I have heard it taught that Isaiah 40 proves the earth is round. What are your thoughts on this?
It is true that the verse portrays the earth as "round," yet what does round mean? Turning to the text, we read: He sits enthroned above the circle 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 (Isaiah 40:22).
Here the earth, in poetic language, is described as a "circle." Now a circle is two-dimensional. Unless rotated about an axis, it is actually flat! Moreover, the heavens are described as being "stretched out" like a canopy. The ancients often conceived of the earth as a disk covered by a semi-spherical vault. This passage appears to reflect this understanding.
It should not be pressed to yield "scientific insight" into the shape of our planet. In other words, this passage--and others like it--was never intended to comment on the dimensions or shape of the earth, any more than the Bible's speaking of "sunrise" and "sunset" was meant to impart the old Ptolemaic geocentric dogma. Poetry normally paints a picture; there are subjective elements which, left alone, convey truth. Yet if they are wrested from their literary context, a distorted picture may emerge.
In short, Isaiah 40 does not prove the sphericity of the earth. (Nor does it contradict it.)
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