Isaiah 44:18

18 They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.

Isaiah 44:18 in Other Translations

KJV
18 They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
ESV
18 They know not, nor do they discern, for he has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, and their hearts, so that they cannot understand.
NLT
18 Such stupidity and ignorance! Their eyes are closed, and they cannot see. Their minds are shut, and they cannot think.
MSG
18 Pretty stupid, wouldn't you say? Don't they have eyes in their heads? Are their brains working at all?
CSB
18 Such people do not comprehend and cannot understand, for He has shut their eyes so they cannot see, and their minds so they cannot understand.

Isaiah 44:18 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 44:18

They have not known nor understood
Who the true God is, nor the worship that is due to him alone; they do not know nor understand divine and spiritual things; nay, they have not the knowledge and understanding of men; they want common sense that can do and say such things as before mentioned, both idol makers and idol worshippers: for he hath shut their eyes that they cannot see, and their heart that
they cannot understand;
either the devil, as some think, the god of this world, that blinds their eyes from seeing the folly of such gross idolatry, which he, deceiving them, leads them into; or rather God himself, who, because they like not to retain him in their knowledge, gives them up to a reprobate and injudicious mind, to believe a lie, and worship a false god; this he permits, orders, and overrules to some good ends and purposes: this is to be understood of the eyes of the understanding, which, as the word F9 signifies, are "daubed" and plastered over, that there is no opening of them, and seeing with them; which is the judicial blindness and hardness of heart, which God sometimes in righteous judgment gives up men unto; see ( Romans 1:28 ) .


FOOTNOTES:

F9 (Mhynye xt) "oblevit oculos eorum", Montanus; "obleverit", Cocceius; "quod [sculptile] oblinat", Piscator.

Isaiah 44:18 In-Context

16 Half of the wood he burns in the fire; over it he prepares his meal, he roasts his meat and eats his fill. He also warms himself and says, “Ah! I am warm; I see the fire.”
17 From the rest he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships. He prays to it and says, “Save me! You are my god!”
18 They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
19 No one stops to think, no one has the knowledge or understanding to say, “Half of it I used for fuel; I even baked bread over its coals, I roasted meat and I ate. Shall I make a detestable thing from what is left? Shall I bow down to a block of wood?”
20 Such a person feeds on ashes; a deluded heart misleads him; he cannot save himself, or say, “Is not this thing in my right hand a lie?”

Cross References 2

  • 1. Isaiah 1:3; S Isaiah 16:12; Jeremiah 4:22; Jeremiah 10:8,14,14-15
  • 2. S Isaiah 6:9-10; S Isaiah 29:10
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