תֹּהוּ

Meaning:

Formless

Waste

Futile

Meaningless

Nothing

Chaos

Masculine. Noun.

Describes something that is unformed or purposeless. It often pairs with בֹּהוּ - void -forming the phrase תֹ֨הוּ֙ וָבֹ֔הוּ, a poetic expression for utter chaos or emptiness.

Biblical Examples

- Creation initially“without form and void”

“Now the earth was formless and void”

Here, תֹּהוּ describes the earth before God's creative ordering. It wasn't evil, just unstructured and lifeless, awaiting divine organization and purpose.

— The wilderness

“He found him in a desert land, and in the waste”

Here תֹּהוּ evokes desolation and barrenness, a place where life and order are absent.

— God did not create the earth in vain

“He did not create it to be empty”

This contrasts תֹּהוּ with God's intention for structure and habitation, highlighting His purposeful creation.

These passages use תֹּהוּ to describe moral or cosmic chaos, often as judgment imagery where the world returns to a pre-creation-like void.