Answers about the word…
circuit in the Bible
In the King James Version, “circuit” (and once “circuits”) is an uncommon word. It appears only 4 times, always with the sense of a going around, a circular path, or a regular round.
In every case the word pictures movement that returns on itself—a judge’s annual loop, the sky’s arch, the sun’s daily sweep, or the wind’s endless circling.
The 4 KJV uses fall into two groups: a human itinerary and descriptions of nature’s cycles.
-
Samuel’s yearly round as judge
And he went from year to year in circuit to Bethel, and Gilgal, and Mizpeh, and judged Israel in all those places. —1 Samuel 7:16
Samuel traveled a fixed loop of towns each year to hear cases and administer justice. This is the closest biblical use to the later English idea of a judicial circuit (a judge’s regular tour of courts). The Hebrew verb is related to sabab, “to go around / surround.”
-
The vault or arch of heaven
Thick clouds are a covering to him, that he seeth not; and he walketh in the circuit of heaven. —Job 22:14
Eliphaz is describing God as walking on the vault or circle of the sky (Hebrew: chug, a circle or arched compass). Many later translations say “vault of heaven.” The picture is the dome of the sky which seems to be bent over our heads, not a scientific orbit.
-
The sun’s path across the sky
His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it: and there is nothing hid from the heat thereof. —Psalm 19:6
“His” is the sun (from the previous verses). Circuit here is the Hebrew word tequphah—a completed cycle or turning-point. The psalm speaks of the sun’s daily course from one horizon to the other. The point is poetic: nothing escapes its heat, just as God’s law reaches everywhere.
-
The wind’s recurring courses
The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits. —Ecclesiastes 1:6
This is the only plural, circuits. The Preacher of the book of Ecclesiastes uses the wind’s endless circling (Hebrew: sabib) as an example of nature’s weary repetition: it goes around and comes back on the same paths. The word emphasizes cycle more than a single loop.
Answers about the Sun in the BibleRelated KJV language
The KJV often uses “fetch a compass” where later versions say “make a circuit” (go around rather than take the direct road):
- 2 Samuel 5:23 KJV — David is told not to attack head-on but to go around behind the Philistines.
- 2 Kings 3:9 KJV — the kings of Israel, Judah, and Edom make a 7-day detour.
- Acts 28:13 KJV — Paul’s ship “fetched a compass” (sailed a roundabout course) to Rhegium.
Those verses do not contain the word “circuit,” but they use the same idea of encircling or taking a circular route.
More information