that which is wasted, laid waste... a desert... emptiness, vanity... nothing” and“ emptiness, voidness,” respectively. Other translations are“ place of chaos,”“ wilderness,” and“ bar- ren.” And the Hebrew term tehom(“ deep”) can be translated as“ abyss.”
Look at this description in Genesis 1:6 – 7:
God said,“ Let there be a vault between the waters to separate water from water.” So God made the vault and separated the water under the vault from the water above it.
Simply put, Scripture’ s first words declare that creation was a chaotic, untamed mess and that the Spirit of the Lord God was brooding over the surface of this barren, unintelligible, chaotic ocean abyss. Pretty epic visual, if you ask me. However, God didn’ t bring peace to this chaos. God began organizing the creation and moved the earth from chaos into order. God began to separate, pull apart, gather, and bring structure to the chaos of creation.
What did God do? God separated.
Read this next description in verse 9:
God said,“ Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear.”
What did God do? God gathered.
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