Isaiah 44:18

“They have not known nor understood, &c.] 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…”

“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 (Isa 6:9-10). "Shut," literally, "daubed," plastered up; it is an Eastern custom in some cases to seal up the eyes of offenders.”

“They 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 Lev 14:42; 1 Chronicles 29:4; Ezekiel 13:10; Ezekiel 22:28. Here it means to cover over the eyes so as to prevent vision; and hence, metaphorically, to make them stupid, ignorant, dull. It is attributed to God in accordance with the common statement of the Scriptures, that he does what he permits to be done (see the notes at…”

“Not known - This shews that they have not the understanding of a man. For he - God. Not as if God did make men wicked; he only permits them so to be, and orders, and over - rules their wickedness to his own glorious ends. Isaiah 44:20”

“44:18-19 Their minds are shut: Idol worshipers cannot see the irony in using one part of a log to warm themselves and another part of the same log to be their god.”

“have not: Isa 44:9, Isa 44:20, Isa 45:20, Isa 46:7, Isa 46:8; Jer 10:8, Jer 10:14; Rom 1:21-23 for he hath: Isa 6:10, Isa 29:10; Psa 81:12; Mat 13:14, Mat 13:15; Act 14:16; Rom 1:28, Rom 11:8-10; Co2 4:3, Co2 4:4; Th2 2:9-12 shut: Heb. daubed cannot: Isa 56:11; Psa 92:6; Pro 2:5-9, Pro 28:5; Jer 5:21; Dan 12:10; Hos 14:9; Mat 12:34; Joh 5:44, Joh 8:43, Joh 12:39, Joh 12:40; Pe2 2:14 Isaiah 44:19”

“So irrational is idolatry; but yet, through self-hardening, they have fallen under the judgment of hardness of heart ( Isa 6:9-10; Isa 19:3; Isa 29:10), and have been given up to a reprobate mind ( Rom 1:28). "They perceive not, and do not understand: for their eyes are smeared over, so that they do not see; their hearts, so that they do not understand. And men take it not to heart, no perception and no understanding, that men should say, The half of it I have burned in the fire, and also baked bread upon the coals thereof; roasted flesh, and eaten: and ought I to make the rest of it an abomination, to fall down before the produce of a tree?" Instead of טח, Lev 14:42, the third person is…”