Biblical Hebrew Forum

[bhebrew AT shields-online.net]

It is also probably worth noting that neither the LXX nor the Vulgate 
translate these terms with words meaning "ball, sphere" even though such were 
available.

This then also fits with what we know of ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, and 
Canaanite cosmologies. Against this background it certainly doesn't seem that 
Isaiah or Job are sufficiently unambiguous to compel someone holding such a 
view to believe the Earth was spherical and so any person in the ancient 
world hearing these words would simply assume that their flat-Earth (although 
possibly spherical cosmos) view was not being challenged.

Martin Shields,
Sydney, Australia.