Circle, sphere: ח֣וּג – chug

It is he who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers; who stretches out the heavens like a curtain, and spreads them like a tent to dwell in;

(Isaiah 40:22) ESV

Flat earthers claim that the use of the Hebrew word chug, for circle, in Isaiah 40:22 means that the Earth has to be a flat disk. The idea being that if the Earth was a sphere then the Hebrew word for ball should have been used.

None of them bothered to find out that chug also means sphere.

Circle, sphere: ח֣וּג – chug

• to draw a circle, to circumscribe, Job 26:10.
  • masc. circle, sphere,
  • fem. compass, compasses, Is 44:13.

Davidson Analytical Hebrew and Chaldee Lexicon page CCXLIX

A sphere looks like a circle when viewed from any angle, so there really isn’t an issue here, despite this the flat earthers are determined to impute their meaning onto it.

God is sitting above the aforementioned circle. God sits on a throne. God’s throne is in heaven, on the sea of glass, which means that the circle of the earth refers to something which is orbiting the Earth at the radial distance of the firmament. It’s not referring to the Earth itself. The Bible describes a spherical Earth in space.

We bring out the meaning of the words, it’s called exegesis, or deduction. Flat earthers have decided what they want to believe, regardless of what the Bible says, and then they impute their meaning onto it. It’s called eisegesis, or induction. Our featured passage confirms that the Earth is a sphere and it debunks the notion that flat earth is Biblical.

If you’re interested in the sweet irony of how to use the Bible to kill the flat earth insanity then check out these other posts:

Foursquare – Navigation

Section	Title	Scripture
1	Foursquare	Isaiah 40:22
2	Flat Earth Induction	2 Peter 3:16
	Circle, sphere: ח֣וּג – chug	Isaiah 40:22
3	Spherical Earth Deduction	Matthew 13:52
4	Gravitational Time Dilation	2 Peter 3:8
5	Above and Below	Deuteronomy 4:39
6	The Four Corners of the Earth	Isaiah 11:12
	The Four Corners of the Earth in Context	Ezekiel 7:2
	The Nuance of the Earth’s Corners	Leviticus 19:27
	Salvation	Romans 10:9-10

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