Astronomy and the Bible;

I

CHAPTER IX

TheImpressofLight

*i"J'T isturnedasclaytotheseal;andthey stand
asagarment." Job 38 :14. Fora longtime,
Ihadthoughtthatthisverseinsomewaywas
meanttoteachtherotation oftheearth. Butwhen
I sat down to a consideration of the scripture, its
meaningseemedvagueandindefinite. Iatlengthde-
terminedtomakeacarefulanalysisofitseveryshade
of meaning, and determine what it really does say.
I noticed that the verse asserts that something,
specifiedas"it,"isturned. Butwhatisthatwhichis
turned? I concluded first of all to investigate the
word"turned." Shallitbetranslated,"Itischanged,"
or,"Itisrolled"? Doesthescripturemeanthatsome-
thingischanged fromonething toanother, orthat
itisturnedoveroraround? Bysome,itisrendered,
"Itischangedasclayundertheseal;"byothers,"It
is rolledas claytothe seal." Which ispreferable?
Whichiscorrect?
IfindthattheoriginalHebrewwordishaphak. It
is a primitiveroot, meaning,to turnabout orover.
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