Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Isaiah 9:15
The ancient and honorable, he [is] the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he [is] the tail.
The 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.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
He is, i.e. signifies, as that word is commonly used in the Hebrew tongue, as Gen 41:26,27, and every where.
The prophet that teacheth lies; whose destruction he mentions, not as if it were a punishment to them to be deprived of such persons, but partly to show the extent of the calamity, that it should reach all sorts of persons; and partly to beat down their vain presumptions of peace and prosperity, by showing that those false prophets, which had fed their vain hopes, should perish, and all their false prophecies of peace with them.
He is the tail; these I mean by the tail, as being in truth the basest part of the whole body of the people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
15. ancientthe older.
honourablethe man ofrank.
prophet . . . lies, . . .tailThere were many such in Samaria (1Ki 22:6;1Ki 22:22; 1Ki 22:23;compare as to “tail,” Re9:19).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
The ancient and honourable, he [is] the head,…. The elder in office, not in age; and who, on account of his office, dignity, and riches, is honoured by men, is of a venerable countenance himself, and is reverenced when seen and looked upon by others, and received by persons with pleasure and cheerfulness; as the phrase used signifies. The Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, “who admire”, or “have” men’s “persons in admiration”; which is the character Jude gives of false teachers, Jude 1:16 who are next described:
and the prophet that teacheth lies, he [is] the tail; so called from their low extract, being often of a mean original and descent; or rather from the meanness of their spirits, their flattery of princes and great men, to whom they tell lies, and prophesy smooth and false things, for the sake of a little sordid gain, in allusion to dogs that wag their tails at their masters; or from the poison of their doctrines, some creatures having poison in their tails, and do much mischief with them. See Re 9:19.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
15. The ancient and honorable, he is the head. What he had spoken allegorically about the head and the tail he explains more plainly and without a figure. He says that the heads are the princes and nobles who had the charge of public affairs, and sat at the helm of the commonwealth. To these he adds the false prophets, and says that they are meant by the tail. But he explains only the first part of the verse, and says nothing about the branch and reed. The reason why he omitted them is easily explained. It is, because he intended to press hardest on those who were more heinous transgressors, and who led others to commit sin, in consequence of the influence which they obtained from their high rank. He gives to the prophets the name of the tail, not because they were mean and contemptible, as some think; but he intended to denote the lowest parts of the whole body. By the head he means magistrates and judges, and by the tail he means false prophets, because they deceive and impose upon men by falsehoods and hypocrisy, as if he had compared the one to lions or bears, and the other to foxes.
This passage warns us that we ought not to slumber in our sins, because wickedness and profligacy abound in all ranks, and no class of men is sound or uninfected; for the more that vices abound, so much the more will the wrath of God be kindled against the highest and the lowest. We ought, especially in the present day, amidst that pestilence of every kind of evils, to fear lest, when the wrath of God hath begun to burn, it may consume everything, high and low.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(15) The ancient and honourable . . .Comp. Isa. 3:2-3, for the meaning of the words. These, the prophet seems to say, were the true leaders of the people. The ideal work of the prophet was, indeed, that of a teacher who was to lead even them, but corruptio optimi pessima; and to Isaiah, as to Jeremiah, there was no class so contemptible and base as that of spiritual guides whose policy was that of a time-serving selfishness. The verse is rejected by some critics as a marginal note that has found its way into the text; but the prophet may well have given his own interpretation of this formula. (Comp. Isa. 28:7; Isa. 29:10; Jer. 14:14; Jer. 23:9-40.)
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Isa 9:15 The ancient and honourable, he [is] the head; and the prophet that teacheth lies, he [is] the tail.
Ver. 15. The ancient and honourable is the head. ] Thus the Scripture frequently expoundeth itself. In a general calamity all fare alike, lords and losels.
And the prophet that teacheth lies, he is the tail.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
head. tail. Reference to Pentateuch. Only here and Deu 28:13, Deu 28:44.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
ancient: Isa 3:5, Isa 5:13, 1Sa 9:6
the prophet: Isa 28:17, Isa 29:10, 1Ki 13:18, 1Ki 22:22-24, Jer 5:31, Jer 14:14, Jer 14:15, Jer 23:9, Jer 23:14, Jer 23:15, Jer 23:25-27, Jer 27:9, Jer 27:10, Jer 27:14, Jer 27:15, Jer 28:15, Jer 28:16, Jer 29:21, Jer 29:22, Eze 13:1-16, Eze 13:19, Eze 13:22, Hos 9:8, Mal 2:9, Mat 7:15, Mat 24:24, 2Co 11:13-15, Gal 1:8, Gal 1:9, 2Th 2:9-12, 2Ti 4:2, 2Ti 4:3, 2Pe 2:1-3, 1Jo 4:1, Rev 19:20
Reciprocal: Lev 13:29 – General Deu 13:1 – a prophet Deu 13:5 – prophet Deu 28:13 – the head Jos 10:19 – smite Neh 6:14 – on the prophetess Pro 12:22 – Lying Pro 19:9 – and Isa 3:2 – the ancient Isa 3:12 – lead thee Isa 19:15 – General Jer 20:6 – thy friends Jer 27:16 – for Jer 32:32 – they Lam 2:14 – prophets Amo 2:4 – and their Mic 2:11 – a man Mic 3:5 – concerning Zep 3:4 – light Zec 11:17 – idol Mat 23:13 – woe 2Co 11:15 – whose Eph 4:25 – putting 1Ti 4:2 – lies Rev 9:19 – in their tails Rev 12:3 – ten Rev 21:8 – and all Rev 22:15 – whosoever
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
By the "head," Isaiah meant the leading person, and by the "tail," the false prophet. The leaders were leading the people astray by strengthening their self-confidence rather than urging them to trust Yahweh. Typically this results in leaders saying and doing things only to lengthen their own tenure in positions of power.