“For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed.”
My Notes
What Does Isaiah 9:16 Mean?
"For the leaders of this people cause them to err; and they that are led of them are destroyed." The leaders who should guide cause error instead, and the people who follow them are destroyed. The leadership failure is the cause. The communal destruction is the effect. The leaders don't just fail to lead — they actively CAUSE the erring. The people don't just stumble — they are DESTROYED.
The phrase "cause them to err" (mat'im — those who lead astray, who cause to wander) makes the misdirection active: the leaders aren't just incompetent. They're agents of error. The leading astray is what they DO, not what accidentally happens. The verb is causative — they MAKE the people err. The error is produced by leadership, not by the followers' own choices.
The "they that are led of them are destroyed" (meushsharav mevu'alim — those called blessed/guided by them are swallowed up) reveals the horrifying irony: the people being 'led' think they're being 'blessed.' The Hebrew word play suggests the people believe their leaders are guiding them correctly — they feel blessed, guided, directed. And they're being destroyed. The leadership feels like blessing while producing annihilation.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Who is leading you — and are you sure the direction matches what they're promising?
- 2.How does leadership that FEELS like blessing but produces destruction describe the most dangerous kind of misdirection?
- 3.What does leaders 'causing' error (not just allowing it) teach about active misdirection?
- 4.What 'swallowing up' — total destruction from trusted guidance — have you witnessed or experienced?
Devotional
The leaders cause the erring. The led are destroyed. The people who follow their leaders into error believe they're being guided — they feel blessed, directed, cared for. And they're being swallowed up. The leadership that feels like blessing is actually producing destruction.
The 'cause them to err' makes the leaders AGENTS of the misdirection: this isn't accidental poor leadership. The leaders are actively causing the people to wander. The error is manufactured by the very people responsible for preventing it. The shepherds are driving the sheep off the cliff — deliberately, systematically, while the sheep trust the direction.
The 'destroyed' — literally 'swallowed up' — describes what happens to the people who trusted the wrong leaders: they don't just suffer setbacks. They're CONSUMED. The destruction is total. The swallowing is complete. The people who followed are gone — absorbed into the consequences of the leadership they trusted.
The terrifying element is the gap between perception and reality: the people being led FEEL led. They FEEL blessed. They FEEL guided. The leadership seems trustworthy. The direction seems right. But the feeling and the reality are opposites. The blessing is destruction. The guidance is error. The leadership is the mechanism of their annihilation.
Who is leading you — and is the direction they're taking you actually where they say it's going?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
For the leaders of this people cause them to err,.... Or, "who bless this people", as the Septuagint and Arabic…
For the leaders of this people ... - Note, Isa 3:12. Hebrew ‘They that call this people blessed’ - referring more…
Here are terrible threatenings, which are directed primarily against Israel, the kingdom of the ten tribes, Ephraim and…
Render: And the leaders of this people have become misleaders, and they of it that are led are swallowed up (or perhaps…
Cross References
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