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Genesis 1

Gen. 1:2 KJV (With Strong’s)

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2
And the earth
'erets (Hebrew #776)
the earth (at large, or partitively a land)
KJV usage: X common, country, earth, field, ground, land, X natins, way, + wilderness, world.
Pronounce: eh'-rets
Origin: from an unused root probably meaning to be firm
was
hayah (Hebrew #1961)
to exist, i.e. be or become, come to pass (always emphatic, and not a mere copula or auxiliary)
KJV usage: beacon, X altogether, be(-come), accomplished, committed, like), break, cause, come (to pass), do, faint, fall, + follow, happen, X have, last, pertain, quit (one-)self, require, X use.
Pronounce: haw-yaw
Origin: a primitive root (compare 1933)
c without form
tohuw (Hebrew #8414)
a desolation (of surface), i.e. desert; figuratively, a worthless thing; adverbially, in vain
KJV usage: confusion, empty place, without form, nothing, (thing of) nought, vain, vanity, waste, wilderness.
Pronounce: to'-hoo
Origin: from an unused root meaning to lie waste
, and void
bohuw (Hebrew #922)
a vacuity, i.e. (superficially) an undistinguishable ruin
KJV usage: emptiness, void.
Pronounce: bo'-hoo
Origin: from an unused root (meaning to be empty)
; and darkness
choshek (Hebrew #2822)
the dark; hence (literally) darkness; figuratively, misery, destruction, death, ignorance, sorrow, wickedness
KJV usage: dark(-ness), night, obscurity.
Pronounce: kho-shek'
Origin: from 2821
was upon the face
paniym (Hebrew #6440)
the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
KJV usage: + accept, a-(be- )fore(-time), against, anger, X as (long as), at, + battle, + because (of), + beseech, countenance, edge, + employ, endure, + enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, X him(-self), + honourable, + impudent, + in, it, look(-eth) (- s), X me, + meet, X more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), X on, open, + out of, over against, the partial, person, + please, presence, propect, was purposed, by reason of, + regard, right forth, + serve, X shewbread, sight, state, straight, + street, X thee, X them(-selves), through (+ - out), till, time(-s) past, (un-)to(-ward), + upon, upside (+ down), with(- in, + -stand), X ye, X you.
Pronounce: paw-neem'
Origin: plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun (paneh {paw-neh'}; from 6437)
of the deep
thowm (Hebrew #8415)
(usually feminine) from 1949; an abyss (as a surging mass of water), especially the deep (the main sea or the subterranean water-supply)
KJV usage: deep (place), depth.
Pronounce: teh-home'
Origin: or thom {teh-home'}
. And the Spirit
ruwach (Hebrew #7307)
wind; by resemblance breath, i.e. a sensible (or even violent) exhalation; figuratively, life, anger, unsubstantiality; by extension, a region of the sky; by resemblance spirit, but only of a rational being (including its expression and functions)
KJV usage: air, anger, blast, breath, X cool, courage, mind, X quarter, X side, spirit((-ual)), tempest, X vain, ((whirl-))wind(-y).
Pronounce: roo'-akh
Origin: from 7306
d of God
'elohiym (Hebrew #430)
gods in the ordinary sense; but specifically used (in the plural thus, especially with the article) of the supreme God; occasionally applied by way of deference to magistrates; and sometimes as a superlative
KJV usage: angels, X exceeding, God (gods)(-dess, -ly), X (very) great, judges, X mighty.
Pronounce: el-o-heem'
Origin: plural of 433
moved
rachaph (Hebrew #7363)
to brood; by implication, to be relaxed
KJV usage: flutter, move, shake.
Pronounce: raw-khaf'
Origin: a primitive root
upon
`al (Hebrew #5921)
above, over, upon, or against (yet always in this last relation with a downward aspect) in a great variety of applications (as follow)
KJV usage: above, according to(-ly), after, (as) against, among, and, X as, at, because of, beside (the rest of), between, beyond the time, X both and, by (reason of), X had the charge of, concerning for, in (that), (forth, out) of, (from) (off), (up-)on, over, than, through(-out), to, touching, X with.
Pronounce: al
Origin: properly, the same as 5920 used as a preposition (in the singular or plural often with prefix, or as conjunction with a particle following)
the face
paniym (Hebrew #6440)
the face (as the part that turns); used in a great variety of applications (literally and figuratively); also (with prepositional prefix) as a preposition (before, etc.)
KJV usage: + accept, a-(be- )fore(-time), against, anger, X as (long as), at, + battle, + because (of), + beseech, countenance, edge, + employ, endure, + enquire, face, favour, fear of, for, forefront(-part), form(-er time, -ward), from, front, heaviness, X him(-self), + honourable, + impudent, + in, it, look(-eth) (- s), X me, + meet, X more than, mouth, of, off, (of) old (time), X on, open, + out of, over against, the partial, person, + please, presence, propect, was purposed, by reason of, + regard, right forth, + serve, X shewbread, sight, state, straight, + street, X thee, X them(-selves), through (+ - out), till, time(-s) past, (un-)to(-ward), + upon, upside (+ down), with(- in, + -stand), X ye, X you.
Pronounce: paw-neem'
Origin: plural (but always as singular) of an unused noun (paneh {paw-neh'}; from 6437)
of the waters
mayim (Hebrew #4325)
water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen
KJV usage: + piss, wasting, water(-ing, (-course, -flood, -spring)).
Pronounce: mah'-yim
Origin: dual of a primitive noun (but used in a singular sense)
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c
Job 26:7• 7He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. (Job 26:7)
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Jer. 4:23• 23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. (Jer. 4:23)
d
Job 26:13• 13By his spirit he hath garnished the heavens; his hand hath formed the crooked serpent. (Job 26:13)
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Psa. 104:30• 30Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth. (Psa. 104:30)

More on:

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Darkness,
Earth,
God,
Spirit,
The Deep

Cross References

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Ministry on This Verse

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without.
Job 26:7• 7He stretcheth out the north over the empty place, and hangeth the earth upon nothing. (Job 26:7)
;
Isa. 45:18• 18For thus saith the Lord that created the heavens; God himself that formed the earth and made it; he hath established it, he created it not in vain, he formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else. (Isa. 45:18)
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Jer. 4:23• 23I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. (Jer. 4:23)
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Nah. 2:10• 10She is empty, and void, and waste: and the heart melteth, and the knees smite together, and much pain is in all loins, and the faces of them all gather blackness. (Nah. 2:10)
Spirit.
Job 26:14• 14Lo, these are parts of his ways: but how little a portion is heard of him? but the thunder of his power who can understand? (Job 26:14)
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Psa. 33:6• 6By the word of the Lord were the heavens made; and all the host of them by the breath of his mouth. (Psa. 33:6)
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Psa. 104:30• 30Thou sendest forth thy spirit, they are created: and thou renewest the face of the earth. (Psa. 104:30)
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Isa. 40:12‑14• 12Who hath measured the waters in the hollow of his hand, and meted out heaven with the span, and comprehended the dust of the earth in a measure, and weighed the mountains in scales, and the hills in a balance?
 13Who hath directed the Spirit of the Lord, or being his counsellor hath taught him?
 14With whom took he counsel, and who instructed him, and taught him in the path of judgment, and taught him knowledge, and showed to him the way of understanding? (Isa. 40:12‑14)
• “The everlasting God, Jehovah, the Creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary: there is no searching of His understanding” (Isa. 40:28). While geology waits for its Newton, subjection to scripture meanwhile would be untold gain to its devotees as to all other men. (“Genesis 1:1” by W. Kelly)
• The well-known and flexible particle of connection in the Hebrew text introduces the verse. Its meaning, usually and simply copulative, is often modified, as almost all words in every language must he, by contextual considerations. Hence the learned Dathe, in 1781, renders it here “posthaec vero,” expressly to distinguish the state of thing in ver. 2 from that referred to in ver. 1, and sends us to such instances as Numbers 5:23; Deuteronomy 1:19. (“Genesis 1:2” by W. Kelly)
• The true determination lies in what follows. For the usage of the past verb when thus employed is to express a state subsequent to and not connected with what goes before, but previous to what follows. Hebrew idiom does not use that verb simply as a copula, as may be seen twice in this verse, and almost everywhere; or it puts the verb before the noun. The right conclusion therefore is that Moses was led to indicate the desolation into which the earth was thrown at some epoch not made known, after creation, but prior to the “days” in which it was made the habitation for Adam and the race. (“Conquerors” by J.G. Bellett)
• With this agrees the occurrence of the remarkable phraseology “waste and empty” elsewhere. There are but two other occasions—Isa. 33:11, “the line of confusion [or waste] and the stones of emptiness;” and Jeremiah 4:23, “I beheld the earth; and lo! it was waste and emptiness.” In both it is a desolation inflicted, not the primary condition. So it is in Genesis 1:2. It is the more to be noted, as in Jeremiah it is said of the heavens at this time that “they had no light.” Thus is confirmed, by each of the other occurrences, the conviction that our text describes a state which befell the earth, possibly long after its original creation as in the verse before. (“Genesis 1:2” by W. Kelly)
• All was to be by God's word. Wisdom rejoices in the “habitable” earth, and has delights with the sons of men. A mighty wind might rage over the abyss. The Spirit of God, not the wind, could be said with propriety to “brood.” What new wonders were at hand! (“Genesis 1:2” by W. Kelly)
• The great difficulty for geologists, especially of late from the growth of infidel thought, is to allow such a revolution as verse 2 intimates. Even Christians among them are afraid to be governed by its express declarations, and shrink from the ignorant mockery of those who boldly deny there ever was a breach of continuity between the original creation and the days of man on the earth. (“Genesis:1:6-8” by W. Kelly)
• "And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters." This is the first particular mention of one of the three Persons of the Trinity-Father, Son and Spirit, one God, one in will, purpose, power, knowledge, wisdom. The Spirit of God is the great moving force throughout Scripture-the unseen sovereign Power, carrying out the will of the Godhead. Just as the Spirit of God brooded over the face of the deep, so it is the Spirit of God that produces the new beginning in man. (“The Spirit of God Moved Upon the Face of the Waters: Genesis 1:2” by A.J. Pollock)
• Just as the Spirit of God moved in Sovereign will upon' the face of the waters, so now "The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit " (John 3:8). The natural man dislikes the truth of the sovereignty of God, for it makes nothing of man. (“The Spirit of God Moved Upon the Face of the Waters: Genesis 1:2” by A.J. Pollock)

J. N. Darby Translation

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2
And the earth was wasteb and empty, and darkness was on the face of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.

JND Translation Notes

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b
See Isa. 34.11; 45.18.

W. Kelly Translation

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2
And the earth wasa wasteb and empty, and darkness [was] upon the face of the deep; and the Spirit of God [was] brooding upon the face of the waters.

WK Translation Notes

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a
Or, became.
b
"Without form" is hardly exact, for all matter must have form, but desolate or disordered it may be made subsequently. "To become" (not "be") is the force of the verb in some twenty places in this chapter.