Rather, the Bible merely records the thinking of Nebuchadnezzar. This is achieved through the consistent translation of individual words, accounting for the various nuances and differences they may have. adhamah Adhamah is a biblical word for earth. ), or, "the raised up" (from - to be prominent - Liddell and Scott). It is a custom among religious Jewish communities for a weekly Torah portion, popularly referred to as a parashah, to be read during Jewish prayer services on Saturdays, Mondays and Thursdays. Greek Word Study Index. Note that one of these other four verses (Job 37:21) is within the immediate literary context of Elihus speech. To many who espouse the snow-globe earth, this is perfectly in line with Isaiah 66:1, which says the heaven is Gods throne and the earth is His footstool. Morphological Greek New Testament, and His account of the Day Two creation is consistent with the Greek cosmology of his day, but not the domed vault cosmology. Westminster Leningrad Codex, The terminology here probably refers to how the mirror was manufactured, so today it would be best translated as a cast mirror (as in many modern Bible translations). WebThe Supremacy of Christ 16 For in Him all things were created, things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities. appears in the Hebrew, the translation of it is highlighted with yellow. But what is the context of these verses? Thus, the word rqa appears three times in this verse. It has checked that words and grammar have been carried over properly. The New Testament Genesis 2:4; Psalm 148:13; Zechariah 5:9). 7585 || Matthew 4:8 records the third temptation: Again, the devil took him to a very high mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the world and their glory. Notice that God equated the rqa with heaven. The day-age view is ruled out because the plural form of the Hebrew word for day (ym) is used in both parts of the commandment. It also established rules for the consistent translation of terms within their various nuances. Genesis 1:9-10 The Creation of the Material Substance Earth, Not the Planet! Latin Vulgate, Help us share the truth of Gods Word and the gospel! The truth is that no one told Columbus he could not reach the Far East by sailing west. But before doing so, I must respond to two false assumptions mentioned abovethat the church historically taught that the earth is flat and that this changed 500 years ago. Writing in the fourth century BC, Aristotle clearly taught that the earth was spherical. In addition, in-depth study tools are provided on the site with access to Known as the documentary hypothesis, each source was held to tell the same basic story, with the sources later joined together by various editors. Luke-Acts Buckland and Chalmers, so favorably regarded by some harmonists of Scripture and geology, to read the first verse as a heading to the whole section, is exploded by the fact that no historical narration can begin with "and." The Old Testament For those who may not know, the LSB is a recent translation that was completed by a selection of professors from The Master's University and Seminary, overseen by Pastor John MacArthur. Hebrew Names Version, You can also sign up for our free print newsletter (US only). Thank you for signing up to receive email newsletters from Answers in Genesis. Proverbs 16:4 The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil. Accordingly, Elihu here is not even addressing cosmology; if anything, he is commenting on weather phenomena. Second, the documentary hypothesis proposed that the Pentateuch was written much later than the time of Moses (and many of its proponents doubt if Moses even existed!). There has been much debate over the meaning of this word. What does this Hebrew word mean? The suggestion of Tayler Lewis, that the term may be a contraction for El-Elohim, the God of all superhuman powers, is inconsistent with neither of the above interpretations That the Divine name should adjust itself without difficulty to all subsequent discoveries of the fullness of the Divine personality and nature is only what we should expect in a God-given revelation. However, the Hebrew text (and even the English text) does not permit this. The final use of the word in Genesis 1, in the Day Five creation account, is helpful in answering that question. New English Translation, "How (kadur), which originally meant "like a ball," came to mean just "ball," I do not know.While the word (erets, Strong's #776) is often translated as Matthew 4:111 gives an account of the temptation of Jesus. [27] (The stories of Isaac do not make up a coherent cycle of stories and function as a bridge between the cycles of Abraham and Jacob.)[28]. Prophets Clearly, the wise of the first simile and they that turn many to righteousness of the second simile are the same people, forcing at least a rough equivalence between the things that they are compared to. WebThe zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8 north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. There may not have been a mountain involved, but, more likely, it probably refers to a high, desolate spot, probably in the wilderness, where the third temptation, and its attendant vision, occurred. However, Josephus misrepresented the ideas of the other sects and presented his own sect in the best possible light. In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God he made him; Genesis 15:1821 describes what are known as "Borders of the Land" (Gevulot Ha-aretz), which in Jewish tradition defines the extent of the land promised to the descendants of Abraham, through his son Isaac and grandson Jacob. We also may use it in a future video compilation to share with everyone. WebThe complete preparation of all that the successive periods of time contain is the idea which the words present. Happen to see our new campaign on Fox News? Or, if you would like to hear directly from the translators themselves, you can watch their round table discussion on the official LSB YouTube channel. However, the frequency of use of those passages is far less than the verses I discussed here. The New Testament Supposedly, this is the cosmology that the Bible teaches. Mirrors were manufactured by casting them, so when cast they were molten, but when in use they were solidified. The two powerful groups making up the communitythe priestly families who controlled the Second Temple and who traced their origin to Moses and the wilderness wanderings, and the major landowning families who made up the "elders" and who traced their own origins to Abraham, who had "given" them the landwere in conflict over many issues, and each had its own "history of origins". In describing the creation of flying things, Genesis 1:20 uses the phrase expanse of heaven to describe where they fly. However, there is another possibility. Satan first tempted Jesus to change stones into bread to satisfy Jesus hunger (Matthew 4:3). GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point The snow globe earth model requires that the earth be motionless. The Latin spoke of "the con cavity" (coelum, allied to , hollow), or "the engraved" (from coelo, to engrave). Key in this discussion is the firmament. "Genesis, Book of". How did sailing from Europe to the Caribbean and back to Europe prove that the world was spherical? KJV: of the earth be blessed. God.--Heb., Elohim. "[18], David Adams Leeming describes it as the creation myth[a] of both Judaism and Christianity. Certainly, modern man would make that argument, because modern cosmologies differ from all ancient cosmologies. Rain, snow, wind and hail were kept in storehouses outside the raqia, which had "windows" to allow them in the WebCreatio Ex Nihilo. 6662 || 1242 || The continuity of force admits of neither creation nor annihilation, but demands an unseen universe, out of which the visible has been produced "by an intelligent agency residing in the unseen," and into which it must eventually return ('The Unseen Universe,' pp. 6153 || A verification email has been sent to the address you provided. The book of Acts records the beginning of the Christian church, focusing on the first three decades of its existence. Septuagint, General Epistles 3 And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his New American Standard Bible 1995, Given the clear record of history, why is it so commonly believed today that most people, and especially the church, thought that the earth was flat? Barn is used exclusively of God. This makes sense, for even today we refer to severely overcast conditions as a leaden sky. Clearly, Elihu is not talking about a solid dome over the earth. Genesis 8:17 Bring forth with you every living thing that is with you, of all . The heavens are the rest of the universe. According to the story, Columbus was one of the few people who thought the earth was spherical, and he understood that on a spherical earth one could sail westward from Europe to reach India and China. WebTHE CREATIVE WEEK (Genesis 1:1 to Genesis 2:3). Metals often are hard, so, according to this reasoning, the rqa must be hard. Genesis 2:7 mentions earth in the first creation story, but adhamah is used more often in the Bible, and appears in the same verse more than once. In this one verse, the number four appears three times. However, the historical record demonstrates that it was the teachings of Aristotle and Ptolemy that played the major role in that conflict.2 That is, the Galileo affair was a battle between two scientific theoriesgeocentrism and heliocentrismwith the Bible playing a very minor role. Pentateuch The Gospels Josephus lived in Israel, not Alexandria, but his writings show evidence of Hellenization. Note that this is a dream. 65:17 For, behold, I create a new heavens and a new earth: and the former shall not be remembered, nor come into mind. [33] God tells the patriarchs that he will be faithful to their descendants (i.e. Clearly, Ezekiel had difficulty describing the indescribable, so he expressed what he saw in terms of things familiar to him. Though not necessarily involved in its significance, the idea of creation ex nihilo is acknowledged by the best expositors to be here intended. General Epistles - And he believed in the Lord.The hiphil of the verb aman, to prop or stay, signifies to build upon, hence to rest one's faith upon; and this describes exactly the mental act of the patriarch, who reposed his confidence in the Divine character, and based his hope of a future seed on the Divine word. . [29] In the first, Elohim, the generic Hebrew word for God, creates the heavens and the earth including humankind, in six days, and rests on the seventh. The professor was an expert in Hebrew from Yale University. This was particularly true of Jews of the Diaspora, of which many were living in Alexandria, Egypt, where the Septuagint translation was done. They likely would interpret them much as I have. Furthermore, the literal fulfillment of the dream does not involve a tree in any way, reinforcing the non-literal nature of the tree. Let us examine the Scriptures to see what they say. 7225 || Note: MLA no longer requires the URL as part of their citation standard. Scholars in the first half of the 20th century concluded that the Yahwist source was a product of the monarchic period, specifically at the court of Solomon, 10th century BC, and the Priestly work a product of the middle of the 5th century BC (with claims that the author was Ezra). mizbe'ah, from a word meaning "to slay"), any structure of earth ( Exodus 20:24) or unwrought stone ( 20:25) on which sacrifices were offered.Altars were generally erected in conspicuous places ( Genesis 22:9; Ezekiel 6:3; 2 Kings 23:12; 16:4; 23:8; Acts 14:13).The word is used in Hebrews 13:10 for the sacrifice offered upon it--the sacrifice Then God sends a great flood to wipe out the rest of the world. We again want to thank all of you for your support of BLB! 21:30 Shall I cause it to return into his sheath? There are some examples of flat earth cosmologies from the ancient world, but they always consisted of a flat, round earth. Ezekiel 1:23 describes the four creatures wings under the expanse. If a square flat earth were the cosmology of the Bible, then it would have been at odds with every other ancient flat earth cosmology. The masculine plural pronoun of verse 17 refers back to the sun, moon, and stars collectively, and the verse does not distinguish as to their placement. Job 37:18 contains a particularly challenging case of imagery. The Hebrew word rqa is translated as firmament in the King James Version. In 1983, as a Junior, I walked into the University of Georgias religion building terrified. This is a thorough word study about the meaning of the Hebrew word , 'bara' Nearly all solid substances have a crystal structure, so most crystals (in the modern sense) are not transparent. [5] The primeval history sets out the author's concepts of the nature of the deity and of humankind's relationship with its maker: God creates a world which is good and fit for mankind, but when man corrupts it with sin God decides to destroy his creation, sparing only the righteous Noah and his family to re-establish the relationship between man and God. Please Please copy and paste this word study link into Facebook and Twitter to all your friends who are interested in Hebrew Word Studies on 'bara', 'to create', and give it a Google +. There are several observations that we can make from this passage. For instance, the phrase ends of the earth appears 28 times in the King James Version, and, if taken literally, suggest that the earth has an edge, which would rule out a spherical earth. The influence of the Flammarion engraving as used by promoters of the conflict thesis cannot be overestimated. The top Hebrew scholars all agree that the writer of Genesis 1 intended the word day to mean 24 hours. The context is established in Daniel 12:12 as the eschaton, when the resurrection of the dead will occur, some to eternal life and others to eternal punishment. Let me begin with Revelation 7:1, which speaks of four angels standing on the four corners of the earth and restraining the four winds of the earth. Revised Standard Version, Genesis appears to be structured around the recurring phrase elleh toledot, meaning "these are the generations," with the first use of the phrase referring to the "generations of heaven and earth" and the remainder marking individualsNoah, the "sons of Noah", Shem, etc., down to Jacob. The word molten is a bit misleading, because today we might think of this as being in a hot, liquid state. 6189 || 45:12 I have made the earth, and create man upon it: I, even my hands, have stretched out the heavens, and all their host have I commanded. How we answer that question will depend upon what we understand the rqa is. 1934 || Therefore, the firmament of heaven (the rqa) is where God placed the heavenly, or astronomical, bodies. If this sounds similar to Ezekiel 1, it is. The earth here alluded to is manifestly not the dry land (ver. Legacy Standard Bible 2021, It is clear that the waters that God separated below must refer to surface water (mostly oceans) on the earth. 21, 26, though seem ugly against, is really in favor of a distinctively creative act; in both of these instances something that did not previously exist, i.e. on and notes made of their meaning in different contexts. All things were created through Him and for Him. In Genesis, these include three different accounts of a patriarch claiming that his wife was his sister, the two creation stories, and the two versions of Abraham sending Hagar and Ishmael into the desert. 17 He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. Exodus 20:11 For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all This idea came about as the result of three developments in the nineteenth century. 3722 || At least eleven verses in the Old Testament speak of God stretching out the heavens (Job 9:8; Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 40:22; 42:5; 44:24; 45:12; 48:13; 51:13; Jerimiah 10:12; 51:15; Zechariah 12:1). Neither the modern understanding nor the ancient one is necessarily right or wrong; they are just different. WebGenesis 15. The word translated crystal here elsewhere in the Old Testament is translated as ice. In the ancient sense, ice would have been considered a crystal, because it was hard and transparent. Hence, the conflict thesis reinterpreted the Galileo affair into something that it was not. Resources include the history of the Ancient Hebrew alphabet, Paleo-Hebrew inscriptions, dictionaries and lexicons, translations, root word studies, learn Biblical [31], Scholars generally agree that the theme of divine promise unites the patriarchal cycles, but many would dispute the efficacy of trying to examine Genesis' theology by pursuing a single overarching theme, instead citing as more productive the analysis of the Abraham cycle, the Jacob cycle, and the Joseph cycle, and the Yahwist and Priestly sources. However, is this the intended meaning? Then, God tests Abraham by demanding that he sacrifice Isaac. Lot's daughters, concerned that they are fugitives who will never find husbands, get Lot drunk so they can become pregnant by him, and give birth to the ancestors of the Moabites and Ammonites. Clearly, this is at odds with the facts. Undoubtedly, the recent surge of interest in the flat earth among Christians has been fueled by the (false) belief that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat. God then plans to destroy the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah for the sins of their people. But what if God had endorsed the modern cosmology? WebThe History of Creation (). The stars are affixed to this dome, while the sun and moon are above the earth but beneath the dome. [37] The problem lies in finding a way to unite the patriarchal theme of the divine promise to the stories of Genesis 111 (the primeval history) with their theme of God's forgiveness in the face of man's evil nature. WebThe Greek Old Testament, or Septuagint (/ s p tj u d n t /, US also / s p tj u d n t /; from the Latin: septuaginta, lit. Therefore, this attempt by the skeptics to claim that the Bible teaches a flat earth does not square (pun intended) with the facts of history. . Flat-earthers believe that the firmament is a transparent dome over the earth, and hence is curved. The word is a noun that derives from the Hebrew root rq, meaning to stamp out.4 An example of this action is to stamp or pound a metal into thin sheets. The word giant is an English corruption of the Hebrew word Nephyl (proper) is the word for a person that is a tyrant, or bully, which the nymphs, fairies, etc. 104:30 You send forth your spirit, they are created: and you renew the face of the earth. Idioms in one language can be difficult to translate into another language, because a literal translation may be meaningless in the target language (imagine how a literal translation of our idiom Youre pulling my leg! would be understood in other languages). Either way, the rqa would appear to include what we today would call outer space and much, if not all, of earths atmosphere. In the ancient world, a crystal was any substance that was solid and transparent. Abraham dies at a prosperous old age and his family lays him to rest in Hebron (Machpelah). Rather, the rqa likely is what we today would call space and much of the earths atmosphere. Our team is immensely excited to announce that we now have the Legacy Standard Bible (LSB) available on our site and mobile apps. Interpretations of early excavations in the Near East indicated a domed vault cosmology, from which archaeologists and historians erroneously concluded that this was the ancient Near Eastern cosmology. Related to adamah is the word adam, which means man or mankind.. Therefore, it is questionable if the rqa is something that is hard. WebThe latest Lifestyle | Daily Life news, tips, opinion and advice from The Sydney Morning Herald covering life and relationships, beauty, fashion, health & wellbeing So instead, we set up the next best thing! 1 In the beginning of God's creation of the heavens and the earth. Luke-Acts General Epistles Such a blatant lie ought to call into question the claim about the domed vault being the biblical cosmology as well. The tree grew and became strong, and its top reached to heaven, and it was visible to the end of the whole earth. See us on Fox News? God then curses Cain. Whether in the modern sense or in the ancient sense, should we view this expanse that Ezekiel described as a literal crystal? 3394 || 0571 || Consequently, the final two words, his power, clearly refer to God, though this is a bit awkward in English. Wisdom Literature Also, Job, being ancient Hebrew poetry, evidences many examples of imagery and phenomenological language. Genesis is an account of the creation of the world, the early history of humanity, and of Israel's ancestors and the origins of the Jewish people.[2]. Furthermore, God is spirit (John 4:24), and hence does not possess a physical body. Cookie Notice: Psalm 136:6 Genesis 1:1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. This is why many more modern translations of the Bible render rqa as expanse rather than firmament. WebThe literary sources below become the primary proof that the Jews around 160 AD in Zippori changed the Hebrew text for anti-Christian theological reasons. Does the Bible Teach That the Earth Is Flat? The first simile says that the wise will shine like the brightness of the rqa. Genesis 14:19 A word plural in form, but joined with a verb singular, except when it refers to the false gods of the heathen, in which case it takes a verb plural. [31] Since the name YHWH had not been revealed to them, they worshipped El in his various manifestations. It likely was a spherical earth centered in the celestial sphere. Genesis 22:17,18 That in blessing He goes to her father, his uncle, where he works for a total of 14 years to earn his wives, Rachel and Leah. Key to the dreams interpretation is the identification of Nebuchadnezzar with the tree in his dream (verses 2022). Joseph, Jacob's favourite son of the twelve, makes his brothers jealous (especially because of special gifts Jacob gave him) and because of that jealousy they sell Joseph into slavery in Egypt. The next verse tells us that God made the rqa and divided the waters that were below the rqa from the waters that were above the rqa. The conflict thesis holds that religion in general, and Christianity in particular, held back progress. The English Standard Version changed the word order slightly so that the final phrase reads, his mighty heavens. That is, the word mighty, a synonym for power, modifies the rqa, rather than being descriptive of God (also notice that the ESV translated rqa heavens here, perhaps based upon God calling the rqa heaven in Genesis 1:8). Notice the differences between Matthew 4:8 (above) and Luke 4:5: And the devil took him up and showed him all the kingdoms of the world in a moment of time. Ezekiel 21:19 Also, you son of man, you appoint two ways, that the sword of the king of Babylon may come: both two shall come forth out of one land: and create a hand, create it at the head of the way to the city. The New Testament Jeremiah 31:22 How long will you go about, O you backsliding daughter? Ezekiel 10:1 mentions a rqa above the heads of the cherubim with what appeared to be a throne above. The name Genesis is from the Latin Vulgate, in turn borrowed or transliterated from Greek , meaning "origin"; Biblical Hebrew: , romanized:Br, "In [the] beginning". Pauline Epistles 23:47 And the company shall stone them with stones, and cut them down with their swords; they shall slay their sons and their daughters, and burn up their houses with fire. As such, it is improper to take these comparisons literally. Indeed, the people who turn many to righteousness are likened to the stars, which shine brightly. Furthermore, the vision of Ezekiel 11 clearly is of the latter type (Ezekiel 11:1, 24). The stretching of the heavens probably refers to when God made the rqa. The description of the cherubim in Ezekiel 10:914 is similar to the description of the four living creatures in Ezekiel 1:521. Each creature had feet and wings and a wheel. Through the patriarchs, God announces the election of Israel, that is, he chooses Israel to be his special people and commits himself to their future. To start listening to Pastor Tony's messages, head over to his author page on Blue Letter Bible. Assuming that this sea of glass is below Gods throne, and noting that Ezekiel mentioned Gods throne above an expanse (Ezekiel 1:26; 10:1), one might conclude that Ezekiels expanse and Johns sea of glass are the same thing, viewed from opposite sides. Answers in Genesis is an apologetics ministry, dedicated to helping Christians defend their faith and proclaim the good news of Jesus Christ. This was not a grand panorama that took some time to absorb. Furthermore, Psalm 19:4b6 describes the motion of the sun in the heavens (equivalent to the rqa), further enforcing the understanding gleaned from Genesis 1. While I recognize the doctrine of biblical inerrancy, it is necessary to understand that the property of inerrancy extends only to the accuracy of Scriptures record, and not the accuracy of the things recorded. Numbers 16:30 But if Yahweh creates a new thing, and the earth opens her mouth, and swallows them up, with all that belong to them, and they go down quick into the pit; then you shall understand that these men have provoked Yahweh. . You're almost done! Finally, it often refers to the abode of God. The problem was that the earth was very large. 7676 || Several centuries after the translation of the Septuagint, Jerome translated both the Old Testament and the New Testament into Latin. However, if this mountain of Matthew 4:8 with its view of the entire earth is literal, then where is it? However, the Greek word that the Septuagint translators chose is a strong clue as to what at least Hellenized Jews of the ancient world thought. Email / username or password was incorrect! This is not a difficulty, if one allows that either or both accounts of the temptation of Christ are treated thematically rather than chronologically. New King James Version, Depending on the context, the word can refer to that which is immediately above us, where flying birds, clouds, and rain are. Claudius Ptolemys Almagest, from the early second century AD, provided a useful model for calculating the positions of heavenly bodies. 43:1 But now thus says Yahweh who created you, O Jacob, and he who formed you, O Israel, Fear not: for I have redeemed you, I have called you by your name; you are mine. WebNew International Encyclopedia of Bible Difficulties In the Hebrew original, is the word "earth" used in Genesis 1:1 the same as "earth" in Genesis 1:10? Rather, one may piece together certain passages to sort out what possible cosmology may be there, but one must be careful not to read into these passages interpretations coming from external sources. Genesis 9:1,7 And God blessed Noah and his sons, and said to them, Be fruitful, . GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, Select an Ending Point 2850 || The meaning there is consistent with what I have concluded from Genesis 1. WebThe Book of Genesis (from Greek , Gnesis; Hebrew: Bret, "In [the] beginning") is the first book of the Hebrew Bible and the Christian Old Testament. ). Praise God in his sanctuary: praise him in the firmament of his power. Those who support the flat earth believing that this is what the Bible teaches have fallen into a trap. The Hebrew is as follows: Vocalized: ; Transliterated: Bereshit bara Elohim et hashamayim ve'et ha'aretz. In the early second century BC, Eratosthenes accurately measured the circumference of the spherical earth. Ironically, while apparently motivated to defend the Bible, they have been tricked into using the same false arguments that skeptics use. Furthermore, within that same context, Elihu uses two other Hebrew words to describe clouds (nn in 37:15, and b in 37:16). 5:2 Male and female he created them; and blessed them, and called their name Adam, in the day when they were created. Here is an excerpt from the LSB's foreword that explains the team's principles of translation: The Legacy Standard Bible has worked to uphold the style and translational choices of the NASB as much as possible. If the domed vault is not the cosmology of the Bible, how did so many people come to think that it was? At the time of Columbus, voyages over open water were very risky, and ships rarely sailed more than three days out of the sight of land. There were giants [nephilim] on the earth in those days, and also afterward, (Genesis 6:4).9. When the waters recede, God promises he will never destroy the world with water again, making a rainbow as a symbol of his promise. Furthermore, even in todays parlance, there is no clear delineation as to where the atmosphere ends and space begins. )[34], The promise itself has three parts: offspring, blessings, and land. Sarah then drives Ishmael and his mother Hagar out into the wilderness (because Ishmael is not her real son and Hagar is a slave), but God saves them and promises to make Ishmael a great nation. This description is repeated almost word-for-word in Daniel 4:20. In Judaism, the theological importance of Genesis centres on the covenants linking God to his chosen people and the people to the Promised Land. Much of the work supporting a flat earth today uncritically repeats and builds upon this false view. 1-Samuel 2:29 Why do you kick at my sacrifice and at my offering, which I have commanded in my habitation; and honor your sons above me, to make yourselves fat with the first of all the offerings of Israel my people? Thus, according to the teaching of this venerable document, the visible universe neither existed from eternity, nor was fashioned out of pre-existing materials, nor proceeded forth as an emanation from the Absolute, but was summoned into being by an express creative fiat. Christian Standard Bible, : :: In the beginning: Said Rabbi Isaac: It was not necessary to begin the Torah except from This month is to you, (Exod. Eve bears two sons, Cain and Abel. Most people think that this is a medieval piece of artwork, but it dates from the 1880s. 43:15 I am Yahweh, your Holy One, the creator of Israel, your King. WebGenesis 1:22 And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill . Ezekiel 1:22 compares the appearance of this expanse to a crystal. The King James uses the phrase terrible crystal. Unfortunately, the word terrible has changed meaning in the past four centuries. The Greek word stereoma, referring to something hard, was used to describe the celestial sphere. What about the term looking glass? This is an archaic term for a mirror, and so more modern translations render it as such. Why do we deal treacherously every man against his brother, by profaning the covenant of our fathers? Its employment in vers. In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. It is an error to blithely equate these two very different meanings. 1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. Since his sect was the only one to survive the persecution and destruction that came in AD 70, his work came to be recognized as representing the Jews of his time. With the many similarities between the visions of Ezekiel briefly discussed above and the Apostle Johns description of part of his vision in Revelation 4:68, the problem is compounded by gleaning properties of the Day Two rqa from what the book of Revelation tells us. And now, he has graciously given us his messages on the Acts of the Apostles. But does this verse truly imply the visibility of the entire earth from the peak of this mountain? Ecclesiastes 12:1 Remember now your Creator in the days of your youth, while the evil days do not come, nor the years draw near, when you shall say, I have no pleasure in them; Isaiah 4:5 And Yahweh will create upon every dwelling place of mount Zion, and upon her assemblies, a cloud and smoke by day, and the shining of a flaming fire by night: for upon all the glory shall be a defence. The details of Lukes account match many of the details of Matthews record, but there are differences. Or did Satan present this view to Jesus while still in the wilderness, perhaps in a vision? 2:3 And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his work which God created and made. This being the case, why do flat-earthers and skeptics alike think that the rqa is a hard dome surrounding a flat earth? As, moreover, "the heaven and the earth" can only mean the totality of all existent things, the idea of creating them out of nothing is contained in the very form of the sentence. 3444 || Then he separated the light from 48:7 They are created now, and not from the beginning; even before the day when you heard them not; lest you should say, Behold, I knew them. The New Testament boldly claims this as a doctrine peculiar to revelation (Hebrews 11:3). WebIn the Old Testament the word shamayim represented both the sky/atmosphere, and the dwelling place of God. The fourth chapter of Daniel is the account of Nebuchadnezzars second dream. 4397 || Please see Blue Letter Bible's Privacy Policy for cookie usage details. WebKJV with Strong's. March 24, 2022 by Lana Vrz. However, more recent thinking is that the Yahwist source dates to from either just before or during the Babylonian captivity in the 6th century BC, and that the Priestly final edition was made late in the Exilic period or soon after. Those who claim the Bible teaches a flat earth concentrate on Matthews account but largely ignore Lukes gospel in this matter. The next use of the word rqa is in the Day Four account of creation (Genesis 1:1419), where it appears three times. Everyone knew that it was possible, because everyone knew that the earth was spherical. The temptation began in the wilderness, after Jesus had fasted for 40 days and nights. Furthermore, from the Day Four creation account of Genesis 1, we know that the stars are located in the rqa. Cf. 45:7 I form the light, and create darkness: I make peace, and create evil: I Yahweh do all these things. Our mission has never been about receiving recognition or seeking after accolades. WebThe first man was of the dust of the earth, the second man from heaven. Luke stated that the devil showed Jesus all the kingdoms of the world in an instant of time. The emphasis is not on where Jesus was, but what Jesus saw. Within his teaching, Jon focuses on promoting a high view of God and gospel-centrality while endeavoring to clearly exegete the text. Compounding the problem, Christians who endorse the flat earth use depictions by contemporary theologians who wrongly portray biblical cosmology as a flat earth under a domed vault as evidence of what the Bible teaches. This requires artificially distinguishing the stars from the greater and lesser lights in Genesis 1:17, so that it is only the greater and lesser lights that are placed in (that is, inside) the rqa in Genesis 1:17, while the stars are effectively placed on the surface of the rqa. Historical Books Heaven has all these meanings, both in modern use and in the Bible. This requires putting scriptures together where they seem to have a similar meaning, and then meditating In other words, Scripture does, with relative frequency, faithfully record inaccuracies and lies contained in the speech of the individuals it quotes. It is remarkable that anyone would construe the content of a pagan kings dream recorded in Scripture as evidence that the Bible teaches that the earth is flat.3 Verses 1927 contain Daniels interpretation of Nebuchadnezzars dream, and verses 2837 recount the fulfillment of the dream. Web , , , . This allows the reader to more easily reconstruct what the original texts said. However, the King James Version probably is the correct translation, though the word order is awkward. If the verses that mention the earths four corners do not refer to a flat earth, then to what do they refer? To start listening to Jon's messages, head over to his author page on BLB. Joseph lives to old age and tells his brothers that if God leads them out of the country, then they should take his bones with them. Johannine Writings The Ptolemaic model was overturned (along with the other elements of ancient Greek cosmology) only four centuries ago in favor of more modern cosmologies, such as the heliocentric theory. Depending upon reaction to this article, I may take up those other passages later. Not all metals are hard; and gold, which is involved in the best example illustrating the Hebrew root from which the Hebrew noun rqa comes, definitely is not hard. WebGenesis 1:1 is the first verse of the first chapter of the Book of Genesis in the Christian and Hebrew Bible and the opening of the Genesis creation narrative.. God made the expanse, so if the expanse is mighty, God is even mightier yet. 2377 || Bible skeptics frequently use these three verses to argue that Scripture teaches that the earth is flat. 1:10 Hebrew OT: Westminster Leningrad Codex. WebGenesis 22:18 All the nations of the earth will be blessed Deuteronomy 6:4 "Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. Christians may also well see in this a foreshadowing of the plurality of persons in the Divine Trinity; but its primary lesson is that, however diverse may seem the working of the powers of nature, the Worker is one and His work one. Johannine Writings American Standard Version, [] 2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep watersAnd the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. The King James translators attempted to follow Hebrew word order in this verse. Thus, it is such a blessing to have solid preaching on these two books from Pastor Tony. The earth and the heavens always mean the terrestrial globe with its aerial firmament. Proverbs 8:22-24 The LORD possessed me in the beginning of his way, before his works of old. WebJohn 1:1-3 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Hebrews 1:10 And, You, Lord, in the beginning have laid the foundation of the 1 John 1:1 That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we God. Before the recent rise of interest in the flat earth among conservative Christians, there was a geocentric movement already using many of the same arguments that flat-earthers do now. GenesisExodusLeviticusNumbersDeuteronomyJoshuaJudgesRuth1 Samuel2 Samuel1 Kings2 Kings1 Chronicles2 ChroniclesEzraNehemiahEstherJobPsalmsProverbsEcclesiastesSong of SongsIsaiahJeremiahLamentationsEzekielDanielHoseaJoelAmosObadiahJonahMicahNahumHabakkukZephaniahHaggaiZechariahMalachiMatthewMarkLukeJohnActsRomans1 Corinthians2 CorinthiansGalatiansEphesiansPhilippiansColossians1 Thessalonians2 Thessalonians1 Timothy2 TimothyTitusPhilemonHebrewsJames1 Peter2 Peter1 John2 John3 JohnJudeRevelation, New Acts Audio Teaching Series from Pastor Tony Clark. Given the difficulty that Ezekiel had in describing what he saw, we cannot be sure exactly what this expanse was. 4399 || Genesis 6:12 HEB: NAS: and behold, it was corrupt; for all KJV: upon the earth, and, behold, it was corrupt; for all Most people understood that the distance westward from Europe to the Far East was far greater than going eastward (a look at any globe proves this). 2077 || 2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. [citation needed]. WebNAS: Then God said, Let the earth KJV: And God said, Let the earth INT: said God sprout the earth. Browse the site to see all of the Bible Amos 4:13 For, lo, he who forms the mountains, and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads upon the high places of the earth, Yahweh, The God of hosts, is his name. Notice that the word sky appears in this verse rather than firmament. For instance, Revelation 4:6a states that before Gods throne there was a sea of glass, like crystal. Creatio Ex Materia. 1755 || Alexandria was a major Greek city and was a center of Greek learning and culture. 8398 || The word translated as giants in this verse is the Hebrew word nephilim, and many Bible versions simply transliterate it as such. Psalm 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth. This line of thinking has gained much traction in recent years. That is, in the snow-globe model, God sits immediately above the dome over the flat earth. Your partnership makes all we do possible. 1285 || [17] This antiquity was needed to prove the worth of Israel's traditions to the nations (the neighbours of the Jews in the early Persian province of Judea), and to reconcile and unite the various factions within Israel itself. As demonstrated elsewhere, the church never taught that the earth is flat. [12], This leaves the question of when these works were created. We have had the privilege of talking to thousands of people over the years who have been blessed by Blue Letter Bible. Absent this distinction, it is very easy to think that the thing Ezekiel described as being like a rqa is the same as the rqa God made on Day Two, and hence derive properties of the latter from the former. 225 BC: Demetrius the chronographer: 5500 BC. Passwords should have at least 6 characters. Those who pursue this line of reasoning have never determined the location of this hypothetical mountain. For example, Genesis 2:2: "The verb attached to God's breath-wind-spirit elsewhere describes an eagle fluttering over its young and so might have a connotation of parturition or nurture as well as rapid back-and-forth movement." 1 And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, 2 That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. The next use of the word rqa (the tenth time in the Old Testament) does not occur until Psalm 19:1. Generally, the Hebrew word erets means earth in the NIV Bible, ESV Bible, and HSCB. While the interpreter, teacher, and pastor have the goal of understanding what the text means, the translator is to provide them with what the text says. In the third chapter, God instructs them not to eat the fruit of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil. The heavens and the earth (i.e. Even in Genesis 1:21; Genesis 1:27, where the word may signify something less than creation ex nihilo, there is nevertheless a passage from inert matter to animate life, for which science knows no force, or process, or energy capable of its accomplishment. 45:18 For thus says Yahweh who created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he has established it, he did not create it in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am Yahweh; and there is none else. Therefore, the rqa of Daniel 12:3 clearly refers to the same thing found in Genesis 1 and Psalm 19:1. Supposedly, Columbus had to argue against strong objections coming from those who thought that the earth was flat to get support for his expedition. Perhaps the most bizarre argument that the Bible teaches a flat earth relies on Daniel 4:11, which reads. If God has used our ministry's tools and resources to bless your time in His Word, we humbly ask that you consider leaving us a brief video message. study tools available. Some modern translations render rqa as sky. This, too, is a good translation, because the sky that we see above us encompasses the likely meaning of the rqa, as discussed previously. Minor Prophets 6725 || However, Noah is the only good human; so first, he instructs the righteous Noah and his family to build an ark and put examples of all the animals on it, seven pairs of every clean animal and one pair of every unclean. 2:4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Yahweh God made the earth and the heavens, Probably not. I have written about geocentrism before, and have discussed some of the biblical passages that allegedly teach geocentrism. New American Standard Bible 2020, But John described a sea of glass, which, by every other use, must be flat, so why is this one curved? At the very least, they reason, this shows that the Bible writers believed one of the flat earth cosmologies of the ancient world, thus proving that the Bible is not inspired, but that the people who wrote the Bible merely reflected the worldview of their times. In the sense of producing what is new it frequently occurs in Scripture (cf. That is, it shined, glowed, sparkled, or had a hue like a crystal. Greek Word Studies Index || Bible Studies Index, Scriptures for 'bara' meaning 'to create', Scriptures for 'ktizo' meaning 'to create', Scriptures for 'ktisis' meaning 'creation'. In Genesis 1:14, God commanded that there be lights in the firmament of heaven. Web1 In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. The New American Standard Bible translates adamah as ground 64 times and land or lands 114 times. [1] Its Hebrew name is the same as its first word, Bereshit ("In the beginning"). 3 Then God said, Let there be light, and there was light. It is divisible into two parts, the primeval history (chapters 111) and the ancestral history (chapters 1250). Therefore, we have no knowledge of what specific cosmology the ancient Hebrews believed. Unfortunately, we do not have the ability to talk to every single one of our millions of users. Historical Books INT: curses will curse will be blessed all the families. And he counted it to him. The first covenant is between God and all living creatures, and is marked by the sign of the rainbow; the second is with the descendants of Abraham (Ishmaelites and others as well as Israelites), and its sign is circumcision; and the last, which does not appear until the Book of Exodus, is with Israel alone, and its sign is Sabbath. The word rqa appears once in the book of Daniel. A circle was considered a much more perfect shape than a square, so none of the ancient flat earth cosmologies involve a square earth. In the second, God, now referred to as "Yahweh Elohim" (the LORD God), creates two individuals, Adam and Eve, as the first man and woman, and places them in the Garden of Eden. The promoters of the conflict thesis also retold the story of Christopher Columbus. Its use there generally is understood to be idiomatic. Verse 4 directly quotes the words of Nebuchadnezzar stating that he had a dream. The comparative parallelism of the two statements of Psalm 19:1 indicate that the rqa and the mayim are the same thing, something that Genesis 1:8 already equated. They argue that the stars are embedded in a dome above the earth (the rqa), but they hold that the sun and moon (the greater and lesser lights) are below the dome while still above the earth (this conforms to most flat earth cosmologies today). Thank you for registering. First, the waters that God divided were the waters mentioned in Genesis 1:2. Poetical Books Please refresh the page and try again. every verse where the Hebrew word "bara" appears. Studies in Ruth, Jonah, and Habakkuk from Jon Benzinger. It is Job 37:18, where Elihu asked Job, Hast thou with him spread out the sky, which is strong, and as a molten looking glass? The hard, transparent celestial sphere model of the ancient Greeks was still the dominant cosmology in Jeromes day. Third, the book of Job contains language and idioms that are unique to it, and many are difficult to translate. . The question was not how possible it was to reach Asia by going westward, but rather how feasible it was. Our website uses cookies to store user preferences. Error: Passwords should have at least 6 characters, Error: Usernames should only contain letters, numbers, dots, dashes, or underscores. Audio Version. This site is protected by reCAPTCHA, and the Google The Bible clearly teaches the young-earth creationist view of Genesis 111. Even if the dream correctly reflected the cosmology of Nebuchadnezzar (assuming he thought that the earth was flat), it hardly constitutes evidence that the Bible teaches the earth is flat. Abram, a man descended from Noah, is instructed by God to travel from his home in Mesopotamia to the land of Canaan. It didnt. 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