Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 44:18

"They know not, neither do they consider: for he hath shut their eyes, that they cannot see; and their hearts, that they cannot understand." — Isaiah 44:18 (ASV)

He has shut their eyes. —Better, their eyes are smeared over. The state described is the judicial blindness of Romans 1:20-25. It will be remembered that blindness thus inflicted was one of the tortures of Eastern cruelty.