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Tohu wa-bohu orTohu va-Vohu (Biblical Hebrew:תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּṯōhū wāḇōhū) is aBiblical Hebrew phrase found in theGenesis creation narrative (Genesis 1:2), which describes the condition of the earth ('aretz) immediately before thecreation of light inGenesis 1:3.
Numerous interpretations of this phrase are made by various theological sources. TheKing James Version translation of the phrase is "without form, and void", corresponding to theSeptuagint'sἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος (aoratos kai akataskeuastos) and, in theVulgate,inanis et vacua, "unseen and unformed".
וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥התֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְהֹ֑ום וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם
— Genesis 1:2,Westminster Leningrad Codex[1]
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the spirit of God was hovering over the waters.
— Genesis 1:2,New International Version[2]
The wordstohu andbohu also occur in parallel inIsaiah 34:11, which theKing James Version translates with the words "confusion" and "emptiness".
The two Hebrew words are properlysegolates, spelledtohuw andbohuw.[3] Hebrewtohuw translates to "wasteness, that which is laid waste, desert; emptiness, vanity; nothing".[4]Tohuw is frequently used in theBook of Isaiah in the sense of "vanity", butbohuwoccurs nowhere else in the Hebrew Bible (outside of Genesis 1:2, the passage in Isaiah 34:11 mentioned above,[5] and in Jeremiah 4:23, which is a reference to Genesis 1:2), its use alongsidetohu being mereparonomasia, and is given the equivalent translation of "emptiness, voidness".[3]
In theearly rabbinical period, the verse was a point of contention regarding the question ofcreatio ex nihilo. InGenesis Rabbah 1:14,Rabbi Akiva "refutes both the existence of primordial matter and the view that God was not the sole creator".[6] InGenesis Rabbah 2:2, theamoraimAbbahu andShimon ben Pazi give analogies in whichtohu wabohu means "bewildered and astonished" (mentally formless and void), referring to the Earth's confusion after, having been created simultaneously with the Heavens in Genesis 1:1, it now immediately plays an inferior role.[7]
In the 12th century,Abraham bar Hiyya was the first to interpret thetohu andbohu of Gen. 1:2 as meaning "matter" and "form", and the same idea appears in the anonymousBahir 2.9–10, which was probably edited by theHachmei Provence.[8]
Possibly related to the concept of "formless and void" is theYesod hapashut (Hebrew:יְסוֹד הפשוט,lit. 'simple element') in theKabbalah, in which "everything is united as one, without differentiation".[9]ArtScroll's Stone EditionChumash translates the phrase as "astonishingly empty".[10] ArtScroll translates in accordance toRashi, the most famous medieval Jewish biblical commentator on theTorah.
The phrase is featured on the front ofGodspeed You! Black Emperor'sEPSlow Riot for New Zero Kanada, referring to the use of the phrase in Jeremiah 4:23.[11][12] Jeremiah 4:23-27 is shown on the back of the album cover.[13]
Tohuvabohu is the name ofKMFDM's 15th studio album, as well as the title track on the album.
Tohu and Bohu are monsters in the superhero web serial novelWorm.
The band's tendency to draw from ambiance rhythm and then fall back into ambiance is summed up by a snippet of Hebrew text, "tohu wa-bohu," which Godspeed used as the front of their 1999 album,Slow Riot for New Zero Kanada. The phrase, which means "formless and empty," is used in Genesis to describe the world before creation, and in Jeremiah to describe the land after a war that has desolated it.
The Hebrew on the cover of Godspeed You Black Emperor's latest EP is pronounced "tohu va-bohu." It means "void and waste," and it's a phrase you can find all over the Old Testament. It's what the earth was before the creation and it's what the earth will look like after the coming Day of the Lord.
