There is One who dwells above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers. He is stretching out the heavens like a fine gauze, And he spreads them out like a tent to dwell in. (Isaiah 40:22)
In a brochure entitled: “A Book for All People” published in 1997 the Watchtower society comments on this verse:
What Is the Shape of the Earth?
That question has intrigued humans for thousands of years. The general view in ancient times was that the earth was flat. The Babylonians, for example, believed that the universe was a box or a chamber with the earth as its floor. Vedic priests of India imagined that the earth was flat and that only one side of it was inhabited. A primitive tribe in Asia pictured the earth as a huge tea tray.
As early as the sixth century B.C.E., Greek philosopher Pythagoras theorized that since the moon and the sun are spherical, the earth must also be a sphere. Aristotle (fourth century B.C.E.) later agreed, explaining that the sphericity of the earth is proved by lunar eclipses. The earth’s shadow on the moon is curved.
However, the notion of a flat earth (with only its upper side inhabited) did not disappear completely. Some could not accept the logical implication of a round earth—the concept of antipodes.[i] Lactantius, Christian apologist of the fourth century C.E., ridiculed the very idea. He reasoned: “Is there any one so senseless as to believe that there are men whose footsteps are higher than their heads? . . . that the crops and trees grow downwards? that the rains, and snow, and hail fall upwards?”2
The concept of antipodes posed a dilemma for a few theologians. Certain theories held that if there were antipodeans, they could have no possible connection with known humans either because the sea was too wide to navigate or because an impassable torrid zone surrounded the equator. So where could any antipodeans have come from? Perplexed, some theologians preferred to believe that there could be no antipodeans, or even, as Lactantius argued, that the earth could not be a sphere in the first place!
Nonetheless, the concept of a spherical earth prevailed, and eventually it was widely accepted. Only with the dawn of the space age in the 20th century, however, has it been possible for humans to travel far enough into space to verify by direct observation that the earth is a globe.
And where did the Bible stand on this issue? In the eighth century B.C.E., when the prevailing view was that the earth was flat, centuries before Greek philosophers theorized that the earth likely was spherical, and thousands of years before humans saw the earth as a globe from space, the Hebrew prophet Isaiah stated with remarkable simplicity: “There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth.” (Isaiah 40:22) The Hebrew word chugh, here translated “circle,” may also be rendered “sphere.”3 Other Bible translations read, “the globe of the earth” (Douay Version) and “the round earth.”—Moffatt.
The Bible writer Isaiah avoided the common myths about the earth. Instead, he penned a statement that was not threatened by the advances of scientific discovery. (A Book for All People pgs. 18-19)
That this view has not been discarded is shown by the fact that it has appeared in print as late as 2018:
• What is the shape of the earth?
In ancient times, many people thought that the earth was flat. In the fifth century B.C.E., Greek scientists suggested that it was a sphere. But long before that—in the eighth century B.C.E.—the Bible writer Isaiah referred to “the circle of the earth,” using a word that may also be rendered “sphere.”—Isaiah 40:22; footnote. (The Watchtower 2018 No. 1 public edition)
And is featured in a video as part of the Enjoy Life Forever interactive Bible study:
Was God providing divine insight through Isaiah about the shape of the earth? Interestingly Insight on the Scriptures, also published in 2018, provides two conflicting views of this verse. In an article about the earth, the reader is informed that Isaiah is speaking from Jehovah’s viewpoint:
“Speaking from Jehovah’s viewpoint, the prophet Isaiah wrote under inspiration: “There is One who is dwelling above the circle of the earth, the dwellers in which are as grasshoppers.” (Isa 40:22) The Bible says: “He [God] has described a circle upon the face of the waters.” (Job 26:10) The waters are limited by his decree to their proper place. They do not come up and inundate the land; neither do they fly off into space. (Job 38:8-11) From the viewpoint of Jehovah, the earth’s face, or the surface of the waters, would, of course, have a circular form, just as the edge of the moon presents a circular appearance to us. (Insight on the Scriptures vol. 1 pg. 668)
However, in an article about heaven we are told that Isaiah is describing things as they appear from earth’s viewpoint:
“Jehovah, “the Father of the celestial lights” (Jas 1:17), is frequently spoken of as having ‘stretched out the heavens,’ just as one would a tent cloth. (Ps 104:1, 2; Isa 45:12) The heavens, both the expanse of atmosphere by day and the starry heavens by night, have the appearance of an immense domed canopy from the standpoint of humans on earth. At Isaiah 40:22 the simile is that of stretching out “fine gauze,” rather than the coarser tent cloth. This expresses the delicate finery of such heavenly canopy. On a clear night the thousands of stars do, indeed, form a lacy web stretched over the black velvet background of space. It may also be noted that even the enormous galaxy known as the Via Lactea, or Milky Way, in which our solar system is located, has a filmy gauzelike appearance from earth’s viewpoint. (Insight on the Scriptures vol. 1 pg. 1064)
So which is it? Was Isaiah speaking from Jehovah’s viewpoint or from his own? The Hebrew word “chugh” rendered circle in the New World Translation occurs 3 times in the scriptures. In each case it is translated differently:
Clouds screen him off so that he does not see As he walks about on the vault of heaven.’ (Job 22:14)
When he prepared the heavens, I was there; When he marked out the horizon on the surface of the waters, (Proverbs 8:27)
Notice that the same word is translated as circle, vault and horizon.
According to Brown Driver Briggs the definition is:
1) circle, circuit, compass
2) (BDB) vault (of the heavens)
Part of Speech: noun masculine
A Related Word by BDB/Strong’s Number: from H2328
Hence it is up to the translator to select which word best fits the context.
If Indeed God was providing through Isaiah special insight as to the shape of the earth the cosmological understanding of the Jews would have been far beyond that of the peoples of their times. What was the ancient near eastern concept about the shape of the earth?
According to Wikipedia:
In the Old Testament period, the Earth was most commonly thought of as a flat disc floating on water.[18] The concept was apparently quite similar to that depicted in a Babylonian world-map from about 600 BCE: a single circular continent bounded by a circular sea,[51] and beyond the sea a number of equally spaced triangles called nagu, “distant regions”, apparently islands although possibly mountains.[52] The Old Testament likewise locates islands alongside the Earth; (Psalm 97:1) these are the “ends of the earth” according to Isaiah 41:5, the extreme edge of Job’s circular horizon (Job 26:10) where the vault of heaven is supported on mountains.[53] Other OT passages suggest that the sky rests on pillars (Psalm 75:3, 1 Samuel 2:8, Job 9:6), on foundations (Psalms 18:7 and 82:5), or on “supports” (Psalm 104:5),[54] while the Book of Job imagines the cosmos as a vast tent, with the Earth as its floor and the sky as the tent itself; from the edges of the sky God hangs the Earth over “nothing”, meaning the vast Ocean, securely supported by being tied to the sky (Job 26:7).[55] If the technical means by which Yahweh keeps the earth from sinking into the chaos-waters are unclear, it is nevertheless clear that he does so by virtue of his personal power.[56]
The idea that the Earth was a sphere was developed by the Greeks in the 6th century BCE, and by the 3rd century BCE this was generally accepted by educated Romans and Greeks and even by some Jews.[57]
What did the ancient Jews understand about the shape of the earth?
Under the heading Cosmology the Encyclopedia Judaica states:
“In the Talmud
According to R. Simeon b. Yoḥai, the earth and the heavens are like “a pot with a cover.” This “cover” is the raki’a, the firmament. “The darkness of the firmament is that of a journey of 50 years. While the sun in the sky passes this journey of 50 years, a man can walk four miles.” The distance between the firmament and the earth is the equivalent of a journey of 500 years (TJ, Ber. 1:1, 2c). The firmament is composed of water and the stars of fire, but they dwell harmoniously together (TJ, RH 2:5,58a). The heavens (shamayim) are an admixture of fire and water (esh and mayim) or made wholly of water (Sham mayim; Ḥag. 12a). Indeed, “the Holy One, blessed be He, took all the waters of the sea and with half He made the firmament and the other half the ocean. The firmament is like a pool, and above it is an arch” (Gen. R. 4:4 and 5). The earth is of the same thickness as the firmament (Gen. R. 4:5). Once every 1,656 years the firmament shakes on its foundations (Gen. R. 38:6).
There is however more than one firmament; according to R. Judah, there are two, according to Resh Lakish, seven (Ḥag. 12b). The sun and the moon are situated in the second firmament (Gen. R. 6:6). The above-quoted view of R. Simeon b. Yoḥai would imply that the world is wholly enclosed by the firmament. R. Joshua was also originally of the same opinion, that the world was “like a tent” enclosed on all sides, but later he came round to the view of R. Eliezer that it is like an exedra, closed on three sides only, but open on the north side, and it is from this opening that the north wind comes (BB 25b).
Originally the sun and the moon were both of the same size but God, realizing that “two kings cannot wear one crown,” diminished the size of the moon. Thus what were originally “the two great luminaries” became “the greater luminary” and “the lesser luminary” of Genesis 1:16 (Ḥul. 60b). Eclipses of the sun are a sign of God’s anger or displeasure (Suk. 29a). Beneath the earth is the abyss (tehom). There is a cavity which descends from the Holy of Holies to the abyss.
[Louis Isaac Rabinowitz] Jewish Virtual Library
The Jewish Encyclopedia (1901) states:
Conceptions of Heaven and Earth.
As in the Bible, so also in the Talmud, heaven and earth designate the two borders of the universe. The former is a hollow sphere covering the earth. It consists, according to one authority, of a strong and firm plate two or three fingers in thickness, always lustrous and never tarnishing. Another tannaitic authority estimates the diameter of this plate as one-sixth of the sun’s diurnal journey; while another, a Babylonian, estimates it at 1,000 parasangs. According to others, the diameter of the firmament is equal to the distance covered in 50 or 500 years; and this is true also of the earth and the large sea (“Tehom”) upon which it rests (Yer. Ber. 1:2c; Targ. Yer. Genesis 1:6). The distance of the firmament from the earth is a journey of 500 years—a distance equivalent to the diameter of the firmament, through which the sun must saw its way in order to become visible (Yer. Ber. 1:2c, bot.; Pes. 94a). The firmament, according to some, consists of fire and water, and, according to others, of water only; while the stars consist of fire (Yer. R. H. 2:58a). East and west are at least as far removed from each other as is the firmament from the earth (Tamid. 32a). Heaven and earth “kiss each other” at the horizon; and between the water above and that below there are but two or three fingerbreadths (Gen. R. 2:4; Tosef., Ḥag. 2:5). The earth rests upon water and is encompassed by it. According to other conceptions the earth is supported by one, seven, or twelve pillars. These rest upon water, the water upon mountains, the mountains upon the wind, and the wind upon the storm (Ḥag. 12b; Yer. Ḥag. 2:77a). The nations of antiquity generally believed that the earth was a disk floating on water. There is also mentioned the terrestrial globe, “kaddur,” though it may also be translated as “disk.” When Alexander the Great attempted to ascend to heaven he rose even higher and higher, until the earth appeared as a globe and the sea as a tray (Yer. ‘Ab. Zarah 3:42c, bot.). The earth is divided into three parts, viz., habitable land, desert, and sea. (The Jewish Encyclopedia)
Regarding Isaiah 40:22, the IVP Bible Background Commentary states:
“The picture of the universe described here is the common cosmological view of the ancient Near East. The sky was a dome that arched over the disk of the earth, which sat on top of a primeval ocean. Under the ocean was the netherworld, virtually a mirror image of the space above the earth. Thus, the entire universe was an enormous sphere, cut in the center by the earth. Nevertheless, here it is the earth itself that is described as circular. In Babylonian literature Shamash is praised as the one who suspends from the heavens the circle of the lands. Likewise, in a prayer to Shamash and Adad Adad causes it to rain on the circle of the earth. The circle simply reflects the curvature of the horizon (thus, disk-shaped) rather than a sphere (for which Hebrew uses another word). In the ancient world the earth was consistently regarded as being circular.” (IVP Bible Background Commentary)
The NICOT comments:
“This verse deals with the implications in the physical world, stressing God’s otherness. His throne sits above the circle of the earth. Commentators agree that this probably does not refer to the circular nature of the earth, but they do not agree on what it does refer to. It might be the earth itself with its circular horizon (Pro 8:27; Job 16:10), or it might be the vault of the heavens (Job 22:14), which seems to extend in a half-circle from horizon to horizon. On balance, the latter seems more likely. As the transcendent one he sits enthroned above the zenith; he is above the world, not part of it. From that vantage point the people of earth with their often monumental egos are very small indeed: like grasshoppers.” (New International Commentary on the Old Testament)
A footnote in the NKJV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible states:
“The circle of the earth. “Circle” here refers to a disc, not a sphere. The common ancient Near Eastern perspective of the heavens was like that of an inverted bowl covering the earth, itself above the primeval waters, which surmounted the underworld. In Babylonian literature, Shamash is praised as the one who suspends from the heavens the circle of the lands. Likewise in a prayer to Shamash and Adad, Adad causes it to rain on the circle of the earth. The circle simply reflects the curvature of the horizon and thus is disk-shaped rather than a sphere (for which Hebrew uses another word). In the ancient world the earth was consistently regarded as being circular.” (The New King James Version Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)
Hence, it seems reasonable to conclude that it was unnecessary for God to reveal specific astronomical information about the shape of the earth in order to impress upon his people that he is the supreme sovereign. Isaiah was simply speaking from a human perspective. A perspective that was held by most of his contemporaries. This, however, does not imply that the Bible is not divinely inspired. Rather it shows that God, much like a human father, could convey his message to his servants while taking into consideration their limited knowledge at the time. Rather than feeling it necessary for him to immediately clear up every misconception, he desires to allow humans to explore, to learn and gradually come to a knowledge of the earth and the universe. When, in his due time, he decides it is important to reveal certain information to them, he does so.
[i] Antipodes – lit. those with the feet opposite. A word used to describe places diametrically opposite each other on the globe.