Does the Bible state that the Earth is flat?

Question

Show me which part. Thanks.

Answer 1

Despite contrary assertions, the fact of a spherical earth was clearly proclaimed in the Bible by the prophet Isaiah nearly twenty-eight centuries ago ... "It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, and its inhabitants are like grasshoppers [etc.]" Isaiah 40:22 (NKJ). When Isaiah wrote this verse he used the Hebrew word "khug" to describe the shape of the earth. Although this word is commonly translated into the English word "circle," the literal meaning of this word is "a sphere."


Did Bible writers believe the earth was flat?

No, this false idea is not taught in Scripture!

Some Bible critics have claimed that Revelation 7:1 assumes a flat earth since the verse refers to angels standing at the "four corners" of the earth. Actually, the reference is to the cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. Similar terminology is often used today when we speak of the sun's rising and setting, even though the earth, not the sun, is doing the moving. Bible writers used the "language of appearance," just as people always have. Without it, the intended message would be awkward at best and probably not understood clearly. [DD]

In the Old Testament, Job 26:7 explains that the earth is suspended in space, the obvious comparison being with the spherical sun and moon. [DD]

A literal translation of Job 26:10 is "He described a circle upon the face of the waters, until the day and night come to an end." A spherical earth is also described in Isaiah 40:21-22 - "the circle of the earth."

Proverbs 8:27 also suggests a round earth by use of the word circle (e.g., New King James Bible and New American Standard Bible). If you are overlooking the ocean, the horizon appears as a circle. This circle on the horizon is described in Job 26:10. The circle on the face of the waters is one of the proofs that the Greeks used for a spherical earth. Yet here it is recorded in Job, ages before the Greeks discovered it. Job 26:10 indicates that where light terminates, darkness begins. This suggests day and night on a spherical globe. [JSM]

The Hebrew record is the oldest, because Job is one of the oldest books in the Bible. Historians generally [wrongly] credit the Greeks with being the first to suggest a spherical earth. In the sixth century B.C., Pythagoras suggested a spherical earth. [JSM]

Eratosthenes of Alexandria (circa 276 to 194 or 192 B.C.) calcuated the circumference of the earth "within 50 miles of the present estimate." [Encyclopedia Brittanica]

The Greeks also drew meridians and parallels. They identified such areas as the poles, equator, and tropics. This spherical earth concept did not prevail; the Romans drew the earth as a flat disk with oceans around it. [JSM]

The round shape of our planet was a conclusion easily drawn by watching ships disappear over the horizon and also by observing eclipse shadows, and we can assume that such information was well known to New Testament writers. Earth's spherical shape was, of course, also understood by Christopher Columbus. [DD]

The implication of a round earth is seen in the book of Luke, where Jesus described his return, Luke 17:31. Jesus said, "In that day," then in verse 34, "In that night." This is an allusion to light on one side of the globe and darkness on the other simultaneously. [JSM]

Answer 2

The prophet Isaiah also tells us that the earth is round: "It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth" (Isaiah 40:22).

Secular man discovered this 2,400 years later. At a time when science believed that the earth was flat, it was the Scriptures that inspired Christopher Columbus to sail around the world.

Some Bible critics have claimed that Revelation 7:1 assumes a flat earth since the verse refers to angels standing at the "four corners" of the earth. Actually, the reference is to the cardinal (compass point) directions: north, south, east, and west.

Answer 3

That the earth is round has been known for millennia, in fact the Greeks measured its circumference pretty accurately.

Whio cares what the bible says, or are you going down the route favoured by those Koran freaks and are claiming that the bible should be viewed as a science textbook?

Answer 4

THESE PEOPLE SPEAK OF THE MOON AND GALAXY AND THESE ARE NOT FLAT

If all I had to go by was the sun and moon, I would think this planet to be like them.

Isa.40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in: Job.9:7-10; Isa.1:14; 66:23;

Answer 5

Some biblical situations insinuating or even requiring that the earth is flat.

Matthew 4:8 - “Once again, the devil took him to a very high mountain, and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in their glory.” [To see all the kingdoms from one location requires them not to be on a sphere]

Revelation 1:7: “Behold, he is coming with the clouds! Every eye shall see him...” [For all the kingdoms to look back at one point requires them to not be on a sphere]

Job 38:12-13 - "take the earth by the edges and shake the wicked out of it"

Job 38-14 - "The earth takes shape like clay under a seal." [clay flattens]

Daniel 4:10-11 - "The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth."

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

Job 11:9 - "Their measure is longer than the earth and wider than the sea"

Job 38:44 - "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?"

Answer 6

Oh GOOD GRIEF CHARLIE BROWN. What do they teach you in school these days.
There is no part of the Christian Bible that says the Earth was flat..That was just superstion that was handed around . caused by the point of view of someone only looking as far as the horizon in their are was. A point of perspective.

Answer 7

It states that Earth is the center of the Universe.

Answer 8

i don't know about that, but it mentions that there is an angel at each of the four corners of the earth in revelation.

Answer 9

no, and it does not state that the sun orbits around the earth...

Answer 10

I actually saw a bible once. It was flat.