Isa 9:14-17 | NET2full | STEP | So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail , both the shoots and stalk in one day .

‏ Isaiah 9:14-17

14 So the Lord cut off Israel’s head and tail,
both the shoots and stalk ^{▼▼sn The metaphor in this line is that of a reed being cut down.} in one day.
15 The leaders and the highly respected people ^{▼▼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.} are the head,
the prophets who teach lies are the tail.
16 The leaders of this nation were misleading people,
and the people being led were destroyed. ^{▼▼tn Heb “and the ones being led were swallowed up.” Instead of taking מְבֻלָּעִים (mebullaʿim) from בָּלַע (balaʿ, “to swallow”), HALOT 134 s.v. בלע proposes a rare homonymic root בלע (“confuse”) here.}
17 So the Lord was not pleased ^{▼▼tn The Qumran scroll 1QIsaa has לא יחמול (“he did not spare”) which is an obvious attempt to tighten the parallelism (note “he took no pity” in the next line). Instead of taking שָׂמַח (samakh) in one of its well attested senses (“rejoice over, be pleased with”), some propose, with support from Arabic, a rare homonymic root meaning “be merciful.”} with their young men,
he took no pity ^{▼▼tn The translation understands the prefixed verbs יִשְׂמַח (yismakh) and יְרַחֵם (yerakhem) as preterites without vav (ו) consecutive. (See v. 11 and the note on “he stirred up.”)} on their orphans and widows;
for the whole nation was godless ^{▼▼tn Or “defiled”; cf. ASV “profane”; NAB “profaned”; NIV “ungodly.”} and did wicked things, ^{▼▼tn מֵרַע (meraʿ) is a Hiphil participle from רָעַע (raʿaʿ, “be evil”). The intransitive Hiphil has an exhibitive force here, indicating that they exhibited outwardly the evidence of an inward condition by committing evil deeds.}
every mouth was speaking disgraceful words. ^{▼▼tn Or “foolishness” (NASB), here in a moral-ethical sense.}
Despite all this, his anger does not subside,
and his hand is ready to strike again. ^{▼▼tn Heb “in all this his anger is not turned, and still his hand is outstretched.”} ^{▼▼sn See the note at 9:12.}