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The Hebrew words תֹהוּ and וָבֹהוּ are translated to empty/formless and void in Genesis 1, but that isn’t what they mean.
In my research, I have found that one of the two words is unknown, and the other means chaos or waste. Throughout my research, I have discovered that the reason seems to be that it is translated to empty and void in the greek translation (I can’t remember its technical name at the moment).
In Jeremiah 4, it describes the earth as chaos, yet—in the middle of that description—the above mentioned Hebrew shows to describe the earth, and is translated to empty/formless and void. It doesn’t make sense for it to be empty and void in English, and the Hebrew words don’t mean that, so I see no reason to translate it that way.
In Isaiah 34:11 (please read full chapter to get context) תֹ֖הוּ is translated to chaos (NIV), and the other word did not show. That is a more accurate translation.
This leads me to my questions. Why do we translate it to empty/formless and void, and does it appear that there is something I am missing about the Hebrew?
