Does the Bible anticipate modern science?

One of the go-to verses for ultraconservative readers of the Bible is Job 26:7 –

‘He spreads out the northern skies over empty space; he suspends the earth over nothing.’

This, of course, is a clear and beautiful assertion of God’s sovereignty over his creation.

But does it anticipate modern science by picturing the Earth as a globe floating in space?

According to the Apologetics Study Bible,

‘Some scholars suggest that Job wrote better than he knew, for his observation approached the knowledge that the earth is suspended in space supported only by gravitational forces.’

The JFB commentary finds here a

‘hint of the true theory of the earth. Its suspension in empty space is stated in the second clause.’

Norman Geisler (Baker Encyclopedia of Christian Apologetics) cites this verse as one of a number that demonstrate (to Geisler’s own satisfaction) that

‘The Bible is not only compatible with true scientific findings, but it anticipated many of them.’

Regarding the present verse, he says:

‘In an era when it was common to believe the sky was a solid dome, the Bible accurately speaks of God spreading out the northern skies over empty space and suspending the earth over nothing (Job 26:7).’

Similarly, it has been claimed that

‘the Truth of the Word of God tells us that God “hangeth the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7). How did Job know that the earth hung in space before the age of modern astronomy and space travel? The Holy Spirit told him.’

D.M. Lloyd-Jones:

‘Even in the time of the book of Job it was known that the earth is a globe. The Bible never says that the earth is flat. In Job 26:7 you read this: “He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing.”…It is clearly something that was revealed by God Himself. It is up to date. It is modern science, if you like. It is a description of the earth as a globe.’ (Great Doctrines of the Bible I)

Wiersbe, too, considers that the earth is here described with ‘remarkable scientific accuracy.’

In his book, ‘Defending Your Faith‘ (Kregel, 1997), Dan Story says that

‘At the time of Job, Greek mythology taught that the world rested on the shoulders of Atlas, one of the great Titans, or Elder gods. Yet Job 26:7 says that God “hangs the earth on nothing” (literally, the earth rests in space without any visible means of support).’

He takes this as one of ‘numerous’ examples of ‘scientific references that were far advanced for the science of its day.’

The absurdity of this approach can be demonstrated by glancing ahead to v11, which speaks of ‘the pillars of the heavens’.

The IVP Bible Background Commentary, on the other hand, says that

‘in Babylonian literature, Shamash is praised as the one who suspends from the heavens the circle of the lands. This was part of ancient perception of the cosmos rather than a covert allusion to modern scientific understanding.’

In the Dictionary of Christianity and Science, art. ‘Cosmology, Biblical’, John Soden writes:

‘Job 26:7 sounds suspiciously modern, though it may simply be visualizing Genesis 1:2 in a poetic way, describing the desolate waters before creation (using the term for “formless” from Gen. 1:2 in Job 26:7a), or perhaps reflecting another ancient Mesopotamian conception of Shamash, the sun god, suspending the lands from the heavens. The disparate descriptions show greater interest in function and significance than actual structure.’

It is reasonable to conclude that

‘as the immediate context of the passage makes clear, [this passage] is speaking of the cosmic geography as perceived by someone living in the Ancient Near East.’ (Source)

The 19th century commentator Albert Barnes quite reasonably says:

‘There is no certain evidence here that Job was acquainted with the globular form of the earth, and with its diurnal and annual revolutions. But it is clear that he regarded it as not resting on any foundation or support; as lying on the vacant air, and kept there by the power of God.’

Schneider writes that this verse certainly does not teach that the earth is a sphere held in space by forces of gravity.  It paints, rather, one of a diverse range of pictures of the creation:

‘The earth that hangs on nothing is also the earth that rests on “pillars,” which tremble when God shakes the earth (Job 9:6), or upon a “foundation” with bases and a cornerstone (Job 38:6). It is also the dry land that God separated from the waters of the encircling deep (Gen. 1:9-10; Job 26:10; Prov. 8:27), that the psalmists describe as “founded … upon the ocean, set … upon the nether-streams” (24:1-2, JPSV; cf. Exod. 20:4), the earth which God “stretched out … above the waters” (136:6 KJV). I see no value in trying to reconcile these many and varied metaphorical images with our own image of a spherical, rotating planet–aside from the fact that these ancients did not think of the earth as a planet. What Job 26:7, indeed the entire creation hymn of which it is a part, does convey, in all of its majesty and mystery, is the presence and power of the One who creates and sustains, and who holds all of the creation under his gaze. The response it calls for is awe, not scientific analysis.’

Schneider, Robert J. 2001. “Does the Bible Teach a Spherical Earth?” Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith 53: 159–69. Online.