed - Hebrew, Are swallowed up;‘ see the note at Isaiah 3:12. They are ruined; or swallowed up as in a vast whirlpool or vortex.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 9:16
In the dictionaries
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
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Commentaries