Isaiah 40:22 uses the word chuwg. It means (1) Circle (2) Compass (3) Circuit
A circle is round. The compass here is not the instrument as flat earthers think it is. The compass in this word is the circumference. Then there is the word circuit which means to move in a circle. This is rotation. In Greek the word is gyros and rotation is a major part of that word definition. You need to study Hebrew and Greek before you can become a master in theology. Simply reading in English and from bad translations does not quite provide the reader a very defining read. When you read Psalm 90:2 in Hebrew you read about a globe earth that rotates. That is what the Hebrew tells us.
the parent root of this word is Strongs 2282 (Chag) or simply CG (2 characters). it means "a festival gathering, feast, pilgrim feast" so how can the word "circle" come from the word for feast?
the characters used are Het and Gam and in pictograph form, they depict a wall (tent wall) and a foot. the wall can represent a concept of "outside" and the foot represents a concept of walking or gathering. Combined this means "outside gathering". an outside gathering such as a festival is usually in a circle form with a focal point and everyone gathered around it or encircling it. The word chuwg (CWG) adds the character "waw". and it's a pictograph of a tent peg and can mean something secured, hooked or held in place. A compass tool in simple form can be a stick (or tent peg) with a rope tied to it and using that fixed-length you can draw a circle around the tent peg. This is the root of the word "circle" in hebrew. (the actual compass instrument is strongs 4230 but it's child root is chuwg)
so when scripture speaks of a "circle of the earth" or in Job "circle of heaven" these are the concepts that are invoked. This is not a concept of a sphere or something rotating. The KJV has used compass and since this word is so interconnected to the Hebrew meaning it's a close match but even better perhaps is "encompass" and as a noun "encompassment". encompassment is a fairly abstract word over circle which is a concrete word. certainly there can be an argument that the innate concreteness of the text should be preserved so we should keep circle but encompass or a word like encircle shows this concept of gathering around something forming a loose circular shape. This is the circle of the earth or the circle of heaven, a gathering of land or sky around a focal point.
Greek may introduce other ideas but we are not talking about Greek so I'm not sure why you're leaning upon the Greek words. Each layer of translation will introduce new ideas which I'm sure you can agree with. Hebrew is a very concrete language whereas Greek is an abstract language and English is far more abstract than Greek. We can't allow ourselves to be governed by these abstract concepts unfamiliar to the time this text was written in because we like the words better or they fit our point better.
An extremely abstract thinker of the day may be able to visualize a compass set where he stands and a circle drawn around it to form the boundaries of the earth but then understand that as you move those boundaries increase ever still. then visualize how all of that get's put together and perhaps visualize how a sphere would fit this model but I'm afraid the Hebrews were not those people (and such an idea would probably get him stoned). saying the hebrew word for "circle" invokes Hebrew concepts, not abstract Greek and English concepts that you're superimposing over the text. I fully agree the Greek/English has more abstract meanings that perhaps better fit a sphere or a model of the earth rotating but the text is not Greek or English is it? So why are we using foreign words and concepts to explain Hebrew? Why not just use Hebrew?
Last edited:
Upvote
0