Did scripture describe earth as a "circle" or "ball"?

Isaiah 40:22 It is he that sitteth upon the circle (chug) of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as locusts: he that stretcheth out the heavens as nothing, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in.
Isaiah 22: 18 He will crown thee with a crown of tribulation, he will toss thee like a "ball" (du/dur) into a large and spacious country: there shalt thou die, and there shall the chariot of thy glory be, the shame of the house of thy Lord.


As anyone can see, there is a word for "ball" and one for "circle" as these words are translated and used accordingly. The Hebrew word that is used in Isaiah 44:22 (חוּג, chug) does not at all imply a spherical earth. The root word only occurs in the Hebrew Bible once as a verb (Job 26:10). In nominal forms, the same root occurs four times, three as the noun חוּג (chug; Job 22:14, Prov 8:27, Isa 40:22), and once as the noun מְחוּגׇה (mechugah; Isa 44:13). This term refers to a "circle instrument," a device used to make a circle, what we call a compass.

More on this verse:

Listening to Rob Skiba he mentioned a verse in Isaiah 40:22 where it speaks of the circle of the earth. He cited several bible versions and all say circle except the Douay-Rheims which says the globe of the earth. Last night I was reading Edward Hendrie’s book The Greatest Lie on Earth, where he brings up the same issue.

How are we to address this? Does anybody have a copy of the Knox Bible? I was wondering if Monsignor Knox’s version is any better. I have read that the Douay-Rheims has several problems with source material. I see that the RSV says circle and this is the version I prefer anyway. But folks do see the Douay as the standard Catholic bible.

Usually disputes in Sacred Scripture always revert to the Latin, and ultimately if possible the Hebrew and Greek.

The latin says "orbis". Orbis is translated as circle. It can also be translated as globe, BUT there are better words to use for globe such as "globam", "pilae" and "sphera". So if they had wanted to say globe they would have used those words, and not orbis, which is more commonly understood as circle.