Isaiah 9:15 (LSB)

Passage

The head is the elder and the highly respected man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.

Nearby Context

Isaiah 9:13 Yet the people do not turn back to Him who struck them, Nor do they seek Yahweh of hosts.

Isaiah 9:14 So Yahweh cuts off head and tail from Israel, Both palm branch and bulrush in a single day.

Isaiah 9:15 The head is the elder and the highly respected man, And the prophet who teaches falsehood is the tail.

Isaiah 9:16 For those who guide this people are leading them astray; And those who are guided by them are brought to confusion.

Isaiah 9:17 Therefore the Lord is not glad in their choice men, Nor does He have compassion on their orphans or their widows; For every one of them is godless and an evildoer, And every mouth is speaking wicked foolishness. In spite of all this, His anger does not turn back, And His hand is still stretched out.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "head", "elder", "highly", "respected", "prophet", "teaches", "falsehood", and "tail". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "head" and "elder", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 14's "So Yahweh cuts off head and tail..." into verse 16's "For those who guide this people are...", so "head" and "elder" belong inside that flow. In Isaiah context, the local focus is the Holy One of Israel, judgment and restoration, the servant of the LORD, and Zion's hope.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "head" and "elder" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.