The Deep (Tehom)
The dark, formless waters over which God's Spirit hovers in Genesis 1:2 — the picture of unordered chaos that God shapes into a habitable world.
Overview
In Genesis 1:2 the earth is "formless and void" with darkness over "the deep" (Hebrew tehom). Unlike neighboring myths where a hero-god battles a sea-monster to make the world, Genesis has no struggle: God simply speaks, and his Spirit hovers like a bird over the waters. The deep returns in the flood and is finally answered in Revelation, where "the sea was no more" — chaos fully tamed.
Where it appears
- Genesis 1:2
The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters.
The formless chaos-waters (Hebrew tehom) God orders into a world.
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