Genesis 1:2

וְהָאָרֶץ הָיְתָה תֹהוּ וָבֹהוּ וְחֹשֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵי תְהוֹם וְרוּחַ אֱלֹהִים מְרַחֶפֶת עַל־פְּנֵי הַמָּֽיִם׃

✦ Hebrew interlinear

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✦ The same verse in five languages

Hebrew

וְהָאָ֗רֶץ הָיְתָ֥ה תֹ֙הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ וְחֹ֖שֶׁךְ עַל־פְּנֵ֣י תְה֑וֹם וְר֣וּחַ אֱלֹהִ֔ים מְרַחֶ֖פֶת עַל־פְּנֵ֥י הַמָּֽיִם׃

Greek (Septuagint)

ἡ δὲ γῆ ἦν ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος, καὶ σκότος ἐπάνω τῆς ἀβύσσου· καὶ πνεῦμα θεοῦ ἐπεφέρετο ἐπάνω τοῦ ὕδατος.

Greek text from Swete's edition, CC BY-SA 4.0

Latin (Vulgate)

Terra autem erat inanis et vacua, et tenebræ erant super faciem abyssi: et spiritus Dei ferebatur super aquas.

Spanish

Y la tierra estaba desordenada y vacía, y las tinieblas estaban sobre la haz del abismo, y el Espíritu de Dios se movía sobre la haz de las aguas.

English

Now the earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the surface of the waters. The First Day

✦ What the text says

Summary

Verse 2 narrates no new event: it describes a state. Three background clauses present the earth as formlessness and emptiness, darkness over the deep, and the spirit of God hovering over the waters. The grammar — a plain conjunction, a perfect, and a participle — signals description rather than sequence.

Key words

to.hu ("formlessness", H8414) — masculine singular noun.
Vo.hu ("emptiness", H0922) — masculine singular noun; paired with the preceding word.
te.Hom ("deep", H8415) — feminine singular noun.
Ru.ach ("spirit of", H7307) — feminine singular noun in construct.
me.ra.Che.fet ("hovering", H7363) — piel participle, feminine singular.

What the text says

The verse opens with the plain conjunction ve. ("and", H9002) followed by the noun with its article — "and the earth" — rather than the narrative vav that chains the events from verse 3 onward. The verb ha.ye.Tah ("was", H1961) is a qal perfect marked as "she", agreeing with 'A.retz ("earth", H0776), a feminine singular noun. The pair to.hu ("formlessness", H8414) and Vo.hu ("emptiness", H0922) serves as the predicate of that state.

Two clauses of location follow, built with 'al- ("over", H5921) and pe.Nei ("surface of", H6440), a plural noun in construct: darkness (Cho.shekh, "darkness", H2822) over the surface of the deep (te.Hom, "deep", H8415), and the spirit of God ('E.lo.Him, "God", H0430) over the surface of the waters (Ma.yim, "waters", H4325). The participle me.ra.Che.fet ("hovering", H7363) is feminine singular, agreeing with the feminine Ru.ach ("spirit of", H7307); as a participle — "the one doing" — in the piel (intensive) stem, it expresses ongoing action within the described scene.

Differences between versions

For the pair to.hu and Vo.hu, the LXX writes ἀόρατος καὶ ἀκατασκεύαστος, the Vulgate inanis et vacua, the RV1909 «desordenada y vacía», and the BSB "formless and void". For me.ra.Che.fet, the LXX uses ἐπεφέρετο and the Vulgate ferebatur, while the RV1909 has «se movía» and the BSB "was hovering". In addition, Ma.yim ("waters", H4325) is plural with the article in Hebrew; the LXX translates with a singular (τοῦ ὕδατος), while the Vulgate (aquas), the RV1909 («las aguas»), and the BSB ("the waters") keep the plural.

This explanation describes the text using linguistic data; it adds no doctrine or confessional interpretation.