Bible Studies

Are the Flat Earthers right or is the Earth round as it appears to be?

by Robert Randle
01/25/18
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Genesis 1: 2
The earth was formless (Heb. thohu) and void (Heb. bohu), and darkness (Heb. choshek) was over the surface (Heb. p'ney) of the deep (Heb. th'hom), and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters (Heb. hamayim).

Genesis 1: 6-8a
Then God said, “Let there be an expanse (Heb. raqi`a) in the midst of the waters, and let it separate (Heb. mab'dil) the waters from the waters.” God made the expanse, and separated (Heb. yab'del) the waters which were below (Heb. mitachath) the expanse from the waters which were above (Heb. me`al) the expanse; and it was so. God called the expanse heaven (Heb. Shamayim).

Genesis 1: 9-10a
Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place (Heb. maqom), and let the dry land (Heb. hayabashah) appear” (Heb. thera'eh); and it was so.God called the dry land earth (Heb. 'erets), and the gathering (Heb. miq'weh) of the waters He called seas (Heb. Yamim).

NOTE: The Earth is simply the “dry land” as opposed to the gathering of the waters called “seas” and has nothing to do with the planetary body.

Psalms 136: 6a
To Him that stretched out the earth above the waters;

Isaiah 40: 22
He sits enthroned above the circle (curvature??) of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in. NLT

NOTE: Do these terms relate to a spherical or non-spherical shape?

-Alternative translations:

Isaiah 40: 22
He is the one who sits on (above??) 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. NET

Isaiah 40: 22
It is He who sits above the vault 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.  New American Standard 1977

Job 9: 6
He shakes the earth from its place and makes its pillars tremble.

Job 38: 4-6
Where were you when I laid the earth's foundation? Tell me, if you understand. Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know! Who stretched a measuring lineacross (not around??) it? On what were its footings set, or who laid its cornerstone

NOTE:This seems to imply linearity and not spherical.

Proverbs 8: 27
When He prepared the heavens, I was there: when He set a compassupon the face of the depth:

NOTE: Does this refer to the Freemason compass and straight edge instruments to make such measurements?

COMMENTARY:
The controversy regarding a “flat” Earth or a round one is perhaps simpler than most people are willing to accept. In fact, both sides are right; but only partially. The Bible does really support both viewpoints. I think the land called “earth” is flat and it is surrounded by an canopy or dome that is spherical or circular in appearance, and it gives an illusion, like that of the end of a rainbow. This effect seems like the circumference of the planetary body as one looks at it from space, but this is a distortion caused by refracted from the twin light sources of sun and moon. The earth is probably, at the best guess, shaped more like an ellipse than anything else. God never said for the earth to have light in and of itself, but rather to receive it. There are those who will say that the Hebrew words for land and earth are used interchangeably, and that might be in a very few cases, but remember that earth is always translated as 'arets or 'erets, and land is “yabashah.” In Job 37: 3; 38: 13 the Hebrew word “kan'photh” does refer to ends of the earth, in the general sense of the word. However, in Ezekiel 7: 2; Isaiah 11: 12; Revelation 7: 1, the Hebrew uses the specific term “'ar'ba`ath kan'photh” four corners (as in structure or foundation) of the earth. Besides all of this, wouldn't surveyors instruments have to be adjusted with a pre-determined offset to account for the earth's curvature if it were round?
Hebrew word reference website: bayithamashiyach.com

Robert Randle
776 Commerce St Apt 701
Tacoma, WA 98402
January 25, 2018
[email protected]