Does the Hebrew word Chuwg mean a flat circle like a coin or a sphere Isaiah C40 verse 22?

Answer 1

Answer

The Hebrew word Chug (חוג) means a flat-circle like a coin as you said. The Hebrew word for a sphere like a ball is Dur (דור).

He will surely violently turn and toss thee like a ball (Dur) into a large country: there shalt thou die, and there the chariots of thy glory shall be the shame of thy lord's house. (Isaiah 22:18)

AnswerThe Hebrew language lacked a specific term for sphere as well as terminology for infinite space. The word Chug, as described above and as used, in context with other words in Isaiah cannot be used to prove that The Bible teaches a flat earth.

Duwr is not exclusively a word for sphere.

Is. 29:3 And I will camp against thee round about, and will lay siege against thee with a mount, and I will raise forts against thee.

Obviously the soldier would not camp around a sphere but encircle the city.

Addition:

The root of chûgh (or chug) is mentioned six times in the bible, and it is quite evident from its usage, in context, that it refers to a specific geometrical shape; "A circle as drawn with a compass" or "encompassed".

• In Job 26:10 and Prov. 8:27, chûgh is used with choq, intending "to inscribe a circle." This nominal infinitive form also appears in Job 22:14, when signifying "the circle of the heavens"

• In Isa. 40:22, where it denotes "the circle of the earth".

• Sir. 43:12 uses chûgh as description of the rainbow.

• In Isa. 44:13, chûgh appears as mechûghah, which simply means "a compass," in other words the geometrical instrument which you use to can draw circles on a paper.

In contemporary Hebrew cosmology the common belief was that the earth was formed as a plano-concave plate with slightly raised edges covered by high mountains, where the heavens were attached to the earth.

In the second part of the above mentioned verse by Isaiah this becomes quite obvious when god stretched out the heavens over the earth like a canopy - which completely lose all meaning and become utterly absurd if you try to apply the text to an image of a spherical earth. However, it fits perfectly with a flat earth model.

Moreover, Job 28:24, Job 37:3, Job 38:13, Jeremiah 16:19 and Daniel 4:11 all claim that the earth has ends (or edges depending on what version you read) But regardless of translation, a sphere has either edges, nor ends. But a two-dimensional flat form does.

In Job 11:9 you can read: "Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea" which also become quite incomprehensible if you try to apply the verse to a spherical conception of the world, but again corresponds completely with the idea of a flat earth .

Finally, in Job 38:44 it says:

"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 line across it?" If the author would have had a spherical shape in mind, the last question in Job should have read "Who stretched a measuring line around it?"

Answer:Interestingly, Rashi commentary to Isaiah 22:18 (mentioned in the above answers) explicitly refers to a sphere ("ball"), quoting the Talmud sages. But in general, it should be borne in mind that the Tanakh (Jewish Bible) doesn't intend to be a scientific treatise. It uses poetic language, and leaves research and inquiry to others; concentrating instead on matters related to awareness of God. The Bible uses a man's-eye-view of the world around him; just like we speak of "sunrise" and "sunset" even though it's the earth that is revolving on its axis. But even in ancient times, those who wished to spend time observing the earth, sun and moon, could show the spherical shape of the earth from its shadow on the moon in lunar eclipses. The Sanhedrin (Sages) who proclaimed the New Moon each month were well-versed in these matters.

Answer 2

No, if you mean chug (חוג) it refers to a sphere or a tropic. It can also mean group or elective (class).