Texts in Conversation
Proverbs 8 and Isaiah 40 both use the Hebrew word often translated as “circle” to describe creation’s horizon, placing the imagery in an ancient cosmological setting. In Proverbs, wisdom is present when this boundary is drawn, while Isaiah depicts God enthroned above it.
Share:
Proverbs 8:27
Hebrew Bible
25 before the mountains were set in place—before the hills—I was born, 26 before he made the earth and its fields, or the top soil of the world. 27 When he established the heavens, I was there; when he marked out the horizon over the face of the deep, 28 when he established the clouds above, when he secured the fountains of the deep, 29 when he gave the sea his decree that the waters should not pass over his command, when he marked out the foundations of the earth,
Date: 6th-3rd Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Isaiah 40:22
Hebrew Bible
20 To make a contribution one selects wood that will not rot; he then seeks a skilled craftsman to make an idol that will not fall over. 21 Do you not know? Do you not hear? Has it not been told to you since the very beginning? Have you not understood from the time the earth’s foundations were made? 22 He is the one who sits on the earth’s horizon; its inhabitants are like grasshoppers before him. He is the one who stretches out the sky like a thin curtain, and spreads it out like a pitched tent. 23 He is the one who reduces rulers to nothing; he makes the earth’s leaders insignificant. 24 Indeed, they are barely planted; yes, they are barely sown; yes, they barely take root in the earth, and then he blows on them, causing them to dry up, and the wind carries them away like straw.
Date: 7th-5th Centuries B.C.E. (based on scholarly estimates)
Source
Search:
Notes and References
"... It is sometimes argued that certain biblical passages clearly describe a spherical earth. The arguments stem from the translation of the Hebrew word ḥûg as “circle” in Job 22:14; 26:10; Proverbs 8:27 and Isaiah 40:22. Unfortunately, ḥûg only occurs four times in the Old Testament, so there is not much lexical evidence on which to base a definitive translation. Even the Aramaic and Syriac cognate hugtā offers little assistance, since its primary use is in translations of the biblical texts. What, then, does it mean for the earth to have a circle? First, each of the passages in which we find this description is in a cosmological context. In Job 22:14 Eliphaz states that Job is accusing God of being distant, aloof and blind to Job’s situation. God is so distant, in fact, that he “walks on the dome [ḥûg] of heaven.” Most Bible translations render ḥûg as “vault,” because they recognize the cosmological imagery evoked here. John Hartley rightly notes, “From the ancient perspective, when God created the universe, he drew a circle to hold back the heavenly waters from covering the earth (Proverbs 8:27). His abode is located above this circle.” ..."
Greenwood, Kyle
Scripture and Cosmology: Reading the Bible between the Ancient World and Modern Science
(pp. 78-79) InterVarsity Press, 2015
* The use of references are not endorsements of their contents. Please read the entirety of the provided reference(s) to understand the author's full intentions regarding the use of these texts.
Your Feedback:
Leave a Comment
Anonymous comments are welcome. All comments are subject to moderation.