The earth was without form (tohu) and void (bohu)

[tonychanyt]

Ge 1:

2 The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

formless
תֹ֙הוּ֙ (ṯō·hū)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8414: A desolation, desert, a worthless thing, in vain

and void,
וָבֹ֔הוּ (wā·ḇō·hū)
Conjunctive waw | Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 922: A vacuity, an undistinguishable ruin

'tohu wa bohu' was the first appearance of a rhym in the Bible. The evocative phrase captured the confused state of the Earth before God's creative work began. God was about to create order out of this tohu wa bohu.

3 And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light.

 

[RamiC]

This is a really stunning verse. I could look at just it for months. Meditate on this one, it is really gripping. I suspect a lot of people skip it because they find it hard to imagine exactly what it is describing. If we just dare to read it, sit back and contemplate it, .

 

[tonychanyt]

This is a really stunning verse. I could look at just it for months. Meditate on this one, it is really gripping. I suspect a lot of people skip it because they find it hard to imagine exactly what it is describing. If we just dare to read it, sit back and contemplate it, .

And it is even more stunning if you read it out loud in Hebrew

 

[RamiC]

And it is even more stunning if you read it out loud in Hebrew

I have never heard that, but I bet it feels like the start of the universe. It would be stunning.