Bible Strands
Genesis 1:2
Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — No human speaker; this is narrative description of the earth's condition between God's creative act (Gen 1:1) and His first spoken command (Gen 1:3). The actor is the Spirit of God; the object is the formless earth.
The words — Tohu (תֹהוּ, H8414, "formlessness") and bohu (בֹהוּ, H922, "emptiness") form a paired descriptor for a state with no shape, no content, no order.
The thread — Jeremiah 4:23 reuses the same tohu/bohu pair to describe the earth under judgment rather than pre-creation. Isaiah 45:18 states God did not create the earth tohu (in vain), and Psalm 104:30 links the Spirit's sending to creation and renewal.
Why it lands — The verse places the Spirit over a state of total absence before any command is given, asking the reader to accept that order is not self-generating. It refuses to let the void stand as the final condition.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
And the earth was without form and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.
Cross-references
- Jeremiah 4:23 I looked at the earth, and it was formless and void; I looked to the heavens, and they had no light.
- Psalms 104:30 When You send Your Spirit, they are created, and You renew the face of the earth.
- Isaiah 45:18 For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens—He is God; He formed the earth and fashioned it; He established it; He did not create it to be empty, but formed it to be inhabited: “I am the LORD, and there is no other.
- Psalms 33:6 By the word of the LORD the heavens were made, and all the stars by the breath of His mouth.
- Job 26:7 He stretches out the north over empty space; He hangs the earth upon nothing.
- Isaiah 40:12 Who has measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, or marked off the heavens with the span of his hand? Who has held the dust of the earth in a basket, or weighed the mountains on a scale and the hills with a balance?
- Job 26:14 Indeed, these are but the fringes of His ways; how faint is the whisper we hear of Him! Who then can understand the thunder of His power?”
- Nahum 2:10 She is emptied! Yes, she is desolate and laid waste! Hearts melt, knees knock, bodies tremble, and every face grows pale!