40:22 circle of the earth. Hebrew khug, translated “compassed” in Job 26:10 and “compass” in Proverbs 8:27. All three, in context, clearly refer to the sphericity of the earth.

40:22 stretcheth out the heavens. This phrase is possibly a reference to the expanding universe, as envisioned by modern astronomers. There are numerous references in Scripture to the “stretching-out,” or “spreading-out” of the heavens (space), when God created the universe. See, for example, Job 9:8; Psalm 104:2; Isaiah 42:5; 44:24; 51:13; Jeremiah 10:12. Alternatively the “heavens” referred to here may refer simply to the atmospheric heavens, spread out like a curtain, or “tent to dwell in,” around the circle of the earth. This atmospheric “tent,” refracting and spreading light over the hemisphere, is sharply distinct from the darkness outside.