Genesis 1:2 is the second verse of the Genesis creation narrative. It is a part of the Torah portion Bereshit (). Hebrew Masoretic Text Transliteration: Wəhā’āreṣ hāyəṯāh ṯōhû wāḇōhû wəḥōšeḵ ‘al-pənê ṯəhôm wərûaḥ ’ĕlōhîm məraḥep̱eṯ ‘al-pənê hammāyim. Wəhā’āreṣ: "and the earth" hāyəṯāh: "was", pa'al construction past tense third person feminine singular tohu wabohu: difficult to translate, but often rendered as "formless and void" wəḥōšeḵ: "and darkness ‘al-pənê: "[was] over (or covered) [the] face", pənê being a plural construct state of the Hebrew word for face ṯəhôm: a mythological or cosmological concept often translated as "the Deep" wərûaḥ: "and [the] ruah", a difficult term translated as "spirit" or "wind" ĕlōhîm: the generic Hebrew term for God or gods, distinct from Yahweh, the name of the god of Israel məraḥep̱eṯ: often translated as "hovered/was hovering" The word is ריחף(rikhef) in pi'el participle form prefixed with one letter prefix "m-". ‘al-pənê hammāyim: "over the face of the waters" Translation Wəhā’āreṣ: "and the earth" hāyəṯāh: "was", pa'al construction past tense third person feminine singular tohu wabohu: difficult to translate, but often rendered as "formless and void" wəḥōšeḵ: "and darkness ‘al-pənê: "[was] over (or covered) [the] face", pənê being a plural construct state of the Hebrew word for face ṯəhôm: a mythological or cosmological concept often translated as "the Deep" wərûaḥ: "and [the] ruah", a difficult term translated as "spirit" or "wind" ĕlōhîm: the generic Hebrew term for God or gods, distinct from Yahweh, the name of the god of Israel məraḥep̱eṯ: often translated as "hovered/was hovering" The word is ריחף(rikhef) in pi'el participle form prefixed with one letter prefix "m-". ‘al-pənê''': see above hammāyim: "the waters"Tohu wabohu is commonly translated as "formless and empty", and denotes the absence of some abstract quality such as purpose or worth. Tohu by itself means desert, desert-like, empty, uninhabited (see Jeremiah 4:23 and Isaiah 34:11), so that "Tohu wabohu" signifies that the earth was empty of life, whether plant, animal, or human. "Tehôm" was the cosmic ocean both above and below the earth. Ruah means "wind"; the wind blows (rather than hovers) ‘al-pənê hammāyim, over the face of the waters of Tehom. Analysis Genesis 1:2 presents an initial condition of creation - namely, that it is tohu wa-bohu, formless and void. This serves to introduce the rest of the chapter, which describes a process of forming and filling. That is, on the first three days the heavens, the