Isaiah 9:14-16

9:14 So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail,

both the shoots and stalk ¹  in one day.

9:15 The leaders and the highly respected people ²  are the head,

the prophets who teach lies are the tail.

9:16 The leaders of this nation were misleading people,

and the people being led were destroyed. ³ 

[9:14]  ¹ sn The metaphor in this line is that of a reed being cut down.

[9:15]  ² tn Heb “the elder and the one lifted up with respect to the face.” For another example of the Hebrew idiom, see 2 Kgs 5:1.

[9:16]  ³ tn Heb “and the ones being led were swallowed up.” Instead of taking מְבֻלָּעִים (mÿbulla’im) from בָּלַע (bala’, “to swallow”), HALOT 134 s.v. בלע proposes a rare homonymic root בלע (“confuse”) here.