The Ends of the Earth
God alone knows the way,
(Job 28:23-24) Good News Translation
Knows the place where wisdom is found,
Because he sees the ends of the earth,
Sees everything under the sky.
If the Earth has ends does that mean it has to be flat? No, because “end” is a translation of a word which means “extremity or furthest reaches of” in which case we’re talking about the beach.
The Earth of the Bible isn’t flat. There are passages in the Bible which have been used to make it look like it describes a flat earth, but this requires induction: the premise is used to supply evidence for the conclusion.
We all have the same evidence. Our choice of paradigm determines what we think it’s evidence of.
– Matty’s Razor
Not to be outdone on the scale of who’s got the most tenuous grip on reality, flat earthers have decided that the ends of the earth means that the Earth is flat and has an edge. That’s induction, they decided what they wanted the words to mean, not deduction, where we find out what the words mean.
If someone chooses to believe that the Earth is flat, then they can also choose to believe that the phrase “the circle of the earth” refers to a flat disk. That’s their choice. That meaning can’t be found in the words used, it’s been imputed to them. We’re going to look at how flat earthers justify their premise and show that it’s induction, not deduction.
The Bible usually uses the Hebrew word erets – הָ֭אָרֶץ when it’s referring to planet Earth. Erets is modified in a variety of ways. The phrase ends of the earth and its variations are translated from several different modifications of erets. Do these words mean that the Earth is flat and has an edge? The short answer is NO. Perhaps you don’t believe us. Let’s take a look at them in detail.
Faith is believing in something that you can’t see, because of evidence.
– Faith, definition
Erets, (earth) modifications
| Usage | Transliteration | Hebrew | Scripture |
| ends of the world | ephes erets | הָ֭אָרֶץ אַפְסֵי | Psalms 22:27; 67:7; 72:8; 98:3 Isaiah 45:22; 52:10 |
| ends of the earth | kanaph erets | הָ֭אָרֶץ כַּנְפ֥וֹת | Job 37:3 |
| ends of the earth | qatseh erets | הָ֭אָרֶץ בִּקְצֵה | Psalms 135:7 Proverbs 17:24 |
| ends of the earth | qatsah erets | הָ֭אָרֶץ מִקְצ֣וֹת | Job 28:24 Isaiah 40:28; 41:5; 41:9 |
| ends of the earth | qatsu erets | הָ֭אָרֶץ קַצְוֵי | Psalms 48:10; 65:5 |
| coasts of the earth | yerekah erets | הָ֭אָרֶץ מִיַּרְכְּתֵי | Jeremiah 25:32; 31:8; 50:41 |
Today’s image shows a slice of cheese on a kid’s ball. The cheese is flat and has corners but the ball isn’t flat and doesn’t have corners. The cheese looks a little greasy because we had to use steam to get it to lay flat on the surface of a sphere. We develop the doctrine of the four corners of the earth in the post for November 13th.
The Ends of the Earth – Navigation
| Section | Title | Scripture |
| 1 | The Ends of the Earth | Job 28:23-25 |
| To cease, fail, have and end: אַפְסֵי – ephes | Psalms 72:8 | |
| Extremity, extreme part, corner: כַּנְפ֥וֹת kanaph | Job 37:3 | |
| To cut off, destroy: קְצֵה – qatseh, qatsah, qatsu | Proverbs 17:24 | |
| Sides: בְּיַרְכְּתֵי – beyerekah | Ezekiel 32:22-23 | |
| 2 | The Four Corners of the Earth | Isaiah 11:12 |
| Four Corners of the Earth in Context | ||
| The Nuance of the Earth’s Corners | ||
| 3 | The Circle of the Earth | Isaiah 40:22 |
| Salvation | Romans 10:9-10 |
Read through the Bible in a year
| Reading plan | March 12 | |
| Linear | Ruth 3-4 1 Samuel 1 | |
| Chronological | Deuteronomy 3-4 |
Matty's Paradigm 