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The word circle in Hebrew, khug, is best translated in terms of sphericity or roundness.

I went to this site:
http://www.breslov.com/ref/Isaiah40.htm
which has the bible in Hebrew and English. The English translation of Isaiah 40:22 is this:

It is He that sitteth above the circle of the earth, and the inhabitants thereof are as grasshoppers; that stretcheth out the heavens as a curtain, and spreadeth them out as a tent to dwell in;

The site has a Hebrew-Engish dictionary. "Circle" in English gives this in Hebrew: gwx. Transliterated (whatever that means) it's Chuwg, which is what you gave. The definition (for both, presumably) is given as: 1. circle, circuit, compass; 2. (BDB) vault (of the heavens)

The same word is in Proverbs 8:27. When he prepared the heavens, I was there: when he set a compass upon the face of the depth.

And in Job 22:14. Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven.

I am no bible scholar (obviously) but I see no hint of "sphericity" in any of these uses of the term.

Transliterated (whatever that means)

For the most part it means letter for letter translation. If you don't know what a word means you can translate each letter then look up the transliterated word in a Hebrew dictionary.

I'll take a look at this thread later.

Patrick,
I do appreciate the fact that you took time to research instead of making a sarcastic remark that is easy for some to do when debating scripture. When I initially said, “I apologize for stepping into this…” it was due to this fact. I was skeptical of scripture at one time so I cannot fault you or anyone (in fact I understand) I know I cannot ‘make’ you believe anything about anything.

I brought up the star of Bethlehem because I thought it might interest you in strict scientific terms. I say this because even if someone thinks the three wise men are a myth, something occurred in the heavens coinciding with the birth of Christ and His death.

Anyway, I hope you due a ‘search’ on this as well.