# Genesis 1.2 **Book:** [Genesis](/codex/genesis/) · NASB95 ## Verse > The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters. (Genesis 1:2, NASB95) ## Immediate context (±2 verses) **NASB95** ([NASB95](/codex/nasb95/)) > 1. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. > > **2. The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was moving over the surface of the waters.** > > 3. Then God said, 'Let there be light'; and there was light. > > 4. God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. (Genesis 1:1-4, NASB95) ## Setting - **Speaker:** Moses (traditionally), as inspired narrator without recorded human source. - **Audience:** the Israelites delivered from Egypt, engaging Egyptian creation myths (the *Nun* watery chaos pre-existing the gods), Mesopotamian *Enuma Elish* (Marduk slays Tiamat, the chaos-waters monster, to form the cosmos), and Canaanite Baal-Yam cycles. The verse's *tohu va-vohu* and *tehom* (deep) deliberately invoke this ancient-Near-Eastern chaos-water vocabulary while subverting it: the waters are not a co-eternal divine antagonist God must defeat; they are part of the unformed creation His Spirit hovers over. - **Location:** likely Sinai or the wilderness, during or shortly after the exodus. - **Time period:** narrates the immediate post-creation state of the cosmos prior to the formative work of Days 1-6. ## Theological reading The verse is dense with three theological motifs that have generated extensive interpretation: 1. ***Tohu va-vohu*, "formless and void"**: a Hebrew hendiadys (two terms forming one meaning) denoting unstructured, uninhabitable potentiality. The same vocabulary recurs in Jer 4:23 ("I looked at the earth, and behold, it was *tohu va-vohu*") as a poetic image of divine judgment undoing creation, the *de-creation* image confirms the original sense. The verse describes the cosmos *before* it has been ordered into the realms (Days 1-3) and filled with their inhabitants (Days 4-6). It is *not* yet evil or fallen; it is *not yet* formed. This pre-formation state is a major datum in the **Gap Theory** family of interpretations (which reads a vast time gap between 1:1 and 1:2 to accommodate deep time and / or a pre-Adamic Fall), in the **Restitution Theory** (Thomas Chalmers, 1814; Pember 1876, a primordial creation, judgment, and re-creation), and in the dominant **Initial Chaos** reading (the standard reading: 1:2 is the initial state of the *bereshit*-created cosmos, awaiting formation through the six days). 2. ***Tehom*, "the deep"**: cognate with Akkadian *Tiamat* (the primordial chaos-water deity of the *Enuma Elish*). The same root is used in Genesis 7:11 of the flood waters and in Psalm 33:7 of God containing the deep "in storehouses." Critical scholars (Hermann Gunkel, *Schöpfung und Chaos*, 1895) read Genesis 1:2 as a demythologized residue of the ancient Near Eastern *Chaoskampf* tradition. Conservative readers (E. J. Young, *Studies in Genesis One*, 1964; Gerhard Hasel, *Old Testament Form-Critical Issues*) treat the resemblance as polemical: Genesis deliberately uses the chaos-water vocabulary to assert that the chaos-waters are not divine antagonists but creaturely matter God orders. 3. ***Ruach Elohim*, "the Spirit of God" hovering / moving**: the verb *merachefet* (piel participle of *rachaf*) appears only here and in Deut 32:11 ("As an eagle stirs up its nest, **hovers over** its young"), a maternal-protective image. The "Spirit of God" reading is the traditional Jewish and Christian rendering; alternative readings (Speiser, *Anchor Bible*: "a mighty wind") treat *ruach Elohim* as superlative ("a great wind"). The traditional reading is overwhelmingly preferred in both Jewish and Christian tradition and grounds the **proto-Trinitarian reading** of Genesis 1 in patristic exegesis (Father speaking; Word / Son creating per John 1:1-3; Spirit hovering over the deep). See [Trinity](/codex/trinity/) § "Biblical foundation" → Old Testament hints. The *Christological-Trinitarian deployment* is direct: Genesis 1:1 (Father, *bara*); Genesis 1:2 (Spirit, *ruach merachefet*); Genesis 1:3 (Word, "God said," echoed in John 1:1 *ho logos*). The three Persons of the Trinity are present in the opening three verses of the canon for patristic readers (Basil, *Hexaemeron* 2.6; Augustine, *Confessions* 13). ## Position in the codex's Genesis-interpretation framework The verse is read differently across the four major Christian Genesis-interpretation positions (see [Genesis Interpretation Spread](/codex/genesis-interpretation-spread/)): - **YEC**: 1:2 is the initial state of the universe at the close of the first ~12 hours of Day 1, before God organizes light from darkness. The pre-organized state lasts hours, not ages. - **Day-Age (OEC, [Hugh Ross](/codex/hugh-ross/))**: 1:2 describes a vast pre-formative period (potentially billions of years) before the day-age sequence begins; *tohu va-vohu* corresponds to early cosmic evolution before the appearance of stable celestial structure relative to the earth-frame observer. - **Framework Hypothesis**: 1:2 establishes the literary precondition (unformed and unfilled) that the two triads of days then address (Days 1-3 form; Days 4-6 fill). - **Functional Cosmic Temple ([Walton](/codex/john-walton/))**: 1:2 describes the pre-inauguration state of the cosmos as a functional system; the cosmos is not yet "good" (i.e., not yet functioning for its purpose) because God has not yet assigned its functions and inaugurated it as His temple. ## Key words - [H1961 - hayah](/codex/h1961-hayah/), *hayetah* (was / became), the simple stative copula; the Gap Theory reading argues for "became" (post-judgment state) but most translators and lexicographers reject this construal in this verse - *H8414 - tohu*, *tohu* (formless, waste), first half of the hendiadys - *H0922 - bohu*, *bohu* (void, empty), second half of the hendiadys - *H8415 - tehom*, *tehom* (the deep), chaos-water cognate to Akkadian *Tiamat* - [H7307 - ruach](/codex/h7307-ruach/), *ruach* (Spirit / wind / breath), third-person of the Trinity for traditional readers - *H7363 - rachaf*, *rachaf* (hover, brood), maternal-protective verb; appears only here and Deut 32:11 ## Quoted in **Arguments and defeaters:** - [Six Day Creation Falsified Objection Defeater](/codex/six-day-creation-falsified-objection-defeater/) **Concepts:** - [Big Bang](/codex/big-bang/) - [Divine Gender Polarity and Feminine Imagery](/codex/divine-gender-polarity-and-feminine-imagery/) - [Genesis Interpretation Spread](/codex/genesis-interpretation-spread/) - [Hexaemeron Tradition](/codex/hexaemeron-tradition/), via [Genesis 1.1-2](/codex/genesis-1-1-2/) - [Old Earth Creationism](/codex/old-earth-creationism/) - [Paraclete, Identity and Recipients](/codex/paraclete-identity-and-recipients/) - [Pneumatology](/codex/pneumatology/) - [Trinity](/codex/trinity/) - [Trinity OT Stack (Five Texts)](/codex/trinity-ot-stack-five-texts/) - [Water and Life](/codex/water-and-life/) - [Water Older Than the Sun](/codex/water-older-than-the-sun/) - [Young's Literal Translation](/codex/ylt/) **People:** - [Henry Morris](/codex/henry-morris/) - [John Currid](/codex/john-currid/), via [Genesis 1.1-11](/codex/genesis-1-1-11/) - [John Walton](/codex/john-walton/) **Lexicon:** - [H7307 - ruach](/codex/h7307-ruach/) **Passages:** - [1 Chronicles 21.15](/codex/1-chronicles-21-15/) - [1 Chronicles 28.20](/codex/1-chronicles-28-20/) - [1 Chronicles 9](/codex/1-chronicles-9/) - [1 Kings 10.1-13](/codex/1-kings-10-1-13/) - [1 Kings 19.9-18](/codex/1-kings-19-9-18/) - [1 Kings 8.57](/codex/1-kings-8-57/) - [1 Samuel 15.9-21](/codex/1-samuel-15-9-21/) - [1 Samuel 28](/codex/1-samuel-28/) - [1 Samuel 3](/codex/1-samuel-3/) - [2 Chronicles 9.1-12](/codex/2-chronicles-9-1-12/) - [2 Kings 1.3](/codex/2-kings-1-3/) - [2 Kings 17.37](/codex/2-kings-17-37/) - [2 Kings 18](/codex/2-kings-18/) - [Amos 4.11](/codex/amos-4-11/) - [Amos 5.26](/codex/amos-5-26/) - [Daniel 9](/codex/daniel-9/) - [Deuteronomy 13.3-5](/codex/deuteronomy-13-3-5/) - [Deuteronomy 15.15](/codex/deuteronomy-15-15/) - [Deuteronomy 18.10-12](/codex/deuteronomy-18-10-12/) - [Deuteronomy 18.15](/codex/deuteronomy-18-15/) - [Deuteronomy 18.5](/codex/deuteronomy-18-5/) - [Deuteronomy 18.7](/codex/deuteronomy-18-7/) - [Deuteronomy 18.9-12](/codex/deuteronomy-18-9-12/) - [Deuteronomy 18.9-14](/codex/deuteronomy-18-9-14/) - [Deuteronomy 21](/codex/deuteronomy-21/) - [Deuteronomy 21.10-14](/codex/deuteronomy-21-10-14/) - [Deuteronomy 21.22-23](/codex/deuteronomy-21-22-23/) - [Deuteronomy 21.23](/codex/deuteronomy-21-23/) - [Deuteronomy 22](/codex/deuteronomy-22/) - [Deuteronomy 25.17-19](/codex/deuteronomy-25-17-19/) - [Deuteronomy 28](/codex/deuteronomy-28/) - [Deuteronomy 28.2](/codex/deuteronomy-28-2/) - [Deuteronomy 28.36](/codex/deuteronomy-28-36/) - [Deuteronomy 31.6](/codex/deuteronomy-31-6/) - [Deuteronomy 32.17](/codex/deuteronomy-32-17/) - [Deuteronomy 34](/codex/deuteronomy-34/) - [Deuteronomy 4.24](/codex/deuteronomy-4-24/) - [Deuteronomy 4.35](/codex/deuteronomy-4-35/) - [Deuteronomy 4.39](/codex/deuteronomy-4-39/) - [Deuteronomy 5.12](/codex/deuteronomy-5-12/) - [Deuteronomy 6.4-5](/codex/deuteronomy-6-4-5/) - [Deuteronomy 6.4-9](/codex/deuteronomy-6-4-9/) - [Deuteronomy 7](/codex/deuteronomy-7/) - [Deuteronomy 7.1-2](/codex/deuteronomy-7-1-2/) - [Deuteronomy 7.9](/codex/deuteronomy-7-9/) - [Deuteronomy 8.18](/codex/deuteronomy-8-18/) - [Deuteronomy 8.2](/codex/deuteronomy-8-2/) - [Deuteronomy 9.4-5](/codex/deuteronomy-9-4-5/) - [Ecclesiastes 1.6](/codex/ecclesiastes-1-6/) - [Ecclesiastes 12.7](/codex/ecclesiastes-12-7/) - [Ecclesiastes 3.12-13](/codex/ecclesiastes-3-12-13/) - [Exodus 10.19](/codex/exodus-10-19/) - [Exodus 14.19-24](/codex/exodus-14-19-24/) - [Exodus 14.21](/codex/exodus-14-21/) - [Exodus 15.26](/codex/exodus-15-26/) - [Exodus 19.10-19](/codex/exodus-19-10-19/) - [Exodus 20.1-17](/codex/exodus-20-1-17/) - [Exodus 20.3](/codex/exodus-20-3/) - [Exodus 20.4-6](/codex/exodus-20-4-6/) - [Exodus 24.10](/codex/exodus-24-10/) - [Exodus 3](/codex/exodus-3/) - [Exodus 3.1-15](/codex/exodus-3-1-15/) - [Exodus 3.1-4](/codex/exodus-3-1-4/) - [Exodus 3.13-14](/codex/exodus-3-13-14/) - [Exodus 3.14-15](/codex/exodus-3-14-15/) - [Exodus 3.2-6](/codex/exodus-3-2-6/) - [Exodus 4.16](/codex/exodus-4-16/) - [Exodus 7](/codex/exodus-7/) - [Exodus 7.1](/codex/exodus-7-1/) - [Exodus 7.16](/codex/exodus-7-16/) - [Ezekiel 1.1-3](/codex/ezekiel-1-1-3/) - [Ezekiel 18.30-32](/codex/ezekiel-18-30-32/) - [Ezekiel 28.11-17](/codex/ezekiel-28-11-17/) - [Ezekiel 36](/codex/ezekiel-36/) - [Ezekiel 37.24-28](/codex/ezekiel-37-24-28/) - [Ezekiel 39](/codex/ezekiel-39/) - [Ezra 1.1-2](/codex/ezra-1-1-2/) - [Ezra 2](/codex/ezra-2/) - [Ezra 7.6](/codex/ezra-7-6/) - [Genesis 1.14-19](/codex/genesis-1-14-19/) - [Genesis 1.21](/codex/genesis-1-21/) - [Genesis 1.24-28](/codex/genesis-1-24-28/) - [Genesis 1.28](/codex/genesis-1-28/) - [Genesis 1.29](/codex/genesis-1-29/) - [Genesis 11.1-9](/codex/genesis-11-1-9/) - [Genesis 15.1](/codex/genesis-15-1/) - [Genesis 2.18](/codex/genesis-2-18/) - [Genesis 2.4](/codex/genesis-2-4/) - [Genesis 20.3](/codex/genesis-20-3/) - [Genesis 22.11-18](/codex/genesis-22-11-18/) - [Genesis 22.12](/codex/genesis-22-12/) - [Genesis 28](/codex/genesis-28/) - [Genesis 28.10-22](/codex/genesis-28-10-22/) - [Genesis 3](/codex/genesis-3/) - [Genesis 3.8](/codex/genesis-3-8/) - [Genesis 31.11-13](/codex/genesis-31-11-13/) - [Genesis 32.30](/codex/genesis-32-30/) - [Genesis 48.15-16](/codex/genesis-48-15-16/) - [Genesis 6.1-4](/codex/genesis-6-1-4/) - [Genesis 6.11-12](/codex/genesis-6-11-12/) - [Genesis 6.13-14](/codex/genesis-6-13-14/) - [Genesis 6.17](/codex/genesis-6-17/) - [Genesis 6.2](/codex/genesis-6-2/) - [Genesis 6.4](/codex/genesis-6-4/) - [Genesis 7.17-23](/codex/genesis-7-17-23/) - [Genesis 7.21-23](/codex/genesis-7-21-23/) - [Genesis 9.1](/codex/genesis-9-1/) - [Genesis 9.26](/codex/genesis-9-26/) - [Hosea 12.3](/codex/hosea-12-3/) - [Hosea 12.3-5](/codex/hosea-12-3-5/) - [Hosea 13.4](/codex/hosea-13-4/) - [Hosea 2.21-23](/codex/hosea-2-21-23/) - [Hosea 4.12](/codex/hosea-4-12/) - [Hosea 4.6](/codex/hosea-4-6/) - [Hosea 5.4](/codex/hosea-5-4/) - [Isaiah 11.1-2](/codex/isaiah-11-1-2/) - [Isaiah 11.2](/codex/isaiah-11-2/) - [Isaiah 13](/codex/isaiah-13/) - [Isaiah 19.14](/codex/isaiah-19-14/) - [Isaiah 21](/codex/isaiah-21/) - [Isaiah 29.10](/codex/isaiah-29-10/) - [Isaiah 35.4-5](/codex/isaiah-35-4-5/) - [Isaiah 37.34-38](/codex/isaiah-37-34-38/) - [Isaiah 40.3](/codex/isaiah-40-3/) - [Isaiah 40.3-5](/codex/isaiah-40-3-5/) - [Isaiah 40.8](/codex/isaiah-40-8/) - [Isaiah 41.10](/codex/isaiah-41-10/) - [Isaiah 41.17](/codex/isaiah-41-17/) - [Isaiah 42.1](/codex/isaiah-42-1/) - [Isaiah 42.1-5](/codex/isaiah-42-1-5/) - [Isaiah 45.21](/codex/isaiah-45-21/) - [Isaiah 45.5](/codex/isaiah-45-5/) - [Isaiah 45.5-7](/codex/isaiah-45-5-7/) - [Isaiah 48.15-16](/codex/isaiah-48-15-16/) - [Isaiah 48.16](/codex/isaiah-48-16/) - [Isaiah 49.1-7](/codex/isaiah-49-1-7/) - [Isaiah 53.1-12](/codex/isaiah-53-1-12/) - [Isaiah 53.4](/codex/isaiah-53-4/) - [Isaiah 61.1](/codex/isaiah-61-1/) - [Isaiah 61.1-2](/codex/isaiah-61-1-2/) - [Isaiah 61.1-6](/codex/isaiah-61-1-6/) - [Isaiah 61.2](/codex/isaiah-61-2/) - [Isaiah 61.3](/codex/isaiah-61-3/) - [Isaiah 62](/codex/isaiah-62/) - [Isaiah 64.6](/codex/isaiah-64-6/) - [Jeremiah 28.13-14](/codex/jeremiah-28-13-14/) - [Jeremiah 31.29-34](/codex/jeremiah-31-29-34/) - [Jeremiah 32.27](/codex/jeremiah-32-27/) - [Jeremiah 32.38-39](/codex/jeremiah-32-38-39/) - [Jeremiah 7.18](/codex/jeremiah-7-18/) - [Job 1.6-8](/codex/job-1-6-8/) - [Job 26.13](/codex/job-26-13/) - [Job 4.12-16](/codex/job-4-12-16/) - [Jonah 3.10](/codex/jonah-3-10/) - [Joshua 24.26](/codex/joshua-24-26/) - [Joshua 8.30-35](/codex/joshua-8-30-35/) - [Judges 13.3-22](/codex/judges-13-3-22/) - [Judges 2.1-5](/codex/judges-2-1-5/) - [Judges 4](/codex/judges-4/) - [Judges 6.11-24](/codex/judges-6-11-24/) - [Leviticus 19.2](/codex/leviticus-19-2/) - [Leviticus 19.33-34](/codex/leviticus-19-33-34/) - [Leviticus 19.34](/codex/leviticus-19-34/) - [Leviticus 25.39-43](/codex/leviticus-25-39-43/) - [Leviticus 26.13](/codex/leviticus-26-13/) - [Malachi 2.15](/codex/malachi-2-15/) - [Micah 5](/codex/micah-5/) - [Numbers 22.22-35](/codex/numbers-22-22-35/) - [Numbers 25](/codex/numbers-25/) - [Numbers 25.1-3](/codex/numbers-25-1-3/) - [Numbers 31](/codex/numbers-31/) - [Numbers 31.16](/codex/numbers-31-16/) - [Numbers 5.14](/codex/numbers-5-14/) - [Numbers 5.30](/codex/numbers-5-30/) - [Proverbs 14.29](/codex/proverbs-14-29/) - [Proverbs 16.18](/codex/proverbs-16-18/) - [Proverbs 16.32](/codex/proverbs-16-32/) - [Proverbs 30.3-4](/codex/proverbs-30-3-4/) - [Proverbs 30.4](/codex/proverbs-30-4/) - [Psalms 104.30](/codex/psalms-104-30/) - [Psalms 136](/codex/psalms-136/) - [Psalms 143.10](/codex/psalms-143-10/) - [Psalms 27](/codex/psalms-27/) - [Psalms 32](/codex/psalms-32/) - [Psalms 33.12](/codex/psalms-33-12/) - [Psalms 35.5-6](/codex/psalms-35-5-6/) - [Psalms 42.1](/codex/psalms-42-1/) - [Psalms 42.5](/codex/psalms-42-5/) - [Psalms 45.6](/codex/psalms-45-6/) - [Psalms 46.1](/codex/psalms-46-1/) - [Psalms 49.15](/codex/psalms-49-15/) - [Psalms 5.2](/codex/psalms-5-2/) - [Psalms 51](/codex/psalms-51/) - [Psalms 51.1-2](/codex/psalms-51-1-2/) - [Psalms 51.10](/codex/psalms-51-10/) - [Psalms 51.16-19](/codex/psalms-51-16-19/) - [Psalms 53.1](/codex/psalms-53-1/) - [Psalms 55.12-14](/codex/psalms-55-12-14/) - [Psalms 68.18](/codex/psalms-68-18/) - [Psalms 68.31](/codex/psalms-68-31/) - [Psalms 68.5](/codex/psalms-68-5/) - [Psalms 8.5](/codex/psalms-8-5/) - [Psalms 82.1-8](/codex/psalms-82-1-8/) - [Psalms 82.6](/codex/psalms-82-6/) - [Psalms 82.6-7](/codex/psalms-82-6-7/) - [Psalms 86.10](/codex/psalms-86-10/) - [Psalms 90.17](/codex/psalms-90-17/) - [Psalms 91.1-2](/codex/psalms-91-1-2/) - [Psalms 91.2](/codex/psalms-91-2/) - [Zechariah 12](/codex/zechariah-12/) - [Zechariah 12.1](/codex/zechariah-12-1/) - [Zechariah 4.1-6](/codex/zechariah-4-1-6/) ## Notes _Annotations on this passage._ --- _Scripture quotations taken from the **New American Standard Bible®** (NASB), Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by **The Lockman Foundation**. Used by permission. All rights reserved. [www.lockman.org](https://www.lockman.org)_