And the earth [land] 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.
(Genesis 1:2 KJV [revision mine])
From Session 3 of the GENESIS 101 Bible Study workbook
Hebrew Vocabulary Words*
- HAYAH (H1961) – verb. to be, become, come to pass, exist, happen, fall out
- TOHU (H8414) – noun. formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness
- BOHU (H922) – noun. emptiness, void, waste
- CHOSHEK (H2822) – noun. darkness, obscurity
- AL (H5921) – 1) upon, on the ground of, according to, on account of, on behalf of, concerning, beside in addition to, together with, beyond, above, over, by, on to, towards, to, against (preposition); 2) because that, because, notwithstanding, although (conjunction)
- PANIYM (H6440) – noun. face
- TEHOM (H8415) – noun. deep, depths, deep places, abyss, the deep, sea
- HUM (H1949) – verb. to distract, ring again, make a (great) noise, murmur, roar, discomfit, be moved
- RUACH (H7307) – noun. wind, breath, mind, spirit
- RACHAPH (H7363) – verb. 1) (Qal) to grow soft, relax; 2) (Piel) to hover
- MAYIM (H4325) – noun. water, waters
*Definitions are from Brown-Driver-Briggs’ Hebrew-English Lexicon.
Suggested Discussion Starters
For those going through the workbook, let’s hear from you.
- Share an Aha! moment (something new you learned) from this session.
- Share something you’d like to explore further that was sparked through this session.
Feel free to share any other thoughts you might have below regarding Session 3 featuring Genesis 1:2 – Earth, Without Form and Void & the Spirit of God.
Gen 1:2 And the earth H776 was H1961 without form, H8414, (TOHU) and void; H922,(BOHU) and darkness H2822 was upon H5921 the face H6440 of the deep. H8415 And the Spirit H7307 of God H430 moved H7363 upon H5921 the face H6440 of the waters. H4325
Isa 45:18 For H3588 thus H3541 saith H559 the LORD H3068 that created H1254 the heavens; H8064 God H430 himself H1931 that formed H3335 the earth H776 and made H6213 it; he H1931 hath established H3559 it, he created H1254 it not H3808 in vain, H8414,( TOHU) he formed H3335 it to be inhabited: H3427 I H589 am the LORD; H3068 and there is none H369 else. H5750
While Gen states the earth was tohu, Is 45 states he did not create it tohu. How then did it become that way after the initial creation?
Perhaps the verb “was” H1961 can be better translated as “came to be”, denoting a shift or change from the action in verse 1.
Here’s the ISR version…
1In the beginning Elohim created the heavens and the earth.
2And the earth came to be formless and empty,…
Just a thought.