Whoa, that's a lot of stuff coming at me. It's all good. The reason I cited several texts and several translations (I didn't cite all that I found) is to suggest that when many different scholars translate a word as "circle", they're probably alluding to a common idea, perhaps more than a round area in the ocean or on the ground (since the horizon does not seem to curve down or up from any particular perspective). I shouldn't have said in post #201: " But you can't have a circle anywhere near a flat surface. " What I meant to say is that a circle should not be equated with a flat surface with corners (alluding to the "corners of the Earth" saying and assuming that by "Earth" we mean the ground and the oceans, lakes, rivers, etc).
I assume (and not because of the Jeehoovees) that if a circle is mentioned, it would infer at least a round Earth because mention of "corners" in our discussion was being used by some here as an indication that they (the bible people) believed the Earth was flat (and probably square). I use "corners of the Earth" precisely for the reasons you mention, King Solomon. Did you miss that? And if I say: "My heart goes out to you" it is for the same reasons and not because I'm offering you a transplant or have another organ that is anything but figurative and metaphorical. I'm a monist and know that I "feel" with my brain chemistry.
I don't whether or not the Bible is purposefully being metaphorical by using the terms "corners". That's why I said that if some believed the Earth was round, the people who wrote Genesis may not have believed the same. I'm simply suggesting that, along with other cultures, some may have believed or known the Earth was round (spherical). To say that such conclusion is invalid because it's fabricated to support an argument is no less valid that to suggest it is not a valid conclusion without producing specific contrary evidence. In this case, I do believe that the idea of "circle" in the Bible inferring a spherical Earth is at least open to interpretation.