Isaiah 44:18

Isaiah 44:18 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)They have not known nor understood: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand.
• New International Version (NIV)They know nothing, they understand nothing; their eyes are plastered over so they cannot see, and their minds closed so they cannot understand.
• English Standard Version (ESV)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.
• New King James Version (NKJV)They do not know nor understand; For He has shut their eyes, so that they cannot see, And their hearts, so that they cannot understand.

Context of Isaiah 44:18

16Half of the wood they burn in the fire. Over this half they roast meat that they can eat until they are full. They also warm themselves and say, “Ah! We are warm. We can see the fire!” 17But the rest of the wood they make into gods, carved statues. They bow to them and worship them. They pray to them, saying, “Rescue us, because you are our gods.” They don’t know or understand anything. Their eyes are plastered shut, so they can’t see. And their minds are closed, so they can’t understand. 19No one stops to think. No one has enough knowledge or understanding to say, “I burned half of the wood in the fire. I also baked bread over its coals. I roasted meat and ate it. Now I am making the rest of the wood into a disgusting thing and bowing to a block of wood.” 20They eat ashes because they are deceived. Their own misguided minds lead them astray. They can’t rescue themselves or ask themselves, “Isn’t what I hold in my right hand a false god?”

Isaiah 44:18 word by word

לֹ֥א יָדְע֖וּ וְלֹ֣א יָבִ֑ינוּ כִּ֣י טַ֤ח מֵֽרְאוֹת֙ עֵֽינֵיהֶ֔ם מֵהַשְׂכִּ֖יל לִבֹּתָֽם׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• They have not knownיָדַעyâda‛ · to knowH3045
• nor understoodבִּיןbîyn · to understandH995
• for he hath shutטָחַחţûach · to be smearedH2902
• their eyesעַ֫יִן‛ayin · eyeH5869
• that they cannot seeרָאָהrâ'âh · to see: seeH7200
• their heartsלִבָּהlibbâh · heartH3826
• that they cannot understandשָׂכַלώâkal · be prudentH7919

Cross-references for Isaiah 44:18

• Isaiah 44:9All who make idols are nothing. Their precious treasures are worthless. Their own witnesses do not see or know anything, so they will be put to shame.
• Isaiah 45:20Come here, you refugees from the nations. Ignorant people carry wooden idols and pray to gods that cannot save ⌞anyone⌟.
• Isaiah 46:7They lift it on their shoulders and carry it. They set the idol in its place, and it stands there. It doesn’t move from its place. If they cry to it for help, it can’t answer. It can’t rescue them from their distress.
• Jeremiah 10:8They are complete idiots. They learn nonsense from wooden idols.
• Romans 1:21They knew God but did not praise and thank him for being God. Instead, their thoughts were pointless, and their misguided minds were plunged into darkness.
• Isaiah 6:10Make these people close-minded. Plug their ears. Shut their eyes. Otherwise, they may see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their minds, and return and be healed.”
• Isaiah 29:10The Lord has poured out on you a spirit of deep sleep. He will shut your eyes. (Your eyes are the prophets.) He will cover your heads. (Your heads are the seers.)
• Psalms 81:12So I let them go their own stubborn ways and follow their own advice.
• Matthew 13:14So they make Isaiah’s prophecy come true: ‘You will hear clearly but never understand. You will see clearly but never comprehend.
• Acts 14:16In the past God allowed all people to live as they pleased.
• Romans 1:28And because they thought it was worthless to acknowledge God, God allowed their own immoral minds to control them. So they do these indecent things.
• Romans 11:8as Scripture says, “To this day God has given them a spirit of deep sleep. Their eyes don’t see, and their ears don’t hear!”
• 2 Corinthians 4:3So if the Good News that we tell others is covered with a veil, it is hidden from those who are dying.
• 2 Thessalonians 2:9The man of sin will come with the power of Satan. He will use every kind of power, including miraculous and wonderful signs. But they will be lies.
• Isaiah 56:11These dogs have huge appetites. They are never full. They are the shepherds, but they don’t understand. All of them have turned to go their own ways. Each one seeks his own gain.
• Psalms 92:6A stupid person cannot know and a fool cannot understand

Commentaries on Isaiah 44:18

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 18He hath shut their eyes "Their eyes are closed up" - The Septuagint, Chaldee, and Vulyate, for טח tach, read טחו tachu . See note on Isaiah 6:10.Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 18They have not known nor understood - They are stupid, ignorant, and blind. Nothing could more strikingly show their ignorance and stupidity than this idol worship. He hath shut their eyes - God hath closed their eyes. Margin, Daubed.‘ The word used here, טה ṭah from טוה ṭûah denotes properly “to spread over”; to besmear; to plaster; as, e. g., a wall with mortar Leviticus 14:42; 1 Chronicles 29:4; Ezekiel 13:10; Ezekiel 22:28. Here it means to cover…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 9-20Verses 9-20 Image-making is described, to expose the folly of idolaters. Though a man had used part of a log for fuel, he fell down before an image made of the remainder, praying it to deliver him. Man greatly dishonours God, when he represents him after the image of man. Satan blinds the eyes of unbelievers, causing absurd reasonings in matters of religion. Whether men seek happiness in worldly things, or run into unbelief, superstition, or any false…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 18-19closed their minds: Idol worshipers do not see the irony in using one part of a log for warmth and another part as their god.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 1818. he, &c.--God hath given them over to judicial blindness; not His direct physical, but His providential agency in administering His moral government, is meant (Is 6:9, 10). "Shut," literally, "daubed," plastered up; it is an Eastern custom in some cases to seal up the eyes of offenders.Read the comment

Topics related to Isaiah 44:18

• Blindness
• Idol
• Idolatry

In the dictionaries

• Consider
• Fit
• Idol
• Memphis
• Pleasure
• Surname
• God
• Idolatry
• Isaiah
• Jeremy, the Epistle of

Commentaries on Isaiah 44

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Scofield Reference Notes, 1917 Edition
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary
• EGW Writings