Bible Strands
Isaiah 9:15
The head is the elder and honorable man, and the tail is the prophet who teaches lies.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Isaiah delivers this oracle to Israel during a time of impending judgment, explaining how the LORD will remove both its political leaders and its spiritual guides.
The words — The Hebrew רֹאשׁ (Rosh) literally means head, and שֶׁקֶר (Sheker) means falsehood, establishing the verse’s direct equation of the tail with deceptive teaching.
The thread — The head-and-tail metaphor is introduced in Isaiah 9:14 and developed in Isaiah 9:16, while the warning against misleading spiritual authority appears in Isaiah 29:10 and Matthew 24:24.
Why it lands — It demands that readers evaluate leaders by the truth of their teaching, recognizing that false guidance produces national collapse and personal ruin.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Cross-references
- Isaiah 29:10 For the LORD has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He has shut your eyes, O prophets; He has covered your heads, O seers.
- Matthew 24:24 For false Christs and false prophets will appear and perform great signs and wonders to deceive even the elect, if that were possible.
- 1 Samuel 9:6 “Look,” said the servant, “in this city there is a man of God who is highly respected; everything he says surely comes to pass. Let us go there now. Perhaps he will tell us which way to go.”
- Isaiah 3:2 the mighty man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the soothsayer and the elder,
- Jeremiah 29:21 This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says about Ahab son of Kolaiah and Zedekiah son of Maaseiah, who are prophesying to you lies in My name: “I will deliver them to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and he will kill them before your very eyes.
- Ezekiel 13:19 You have profaned Me among My people for handfuls of barley and scraps of bread. By lying to My people who would listen, you have killed those who should not have died and spared those who should not have lived.
- 2 Timothy 4:2 Preach the word; be prepared in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and encourage with every form of patient instruction.
- 1 Kings 13:18 Then the prophet replied, “I too am a prophet like you, and an angel spoke to me by the word of the LORD, saying, ‘Bring him back with you to your house, so that he may eat bread and drink water.’” The old prophet was lying to him,
- 1 Kings 22:22 And he replied, ‘I will go out and be a lying spirit in the mouths of all his prophets.’ ‘You will surely entice him and prevail,’ said the LORD. ‘Go and do it.’
- Isaiah 3:5 The people will oppress one another, man against man, neighbor against neighbor; the young will rise up against the old, and the base against the honorable.