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 it he burns in the fire – over that half he cooks meat; he roasts a meal and fills himself. Yes, he warms himself and says, ‘Ah! I am warm as I look at the fire.’ 17With the rest of it he makes a god, his idol; he bows down to it and worships it. He prays to it, saying, ‘Rescue me, for you are my god!’ They do not comprehend or understand, for their eyes are blind and cannot see; their minds do not discern. 19No one thinks to himself, nor do they comprehend or understand and say to themselves: ‘I burned half of it in the fire – yes, I baked bread over the coals; I roasted meat and ate it. With the rest of it should I make a disgusting idol? Should I bow down to dry wood?’ 20He feeds on ashes; his deceived mind misleads him. He cannot rescue himself, nor does he say, ‘Is this not a false god I hold in my right hand?’

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 form idols are nothing; the things in which they delight are worthless. Their witnesses cannot see; they recognize nothing, so they are put to shame.
• Isaiah 45:20Gather together and come! Approach together, you refugees from the nations! Those who carry wooden idols know nothing, those who pray to a god that cannot deliver.
• Isaiah 46:7They put it on their shoulder and carry it; they put it in its place and it just stands there; it does not move from its place. Even when someone cries out to it, it does not reply; it does not deliver him from his distress.
• Jeremiah 10:8The people of those nations are both stupid and foolish. Instruction from a wooden idol is worthless!
• Romans 1:21For although they knew God, they did not glorify him as God or give him thanks, but they became futile in their thoughts and their senseless hearts were darkened.
• Isaiah 6:10Make the hearts of these people calloused; make their ears deaf and their eyes blind! Otherwise they might see with their eyes and hear with their ears, their hearts might understand and they might repent and be healed.”
• Isaiah 29:10For the Lord has poured out on you a strong urge to sleep deeply. He has shut your eyes (the prophets), and covered your heads (the seers).
• Psalms 81:12I gave them over to their stubborn desires; they did what seemed right to them.
• Matthew 13:14And concerning them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled that says: ‘You will listen carefully yet will never understand, you will look closely yet will never comprehend.
• Acts 14:16In past generations he allowed all the nations to go their own ways,
• Romans 1:28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do what should not be done.
• Romans 11:8as it is written, “God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes that would not see and ears that would not hear, to this very day.”
• 2 Corinthians 4:3But even if our gospel is veiled, it is veiled only to those who are perishing,
• 2 Thessalonians 2:9The arrival of the lawless one will be by Satan’s working with all kinds of miracles and signs and false wonders,
• Isaiah 56:11The dogs have big appetites; they are never full. They are shepherds who have no understanding; they all go their own way, each one looking for monetary gain.
• Psalms 92:6The spiritually insensitive do not recognize this; the fool does not understand this.

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