Where do we live according to the Bible ?
Does the Bible say anything about the shape of Earth ? Does it support the claim that Earth is a solid sphere with an iron core inside ? Or maybe it has a completely different view on what the Earth looks like ? Many will probably automatically recall the idea of a..flat Earth. We will see where does it come from and if it really has any scriptural reason.
First of all we need to do some lingual research.
On this picture we have two dialects presented. On the left there is Paleo-Hebrew writing. In other words it is an old Hebrew language. It is the one that all the Israelites used before the Babylonian captivity that occurred in 586 BC. During the custody and after it ended in 538 BC, Israelites slowly forgot their native language and adopted the one on the right, the Aramaic dialect. It was the language of the Babylon. Today it is considered as the original language of the Old Testament, so called Hebrew. By comparing these two we can clearly see that these are two completely different writings.The picture on the left presents a fragment of the Samaritan Pentateuch. It uses the Samaritan alphabet, which is closely related to Paleo-Hebrew.
The Greek translation of the original Hebrew (Paleo-Hebrew) is called Septuagint. It was made at the turn of III and II century BC. It was commonly used by the Christians of that time. The translation on the right is from the 4th century.
Septuagint only survived about 700 years. In 405 AD it was removed from the Roman Church and replaced by the latin translation of Aramaic scriptures.
Let’s look at the verses now. All the verses are from Septuagint. The Septuagint Bible Online
You can compare these with other translations.
Esaias 40: 22 It is he that comprehends the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants in it are as grasshoppers; he that set up the heaven as a chamber, and stretched it out as a tent to dwell in.
Greek Septuagint: ὁ κατέχων τὸν γῦρον τῆς γῆς καὶ οἱ ἐνοικοῦντες ἐν αὐτῇ ὡς ἀκρίδες ὁ στήσας ὡς καμάραν τὸν οὐρανὸν καὶ διατείνας ὡς σκηνὴν κατοικεῖν
Greek Septuagint can be found here: Greek Septuagint - Wiki English Translation - Contents
The word γῦρον (circle) is a variant of the word γύρος. The etymology of this word means a
circle, rim, perimeter that encompasses something that is inside
The shape of Earth is a rim that encloses something that is inside. We’ll see later what it encompasses and what is inside.
Is there a word meaning a sphere, globe in Greek ? Of course. σφαῖρα means a ball, globe, sphere.
But this word was not used. The translators of the Paleo-Hebrew text into Greek used the word meaning “ring” for what they found in the original scriptures.
Part II: http://christianchat.com/blogs/truth1/3740-bible-states-earth-rim-we-live-inside-part-ii.html
