Albert Barnes Commentary 1 Samuel 4:15

"Now Eli was ninety and eight years old; and his eyes were set, so that he could not see." — 1 Samuel 4:15 (ASV)

Dim - Rather, “set.” The word is quite different from the one rendered that way in 1 Samuel 3:2. The phrase seems to express the “fixed” state of the blind eye, which is not affected by the light. Eli’s blindness, while it made him sensitive to sounds, prevented him from seeing the ripped garments and dust-sprinkled head of the messenger of bad news.