The ancients who wrote the bible did hold that they were transcribing scientific truth.
Did they? What is your basis for that claim? Timothy tells us what Scripture is for and it isn't for teaching us scientific truth:
2 Timothy 3:16-17
"All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness, so that the servant of God may be thoroughly equipped for every good work."
Why would they write a bunch of things which suggest that the earth is flat if they believed that the earth was round? Why would God tell us lies or false things? The truth is that they didn't believe that.
You are interpreting those verses that way, millions of Christians more versed in science like myself do not. Mostly
because of our understanding of science.
It isn't Scripture's aim or intention to tell me what the shape of the earth is, or how big the sun is or how far away it is or how old the universe is.
Genesis tells me I'm a creation. It tells me Who I was created by and what I was created for. And it tells me of our rebellion and need for salvation, God's rescue plan is dealt with in the rest of the Bible.
That's what Scripture is about, it should not be your go to place for learning about science.
It's not about God "telling us false things" it's about looking at what Scripture is trying to teach us.
This verse is often used as a basis for flat earth belief:
Isaiah 40:22
"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in."
"Aha!", say the flat earth Bible literalists. See? Circle! But I'd suggest the language is poetic and the subsequent verses, 23 and 24, show that:
Isaiah 40:23-23
"He brings princes to naught and reduces the rulers of this world to nothing. No sooner are they planted, no sooner are they sown, no sooner do they take root in the ground, than he blows on them and they wither, and a whirlwind sweeps them away like chaff."
Planted? Sown? Take root in the ground? A whirlwind sweeps them away? Does that literally happen?
Come on, dude, this passage is clearly talking about God's sovereignty and power, it's not trying to teach me science or the shape of the earth.
Although, if you were looking down at the earth from above then it would indeed look like a circle - that is true whether the earth is a 2D circle or a 3D globe.
What does our previous science say about the earth? What did we believe before? That should be of interest to all people, religious or not.
I actually agree on this point. As discussed, scripture is not "our previous science", that is not what it's for. But there is previous science elsewhere.
There was the ancient idea that everything was made out of 4 elements
The ancient Greeks believed that there were four elements that everything was made up of: earth, water, air, and fire. This theory was suggested around 450 BC, and it was later supported and added to by Aristotle. (Aristotle also suggested that there was a fifth element, aether, because it seemed strange that the stars would be made out of earthly elements...
The idea that these four elements – earth, water, air, and fire – made up all matter was the cornerstone of philosophy, science, and medicine for two thousand years. The elements were “pure” but could not be found in that state on earth. Every visible thing was made up of some combination of earth, water, air, and fire. The four elements were even used to described the four temperaments a person could have, and Hippocrates used the four elements to describe the four “humors” found in the body. These theories stated that the temperaments and humors needed to be in balance with each other in order for a person to be well both mentally and physically. While we do know now that these previous theories are false, in a way the four elements do align with the four states of matter that modern science has agreed on: solid (earth), liquid (water), gas (air), and plasma (fire).
https://learning-center.homesciencetools.com/article/four-elements-science/That is interesting. But it doesn't have any veracity. Just because an idea is old that doesn't make it right. Doesn't make it wrong either but a lot of ancient beliefs have been superseded.
Yes, if you were living thousands of years ago you probably would believe that the earth was flat and that the sun went round it (as in over it in the day and under it at night). You'd probably think that when it was night it was night everywhere and when it was day it was day everywhere. With your local perspective that would be a reasonable belief. But we don't have that local perspective any more. We have timezones and global travel and communication and spaceflight.
Whose interpretation am I supposed to give if not my own?
Well sure. I'm just suggesting that your enquiries into learning about the shape of the earth should not involve the Bible. I don't think that is an important truth which God is trying to tell us through Scripture.