תֹּהוּtôhûw

formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness

Pronunciation: to'-hoo · Hebrew/Aramaic (Old Testament) · H8414

Meanings

1. formlessness (Genesis 1:2; Jeremiah 4:23; Isaiah 34:11)

2. figurative of what is empty, unreal (1 Samuel 12:21; Isaiah 41:29; Isaiah 44:9)

Where it appears

Appears 20 times in the Bible.

  • Genesis 1:2 The earth was formless and empty, and darkness covered the deep waters. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters.
  • Deuteronomy 32:10 He found them in a desert land, in an empty, howling wasteland. He surrounded them and watched over them; he guarded them as he would guard his own eyes.
  • 1 Samuel 12:21 Don’t go back to worshiping worthless idols that cannot help or rescue you—they are totally useless!
  • Job 6:18 The caravans turn aside to be refreshed, but there is nothing to drink, so they die.
  • Job 12:24 He strips kings of understanding and leaves them wandering in a pathless wasteland.
  • Job 26:7 God stretches the northern sky over empty space and hangs the earth on nothing.
See every passage

Source: Brown, Driver and Briggs, Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain; markup by unfoldingWord, CC BY (github.com/unfoldingWord/Brown-Driver-Briggs-Enhanced).