וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם
"And the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep."
— Genesis 1:2
The Primordial State
Before creation, before order, before light—there was tohu wa-bohu. These two Hebrew words, appearing together only in Genesis 1:2, describe the primordial state of the earth before God's creative word brought forth order and life.
Etymology and Meaning
Tohu (תֹהוּ) suggests emptiness, formlessness, or confusion. It appears twenty times in the Hebrew Bible, often describing desolate wastelands or states of confusion and unreality.
Bohu (בֹהוּ) is even more mysterious, appearing only three times in Scripture, always paired with tohu. It intensifies the sense of emptiness, suggesting a void or vacuum.
Together, they paint a picture of utter chaos—not merely the absence of order, but an active state of confusion and formlessness that requires divine intervention to transform.
Theological Significance
- Divine Sovereignty: Only God can bring order from chaos, demonstrating His supreme power over creation.
- Creation Ex Nihilo: While debated, many see tohu wa-bohu as supporting creation from nothing, with chaos itself being God's first creation.
- Ongoing Creation: The transformation from chaos to cosmos becomes a paradigm for God's continuing work in the world and in human lives.
Rabbinic Interpretations
"Tohu is a green line that encompasses the whole world, from which darkness emerges. Bohu refers to the smooth stones sunk in the depths, from which water emerges."— Talmud, Hagigah 12a
The Zohar sees tohu wa-bohu as necessary stages in creation, with tohu representing the initial divine thought and bohu the beginning of its manifestation.
From Chaos to Creation
The movement from tohu wa-bohu to ordered creation follows a deliberate pattern:
- Separation: Light from darkness, waters above from waters below
- Gathering: Waters gathered to reveal dry land
- Filling: The empty spaces filled with life
- Blessing: Creation declared good and blessed
This pattern becomes a template for understanding how God continues to work in the world, bringing order from chaos, meaning from confusion, and life from emptiness.
"In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was tohu wa-bohu... And God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light."
The first divine act transforms primordial chaos through the power of the spoken word.