What Does Isaiah 9:15 Mean?
The elder and the one whose face is lifted, he is the head; and the prophet, instructor of lies, he is the tail.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
The ancient and honourable, he is the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.THE KEY
A prophet’s lie is directional: the word for “teacheth” carries the force of pointing, and this verse places that voice at the tail of the people’s order.
THE MEANING
The verse names two places in a people’s order now: the old and honored figure is head, and the prophet teaching falsehood is tail. Its image shows that teaching shapes direction; a respected place or sacred title does not make a false message true.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The verse dissolves the belief that age, honor, or the title “prophet” guarantees a trustworthy voice: it names the honored elder as head and the lying prophet as tail.
THE ROOT
מוֹרֶה
moreh
GROWS FROM
ירה
To throw or shoot; by extension, to point or direct.
“instructor of lies” in this verse is moreh. The word for teaching grows from a root of aiming and directing. So the prophet’s lie is not only false content: it is instruction that points somewhere, and this verse places that voice at the tail.
ALSO GROWS
torah: Instruction, teaching
תּוֹרָה
This branch shares the same root and carries the sense of guidance that directs a way.
moreh: Teacher; one who directs
מוֹרֶה
The verse uses this word for the one doing the directing, making the falsehood an act of guidance.
yarah: To shoot, throw, or point
יָרָה
Its concrete sense reveals the directional force hidden inside “teacheth.”
נְשׂוּא פָנִים
nesu panim
GROWS FROM
נשא
To lift, carry, or bear.
“the one whose face is lifted” in this verse is nesu panim. The phrase translated “honourable” is literally “lifted of face,” an image of someone raised in public esteem. That elevated figure is called the head, while the prophet teaching lies is called the tail.
ALSO GROWS
nasi: A prince, leader, or elevated one
נָשִׂיא
The leader’s title shares the root of being lifted up, echoing the honored figure’s place as head.
nasa: To lift, carry, or bear
נָשָׂא
This verb preserves the physical image beneath the honorific: a face lifted up before others.
THE PATTERN
False guidance directs those who follow it into error.
For the straighteners of this people make them wander, and those led by them are swallowed up.Thus says the LORD of hosts, Do not hear and respond to the words of the prophets who prophesy to you; they make you vapor. They speak a sight of their own heart, and not out of the mouth of the LORD.Let them go. They are blind guides of the blind. And if the blind lead the blind, both will fall into a pit.THE THREAD
On the way of wisdom I have pointed you; I have led you on straight paths.“Taught” in Proverbs comes from the same root, ירה, as “teacheth” in Isaiah. Proverbs makes the root’s directional force plain: instruction points toward wisdom and right paths, while Isaiah shows that the same act of teaching can point through falsehood.
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