a flat earth

[The Portuguese Baptist]

Then don't trust a random guy on the internet (me), trust what experts in the Hebrew language have to say.

"[חוּג] verb draw round, make a circle (Aramaic circumivit; noun , חוּגְתָּא, circle, vault of heavens)" - Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon

"חוּג to describe a circle, to draw a circle, as with compasses. Job 26:10. (Syr. ܚܳܓ to go in a circle, ܚܘܽܓܬܐܳ a circle. Kindred roots are חָגַג and עוּג). Hence מְהוּגָה and

חוּג m. a circle, sphere, used of the arch or vault of the sky, Proverbs 8:27; Job 22:14 of the world, Isaiah 40:22." - Gesenius Hebrew Lexicon

https://www.studylight.org/lexicons/hebrew/hwview.cgi?n=2328

Feel free to do your own looking into this--by all means, don't just take what I'm saying as true.

But consistently you'll find in the available material and from multiple sources is that חוּג means "circle" "compass", it never means "sphere" or "ball".

Actually, in one of the quotes you have presented, the word 'sphere' is used --- and none of those quotes say that the word means necessarily a flat disc. And, again, a sphere is also a circle.

 

[Paul of Eugene OR]

It does describe a flat earth, but for convenience sake only.
Sun-rise, sun-set......same thing.

I'm sorry, we have had so many insist we have got to always take the literal meaning to be the intended meaning . . . how can you tell this is the exception? Seems to me you pick and choose when to take the literal based on your own personal views of reality. So the bible doesn't tell you what reality is, actually, you draw the line as to where you will let the bible lead you.

 

[Paul of Eugene OR]

Isaiah 40:22

"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 out like a tent to dwell in."

Much is made of Isaiah 40:42 where it is asserted that Isaiah told us all that the earth is a sphere. But is this what was really meant by the word the translator's usually present to us as "circle"?

The Hebrew word in Strong's transliteration is "chug". Here are all the verses in which the Hebrew word "chug" appears, included one use of "chug" as a verb:


Isa 40:22
It is He who sits above the [chug] of the earth,
And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers,
Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain,
And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.
NKJV

Job 22:14
4 Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the [chug] of heaven.
KJV

Prov 8:27-29
When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a [chug] upon the face of the depth: When he established the clouds above: when he strengthened the fountains of the deep: When he gave to the sea his decree, that the waters should not pass his commandment: when he appointed the foundations of the earth:


Job 26:10-11
He hath [chugged] the waters with bounds, until the day and night come to an end.
The pillars of heaven tremble and are astonished at his reproof.

There are some things we can notice about these verses. What is the common meaning between these verses? I submit that it is quite clear the word does not means "sphere". It is also clear the word always is used in the context of the big picture of the earth and even more.

The talmudic writers leave no doubt that their literalistic interpretation of the firmament of Genesis One was simply that of the great bowl of the sky, placed as a dome over the flat earth. You may research this for yourself by searching for "talmud" and "firmament" over the internet; here is a good link you might find that way.

http://www.daatemet.org.il/pamphlets/en_pamphlet4.html

It is quite plain that the word "chug", then, can easily be understood as a reference to the Firmament; it can easily be considered as an alternate word for the same idea. Proverbs 8:27 almost cries out to interpret the word [chug] in that way.

It is also quite plain that this word is no proof that the earth itself is shown by Isaiah to be a sphere.

 

[SkyWriting]

I'm sorry, we have had so many insist we have got to always take the literal meaning to be the intended meaning . . . how can you tell this is the exception? Seems to me you pick and choose when to take the literal based on your own personal views of reality. So the bible doesn't tell you what reality is, actually, you draw the line as to where you will let the bible lead you.

The Scriptures were written by common folk and then
the stories they told were curated by common folk.
The scriptures are an early Wikipedia entry on God.
They are useful for instruction. While the subject is
perfect and flawless, evidently the original language
wasn't even worth saving for the population. Do you
have a specific question?

 

[Paul of Eugene OR]

The Scriptures were written by common folk and then
the stories they told were curated by common folk.
The scriptures are an early Wikipedia entry on God.
They are useful for instruction. While the subject is
perfect and flawless, evidently the original language
wasn't even worth saving for the population. Do you
have a specific question?

Heh heh you're plainly just trying to weasel out of the fact that the Bible describes the the earth as flat. Such expertise at weaseling could equally well be used to make the bible compatible with evolution and actual age of earth. But if you insist on keeping the plain, literal meaning, you're stuck with a flat earth in which the sun moves instead of the earth rotating.