THE SHAPE OF THE EARTH - Isaiah 40:22 and the shape of the earth - Even if the original Hebrew is correctly understood to refer to a circle, this doesn’t necessarily indicate something flat; a sphere appears as a circle when seen from above — and indeed from whatever direction it is viewed. Moreover, there is good reason to believe that the word translated ‘circle’ might be better translated ‘sphere’. While most modern Bible versions translate khûg as ‘circle’, a good case can be made that ‘sphere’ was the sense intended by the original Hebrew. The first line of Isaiah 40:22 reads, “It is he [i.e. God] who sits above the circle of the earth.” Some have argued from this that Scripture teaches the earth to be a flat disc, rather than a globe. However, even if the original Hebrew is correctly understood to refer to a circle, this doesn’t necessarily indicate something flat; a sphere appears as a circle when seen from above — and indeed from whatever direction it is viewed. Moreover, there is good reason to believe that the word translated ‘circle’ might be better translated ‘sphere’. The Hebrew word in question is khûg (חוּג) which is also found in Job 22:14 where, in many Bible versions, it is translated ‘vault’. For example, the New American Standard Bible reads, “Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; and He walks on the vault of heaven.” Clearly ‘vault’ carries the sense of something three-dimensional.

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The Shape Of The Earth

Isaiah 40:22 and the shape of the earth

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Even if the original Hebrew is correctly understood to refer to a circle, this doesn’t necessarily indicate something flat; a sphere appears as a circle when seen from above — and indeed from whatever direction it is viewed. Moreover, there is good reason to believe that the word translated ‘circle’ might be better translated ‘sphere’. While most modern Bible versions translate khûg as ‘circle’, a good case can be made that ‘sphere’ was the sense intended by the original Hebrew.

by Dominic Statham

The first line of Isaiah 40:22 reads, “It is he [i.e. God] who sits above the circle of the earth.”

Some have argued from this that Scripture teaches the earth to be a flat disc, rather than a globe.

However, even if the original Hebrew is correctly understood to refer to a circle, this doesn’t necessarily indicate something flat; a sphere appears as a circle when seen from above — and indeed from whatever direction it is viewed.

Moreover, there is good reason to believe that the word translated ‘circle’ might be better translated ‘sphere’.

The Hebrew word in question is khûg (חוּג) which is also found in Job 22:14 where, in many Bible versions, it is translated ‘vault’.

For example, the New American Standard Bible reads, “Clouds are a hiding place for Him, so that He cannot see; and He walks on the vault of heaven.”

Clearly ‘vault’ carries the sense of something three-dimensional and is given as the primary meaning of khûg in the well-known Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew and English Lexicon.

In modern Hebrew, a sphere is denoted by khûg, along with kaddur, galgal, and mazzal.

In Arabic (another Semitic language), kura means ball and is the word used in the Van Dyck-Boustani Arabic Bible (1865) to translate khûg in Isaiah 40:22.

A case can also be made from modern European terms denoting sphericity.

Philologists have discovered a number of Indo-European words that appear to be related to Semitic words, whether of shared origin or having been borrowed in the distant past.

While there is no specific evidence confirming a link in the case of the Hebrew word khûg, it may be significant that, in Indo-European languages, there are similar-sounding words that definitely refer to a spherical object, examples being kugel (Middle High German), kula (Polish), kugla (Serbo-Croatian) and gugā (their Proto-Indo-European root).

Hebrew-Latin polygot Bible edited by Benedictus Arias Montanus
and first printed in 1528. This uses the Latin word globus
 to translate the Hebrew word khûg in Isaiah 40:22.

Various sixteenth century Latin Bibles indicate that medieval scholars understood khûg in Isaiah 40:22 to refer to the sphericity of the earth.

For example, Santes Pagnino translated this sphaera, and Benedictus Arias Montanus and François Vatable globus.

The seventeenth century Giovanni Diodati Bible also used globus and the eighteenth century Dutch Hebraist Campeius Vitringa used orbis.

More recently, the Spanish Jerusalem Bible used ‘orb’ and the Italian Riveduta Bible ‘globo’.

Conclusion

While most modern Bible versions translate khûg as ‘circle’, a good case can be made that ‘sphere’ was the sense intended by the original Hebrew.

Historically, scholars have often taken this view, preferring the Latin words sphaera, globus and orbis.

The recent preference for ‘circle’ may have arisen from the belief that people living in Isaiah’s time were too primitive to realise the true nature of the earth.

This would seem unlikely, however, as Job 26:7, probably written several centuries before, states that God “hangs the earth on nothing,” indicating that the ancient Hebrews had quite a sophisticated understanding of cosmology.

Everyone is in agreement that khûg carries the sense of roundness, and common usage makes clear that this can refer to either a two or three dimensional geometry.

Hence, it cannot be argued that Isaiah 40:22 clearly teaches the earth to be a disc.

Moreover, even if khûg does refer to a circle here, this doesn’t necessarily indicate flatness as a globe appears as a circle from whatever direction it is viewed.

Dominic Statham, B.Sc., D.I.S., M.I.E.T., C.Eng.

Biography

Dominic became a Christian as a student in the early eighties. Over the following years, he became convinced of the need to hold firmly to the Bible as the basis for Christian belief and practice. Intrigued by the endless media assertions that “evolution is a fact” and that “the Bible is wrong”, he decided to investigate the scientific issues for himself. He was astonished by the weakness of the arguments presented by evolutionists, and is now keen to help others realise that there is no conflict between science and Christianity, and that the Bible can be trusted from the very first verse.

Dominic has a particular interest in Christian ethics, and his conviction that the Bible is true stems, in part, from his growing appreciation of the wisdom contained in both the Old and New Testaments. These, he has come to realise, perfectly portray the nature of man—his spiritual and moral needs—and provide an understanding of godliness and rightful living that can be found nowhere else. He is convinced that no book is more needed or more relevant in our current age than the Bible.

Dominic is a Chartered Engineer and graduate of Loughborough University in the UK. He has extensive experience of both manufacturing and product development and holds a number of patents. As an employee of Rolls Royce, he worked on projects for the Panavia Tornado and Eurofighter Typhoon and, as an employee of GKN, engineering drivelines for Jaguar and Land Rover vehicles. He is a speaker and writer for CMI-UK/Europe and the author of Evolution: Good Science? Exposing the ideological nature of Darwin’s theory and co-author of Inspiration from Creation: How engineers are copying God’s designs.

https://creation.com/isaiah-40-22-circle-sphere