You'll find "the four corners of the earth" a couple of times in the Bible.
Isaiah 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
It is possible that some people have deduced from those verses, that the Bible's purpose is geodesy, specifically the shape of the earth, and the writers must have thought the earth is flat, so much for "All scripture is given by inspiration of God..."
But of course, if the Bible is a geodesy lesson, the geodetic datums are not very consistant. '4 Corners' imply a square, or at least a rectangle. But the Bible text also includes "circle of the earth" (Isaiah 40:22)
and a "raqiya`" of the earth (Genesis 1:14 "firmament"), presumed by flat-earthers to be a solid dome over a flat surface, a round dome according to the so-called 'Flammarion engraving'
Now I don't know how the Bible can be teaching the earth has 4 corners if its a round circular surface, or how the Bible can be teaching the earth is a flat circular disc if it has 4 corners.
Maybe, instead of focusing on the Hebrew word for 'firmament', I ought to look up "corner"
The "corners" of Isaiah 11:12 is Strongs number H3671 כָּנָף
"kanaph"
yeah, it includes "corner", but it also includes
1:wing, extremity, edge, winged, border, shirt...
...and, according to that Strongs page, "kanaph" is used 108 times, mostly for 'wings/winged' (I counted over 70 , not counting "birds" "feathered fowls" "flying fowl")
It refers to garments about 16 times (skirt/borders)
in fact, the only time its used for "corners" is twice, (once for "of the earth" and once for "of the land")
Now if you want a square (or rectangular) flat earth, (forgetting the circle and round dome verses for a minute), you need the "corners" to refer to the limit/ends. But "kanaph" translates to "ends" only twice out of those 108 possibilities (Job 37:3 and Job 38:13).
A better prospect would have been "qatsah" ( קָצָה
Strongs number H7098) which is used for "ends of the earth" 4 times, or "qetsev" ( קֶצֶו
Strongs number H7099) "ends of the earth" 3 times
Or better yet, "'ephec" ( אֶפֶס
Strongs number H657), which is used for "ends of the earth" 12 times and once more for "of the world", ...and "qatseh" (almost like "qatsah") קָצֶה
Strongs number H7097 "end/ends of the earth" 17 times.
thats 39 times "end/ends of the earth",
But you know what,
...every one of those "earth"s is the Hebrew "'erets" ( אֶרֶץ Strongs number H776)
and, while one definition of 'erets' is "i.whole earth (as opposed to a part)" , the other definitions imply, not the whole earth,
...but also country, territory, district, region, tribal territory, piece of ground...,
...or even simply "land of Canaan, Israel"
well, you can have a flat territory, even as big as Kansas, but that does not mean the rest of the world is flat.
You can believe The Earth is flat, but don't blame the Bible for it.
...disclaimer, ok ok, I know Kansas isn't all flat, I been to the eastern half of it, especially the southeast quarter of it, not very level at all. Don't wanna make any Jayhawkers mad here.
oh, there is one more verse, in the OT, but its Aramaic, but lets look anyway, (hate to miss anything)
Daniel 4:22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
well, the "end" is 'cowph' (סוֹף Strongs H5491 ), but I don't think its a geodesy 'end', but more a 'end of time' end (conclusion type of end)
...and the "earth" here is from the Aramaic 'ara' ( אֲרַע
Strongs number H772 )
...but its pretty much the same problem for flat-earthers as 'erets', that is, it isn't just the whole planet, but it can also refer to , simply, the ground.
But in this case I think Daniel was sharing prophecies about the whole planet.
Then, the other one, the one in the New Testament
Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
ok , that "corners" is translated from the Greek γωνία (gōnia) (Strongs number G1137 )
...well, it could be a regular corner, just like it says, external,
...BUT it also could be internal corners, dividing the land into quarters, as in a possible "four quarters of the earth"
AND guess what, yup, that same Greek γωνία (gōnia) (Strongs number G1137 ) was used in:
Revelation 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
...and "earth" in both those verses is the same , the Greek γῆ (gē) (Strongs number G1093 )
AND it can mean "the earth as a whole"
or it can mean "a country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land, territory, region" or "the main land as opposed to the sea or water" and you know, the seas are part of the planet.
sorry, flat-earthers, you can read flat-earth into those verses if you ignore the rest of the information, but that's on you, don't blame the Bible for your interpretation.
***end Part One***
Isaiah 11:12 And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the four corners of the earth.
Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
It is possible that some people have deduced from those verses, that the Bible's purpose is geodesy, specifically the shape of the earth, and the writers must have thought the earth is flat, so much for "All scripture is given by inspiration of God..."
But of course, if the Bible is a geodesy lesson, the geodetic datums are not very consistant. '4 Corners' imply a square, or at least a rectangle. But the Bible text also includes "circle of the earth" (Isaiah 40:22)
and a "raqiya`" of the earth (Genesis 1:14 "firmament"), presumed by flat-earthers to be a solid dome over a flat surface, a round dome according to the so-called 'Flammarion engraving'
Now I don't know how the Bible can be teaching the earth has 4 corners if its a round circular surface, or how the Bible can be teaching the earth is a flat circular disc if it has 4 corners.
Maybe, instead of focusing on the Hebrew word for 'firmament', I ought to look up "corner"
The "corners" of Isaiah 11:12 is Strongs number H3671 כָּנָף
"kanaph"
yeah, it includes "corner", but it also includes
1:wing, extremity, edge, winged, border, shirt...
...and, according to that Strongs page, "kanaph" is used 108 times, mostly for 'wings/winged' (I counted over 70 , not counting "birds" "feathered fowls" "flying fowl")
It refers to garments about 16 times (skirt/borders)
in fact, the only time its used for "corners" is twice, (once for "of the earth" and once for "of the land")
Now if you want a square (or rectangular) flat earth, (forgetting the circle and round dome verses for a minute), you need the "corners" to refer to the limit/ends. But "kanaph" translates to "ends" only twice out of those 108 possibilities (Job 37:3 and Job 38:13).
A better prospect would have been "qatsah" ( קָצָה
Strongs number H7098) which is used for "ends of the earth" 4 times, or "qetsev" ( קֶצֶו
Strongs number H7099) "ends of the earth" 3 times
Or better yet, "'ephec" ( אֶפֶס
Strongs number H657), which is used for "ends of the earth" 12 times and once more for "of the world", ...and "qatseh" (almost like "qatsah") קָצֶה
Strongs number H7097 "end/ends of the earth" 17 times.
thats 39 times "end/ends of the earth",
But you know what,
...every one of those "earth"s is the Hebrew "'erets" ( אֶרֶץ Strongs number H776)
and, while one definition of 'erets' is "i.whole earth (as opposed to a part)" , the other definitions imply, not the whole earth,
...but also country, territory, district, region, tribal territory, piece of ground...,
...or even simply "land of Canaan, Israel"
well, you can have a flat territory, even as big as Kansas, but that does not mean the rest of the world is flat.
You can believe The Earth is flat, but don't blame the Bible for it.
...disclaimer, ok ok, I know Kansas isn't all flat, I been to the eastern half of it, especially the southeast quarter of it, not very level at all. Don't wanna make any Jayhawkers mad here.
oh, there is one more verse, in the OT, but its Aramaic, but lets look anyway, (hate to miss anything)
Daniel 4:22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth.
well, the "end" is 'cowph' (סוֹף Strongs H5491 ), but I don't think its a geodesy 'end', but more a 'end of time' end (conclusion type of end)
...and the "earth" here is from the Aramaic 'ara' ( אֲרַע
Strongs number H772 )
...but its pretty much the same problem for flat-earthers as 'erets', that is, it isn't just the whole planet, but it can also refer to , simply, the ground.
But in this case I think Daniel was sharing prophecies about the whole planet.
Then, the other one, the one in the New Testament
Revelation 7:1 And after these things I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree.
ok , that "corners" is translated from the Greek γωνία (gōnia) (Strongs number G1137 )
...well, it could be a regular corner, just like it says, external,
...BUT it also could be internal corners, dividing the land into quarters, as in a possible "four quarters of the earth"
AND guess what, yup, that same Greek γωνία (gōnia) (Strongs number G1137 ) was used in:
Revelation 20:8 And shall go out to deceive the nations which are in the four quarters of the earth, Gog, and Magog, to gather them together to battle: the number of whom is as the sand of the sea.
...and "earth" in both those verses is the same , the Greek γῆ (gē) (Strongs number G1093 )
AND it can mean "the earth as a whole"
or it can mean "a country, land enclosed within fixed boundaries, a tract of land, territory, region" or "the main land as opposed to the sea or water" and you know, the seas are part of the planet.
sorry, flat-earthers, you can read flat-earth into those verses if you ignore the rest of the information, but that's on you, don't blame the Bible for your interpretation.
***end Part One***
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