H8414 H8414
Formlessness, chaos, emptiness, or nothingness — the unformed void before creation, a desolate waste, or moral-theological vanity.
One of the most evocative words in the Hebrew Bible, tohu first appears in the primordial 'formless and void' (tohu wabohu) of Genesis 1:2 and echoes whenever Scripture describes a return to that pre-creation chaos. It names the trackless desert waste where Israel wandered (Deut 32:10), the ruined 'city of chaos' in Isaiah 24:10, and — strikingly — the moral emptiness of idols and false counsel. Spanish renders it variously as 'vanidad,' 'caos,' and 'vacío,' while French distinguishes 'informe' (formless) from 'néant' (nothingness), capturing the word's wide arc from cosmic disorder to spiritual futility.
Senses
1. emptiness, vanity, futility — Emptiness in the moral and theological register: idols, false prophets, and worthless human schemes are declared tohu — devoid of reality or worth. In 1 Samuel 12:21 Samuel warns Israel not to turn aside after 'empty things' (tohu) that cannot profit, and Isaiah 41:29 pronounces idol-makers and their works alike as tohu. Spanish 'vanidad' and French 'néant' both highlight the absolute nothingness attributed to these objects of misplaced trust. 9×
AR["الـ-بَاطِلِ", "الْبَاطِلِ", "بَاطِلٌ", "خَوَاءٌ", "عَبَثًا", "كَالخَوَاءِ", "لِـ-عَبَثٍ", "وَالخَوَاءِ", "وَخَوَاءٌ"]·ben["-অসারতার", "-শূন্যতায়", "অর্থহীনতা", "অসারতা", "এবং-অর্থহীনতা", "এবং-অর্থহীনের", "শূন্যতায়", "শূন্যতার", "শূন্যের-মতো"]·DE["Leere", "der-emptiness", "emptiness", "und-Leere", "wie-Leere", "zu-Leere"]·EN["and-confusion", "and-emptiness", "are-emptiness", "as-emptiness", "emptiness", "for-nothing", "the-emptiness"]·FR["comme-vide", "et-vide", "le-néant", "néant", "vide", "à-vide"]·heb["ה-תוהו", "ו-תוהו", "כ-ה-תוהו", "ל-תוהו", "תוהו"]·HI["और-व्यर्थ", "जैसे-व्यर्थ", "व्यर्थ", "शून्यता", "शून्यता-के-लिए"]·ID["dan-kehampaan", "dan-kesia-siaan", "kesia-siaan", "seperti-kesia-siaan", "untuk-kesia-siaan", "yang-sia-sia"]·IT["e-vuoto", "emptiness", "il-emptiness", "vuoto"]·jav["barang-tanpa-guna", "ing-kosong", "kados-sepi", "kanggé-sepi", "kosong", "lan-kosong", "lan-sepi", "sepa", "tanpa-guna"]·KO["같이-공허함", "공허함이니라", "그-헛된-것들", "그리고-공허함", "그리고-공허함이니라", "허무를", "허무하게-", "헛되이", "헛된-것이다"]·PT["como-o-vazio", "e-vazio", "em-vão", "o-vazio", "para-nada", "vazio"]·RU["впустую", "и-хаос", "как-хаос", "напрасно", "пустота", "пустотой", "пустоту", "хаос"]·ES["como-vanidad", "la-vanidad", "para-nada", "vanidad", "y-vacío", "y-vanidad"]·SW["bure", "kama-utupu", "kwa-ubatili", "na-utupu", "ubatili", "utupu"]·TR["bos-yere-", "boslugun", "bosluk", "bosluk-gibi", "bosuna", "boşluk", "boşlukların", "ve-bosluktan", "ve-kaos"]·urd["اور-بے-حقیقت", "باطل", "باطل-چیزوں-کے", "بیکاری-کے-لیے", "بے-حقیقت-کی-طرح", "بے-فائدہ", "فضولی"]
2. wasteland, desolation — A trackless, uninhabitable waste — the physical desolation of desert or ruined land. Deuteronomy 32:10 parallels tohu with midbar (wilderness) to describe where God found Israel, and Job 12:24 pictures leaders wandering in a pathless tohu. The gloss evidence shows Spanish 'caos/vacío' and German 'Leere' applied here, underscoring barren emptiness rather than moral judgment. 5×
AR["بِـ-الْبَاطِلِ", "في-الفَراغِ", "في-خَلاء", "في-فَراغٍ", "وَفِي-خَرَابِ"]·ben["এবং-শূন্যতায়-", "শূন্যতাতে", "শূন্যতায়", "শূন্যতায়-"]·DE["[בתהו]", "in-Leere", "in-ein-trackless-waste", "und-in-Oede"]·EN["and-in-waste", "in-a-trackless-waste", "in-waste", "into-the-waste", "the-righteous"]·FR["dans-néant", "dans-vide", "dans-בתהו", "et-dans-waste", "בתהו"]·heb["ב-תוהו", "ו-ב-תוהו"]·HI["उजाड़-में", "और-में-शून्यता", "में-शून्यता", "वीराने-में", "शून्यता-में"]·ID["dalam-kekosongan", "dan-di-kekosongan", "dengan-kekosongan", "di-kekosongan", "ke-kehampaan"]·IT["[בתהו]", "e-in-desolazione", "in-vuoto", "nel-vuoto", "vuoto"]·jav["ing-kosong", "ing-suwung", "lan-ing-suwung", "wonten-ing-papan-samun"]·KO["그리고-에-황량함(접)", "에-허무로", "허무-속으로", "허무-안에서", "혼돈-에서"]·PT["e-em-vazio", "em-caos", "em-vazio", "no-vazio", "pelo-ermo"]·RU["в-пустоте", "в-пустоту", "и-в-пустоте", "пустотой"]·ES["con-vanidad", "en-caos", "en-vacío", "y-en-vacío"]·SW["bure", "katika-ukiwa", "na-katika-ukiwa", "ukiwa"]·TR["boslukta", "boşlukta", "boşluğa", "ve-boşlukta"]·urd["اور-ویرانی-میں", "بے-راہا-میں", "جھوٹ-سے", "ویرانے-میں"]
3. formlessness, primordial chaos — The primordial formlessness of the unformed earth before God's creative ordering, as in the foundational phrase tohu wabohu (Gen 1:2). By extension, prophetic judgment can reduce a land back to this state: Jeremiah 4:23 deliberately echoes Genesis with the same paired formula, and Isaiah 34:11 measures Edom with 'the line of tohu.' French 'informe' and German 'wüst' preserve the sense of raw, unstructured matter awaiting divine shaping. 4×
AR["الْخَرَابِ", "خَرِبَةً", "خَرِبَةٌ"]·ben["শূন্য", "শূন্যতার"]·DE["Leere", "wüst"]·EN["formless", "of-chaos"]·FR["informe", "vide"]·heb["תוהו"]·HI["खालीपन-का", "निराकार", "शून्य", "शून्यता-की"]·ID["kekacauan", "tanpa-bentuk"]·IT["formless", "vuoto"]·jav["kaanan-kosong", "kosong", "suwung", "tanpa-wujud"]·KO["혹돈이었다", "혼돈", "혼돈의"]·PT["caos", "sem-forma", "vazia"]·RU["пуста", "пустоты"]·ES["caos", "de-desolación", "desordenada", "sin-forma"]·SW["bila-umbo", "tupu", "wa-machafuko", "ya-utupu"]·TR["bosluk", "boslukun", "ıssız", "şekilsiz"]·urd["بربادی-کی", "بے-شکل", "بےشکلی-کی", "خالی"]
4. void, nothingness — The void or nothingness over which God acts sovereignly — the empty expanse of Job 26:7 where God 'stretches the north over tohu,' and Isaiah 45:18 where God declares he did not create the earth as tohu but formed it to be inhabited. Spanish 'el vacío' and French 'vide' both capture this cosmic vacancy that stands as the backdrop to God's purposeful creation. 2×
AR["الخَلاءِ", "فَارِغَةً"]·ben["শূন্য", "শূন্যতার"]·DE["Leere", "[תהו]"]·EN["emptiness", "void"]·FR["vide", "תהו"]·heb["תוהו"]·HI["शून्य-के-लिए", "शून्यता"]·ID["kehampaan", "kosong"]·IT["vuoto"]·jav["kosong", "kothong"]·KO["공허함으로", "혼돈"]·PT["o-vazio;", "vazia"]·RU["пустой", "пустотою"]·ES["el-vacío", "vacío"]·SW["utupu"]·TR["bos", "boşluk"]·urd["بے-فائدہ", "خلا"]
Related Senses
H5414 1. give, bestow (1855×)H3947 1. take, seize, grasp (Qal) (940×)G2192 1. possess / have (680×)G1325 1. give, bestow (336×)H5159 1. inherited land or property (170×)G2983 1. receive, obtain (134×)H3423 1. Qal: take possession of land (130×)G2983 2. take, take up (113×)G2398 1. one's own, belonging to oneself (91×)G3860 1. hand over, deliver to custody (78×)H7998 1. spoil, plunder, booty (74×)G1325 2. be given, be granted (70×)H5414 2. put, place, set (68×)H7999a 1. pay, repay, recompense (63×)H7069 1. Buy, purchase (59×)H1892 1. vanity, futility, absurdity (58×)H5159 2. heritage as covenant portion (52×)H6299 1. redeem or ransom (Qal active) (49×)H4376 1. Sell (Qal active) (47×)H1350a 1. Redeem, buy back (46×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
† תֹּ֫הוּ n.m. 1 S 12, 21 (AlbrZAW xvi (1896), 112) formlessness, confusion, unreality, emptiness (primary meaning difficult to seize; Vrss usually κενόν, οὐδέν, μάταιον, inane, vacuum, vanum; cf. LagOr. ii. 60; BN 144);— 1. formlessness, of primaeval earth Gn 1:2 (P), of land reduced to primaeval chaos Je 4:23 (both + וָבֹהוּ and voidness), Is 34:11 קַו־תֿ׳ (‖ אבְנֵי בֹהוּ), 45:18 לֹא ת׳…